Ive seen Springsteen live now, I think, 13 or 14 times.
And he was right.
But I dont know the words or correct terminology as to how to do what exactly he doesjustice.
I totally get it.
Those are frustrating things, for sure.
Because youre missing out on something special, and only forsaking yourself.
You not supporting Bruce Springsteen isnt hurting Bruces checkbook or costing him a single bit of sleep at night.
But you could be depriving yourself of some really soul-touching music.
At the end of the day, theyre weirdos.
You have to be to stand out and create on the levels that they do.
Thinking like a weirdo and believing your opinion counts more than others comes with that territory.
And they were all transcendental musical experiences.
Which is what this blog was about.
My friend Tony and I are both big-time fans of Springsteen.
But hey, at least they gave you the impression you had a shot.
But whatever, it was The Boss!
And he hasnt been on tour in forever.
Well worth it, right?
It all started off poorly, but it wasn’t the band’s fault.
Little Caesar’s Arena’s flow design is a fucking disaster.
The arena itself is amazing.
Beautiful, well laid out, concessions are awesome, and lines are a breeze.
But outside it’s a cluster fuck.
There’s nobody from the staff outside directing traffic, no stanchions or bike racks separating lines.
Just giant crowds of people fighting to get to the front.
Once inside, the show began almost the second we stepped in the door and scanned our tickets.
Bruce never has an opener, and almostalwaysbegins the show 15 minutes after the scheduled start time.
So people know not to dick around and show up late.
The E Street Band sounded phenomenal.
For a band that hasn’t toured since 2017, they haven’t skipped a beat.
And Clarence’s nephew has made the leap to an even more incredible saxophonist than he already was.
Springsteen sounded great too.
And he moved from song to song with energy and gusto.
The show ran pretty standard as far as set list went.
With one of the standouts for me being the two Motown covers Bruce did off his latest album.
Last Man Standing (acoustic)
14.
Because The Night (Patti Smith Group Cover)
16.
She’s The One
17.
Born to Run
22.
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
23.
Dancing in the Dark (followed by band introductions)
25.
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (pictures of Danny Federici… more )
26.
Such a powerful song and impossible to hear live and not get goosebumps.
The lights came on for the encore and stayed on, and they ripped through seven songs.
(All things I’ve pretty much never experienced at a single show of his).
The guy is 73 years old, and still performing at the top of his game.
The band was tight as could be.
The arena was packed and rocking.
The only thing I could put my finger on really was the ticketing and pricing experience.
Was it really that big of a factor that it affected my enjoyment of the show?
I have never been one to complain about paying money to see a musical act play live.
But this show pissed me off.
And reminder this was Detroit.
The fans there were die hard Bruce fans, in denim jackets and carhartt gear.
I told everybody I knew that theyhadto go and see him live.
It was a must.
A bucket list show.
I laughed and said, “nice try.”
We discussed this in-depth on our Barstool Backstage podcast.
Tune in here -
Check out some clips from the show here -
