A gorgeous summer Friday evening in Toronto was made infinitely better by The Boss. With an open Skydome and Toronto's notable structure standing tall over us Bruce Springsteen entertained all night long. In fact he took to the stage sans opener while the sun was still up and just kicked it well into the dark until the lights came up and the real dancing started up. Much has been said of his age and his endurance; it is downright inspiring that he can be on for so long, both in terms of years and hours. Obviously comes from a strong determination and work ethic, coupled with his earnest desire to put on a spectacle. Boy, did he ever!
Kicking off with summertime songs, Bruce led his group of 14 musicians up and down his catalog drawing on classics like Rosalita all the way to this year's Wrecking Ball in the form of We Take Care of Our Own. All the while running (seemingly in slow motion, but still running) from one end of his football-field spanning stage to the other, and back again. Absolute charisma as he stole signs (okay collected them to create a set list), high fived, sang to, danced with and engaged with the audience - even us in the first row of the cheap seats. At one end of the stage he chugged someone's ($13) beer, spilling most of it on the surely ecstatic person in the front row, while at the other he lifted a young girl up on stage to steal the show by belting out his lyrics without hesitation. In the middle he engaged another woman with an onstage dance, granting her husband's wish (as stated by his sign) of having Bruce dance with his wife for their anniversary. It is these kind of off-the-cuff moments that take a stadium rock show from music to magic.
The aforementioned band were solid and as tight as Bruce demands of them, even including some choreographed dance moves into some of the song. Amongst the accordion, guitars and brass was the nephew of recently departed Clarence, filling the sax solos. There was also a moving video tribute played to Clarence later in the evening. Another song saw the band dismissed and Bruce himself sat down to the piano to play us a tune solo. But just as the quiet moments hit, so could the loud ones, such as Thunder Road, which would prompt the ringleader to do things like huck his guitar across the stage to his tech who expertly caught it.
As the lights began to come on the show hit its stride and it felt like a culmination was coming. However the conclusion kept being pushed off and the energy grew and grew. Upbeat songs like Badlands lead to epics like Land of Hope and Dreams that all carried on, ever-building, seemingly to the point of exhaustion (as Springsteen completed a full lap of the audience on the floor) before crashing to an end. Surely, this is the end, would be everyone's thought until two beats later he'd rev it right back up again. I'm not sure that he left the stage, or even stood still, throughout the entire thing. There were no specific encores but Dancing in the Dark, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, even a version of Twist and Shout all had the energy of finales and had 50,000+ fans dancing in the aisles throughout the stadium. After revving it back up over and over again he finally laid it all down for a splendid Glory Days and somehow still leaving the crowd wanting more he was whisked into the fleet of waiting SUVs and we were left with an entire night full of rocking memories.
Working on the Highway
Hungry Heart
Sherry Darling
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown
My City of Ruins
Spirit in the Night
Thundercrack
Jack of All Trades
Murder Incorporated
Prove It All Night
Candy’s Room
She’s the One
(Mona Snippet)
Darlington County
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Incident on 57th Street
The Rising
Badlands
Land of Hope and Dreams
We Are Alive
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Twist and Shout
Glory Days
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