Bruce Springsteen - Stadium Of Light, Sunderland 22.05.2024

I’m going to start this review with a confession, I’ve been a fan of Bruce since I was teenager so getting a review pass for him was a dream come true.

I’ve seen him live more times than I can believe but I went along to this gig determined to be objective and give a fair an honest review.

This was my first gig at the Stadium of Light, so I was also interested to see what it’s like as a venue.

Getting to the gig proved to be a bit of a nightmare, okay, the weather was horrendous but a journey that should have taken 25 minutes took well over an hour. The road closures around the venue and the heavy traffic meant I was beginning to get nervous about missing the start. Luckily, we weren’t alone as the gig was delayed due to the traffic issues. Bruce is a man who cares about his fans and delayed the start to ensure most, if not all, were in the stadium.

It is something that does need looking at, there were also quite long queues to get in. Every member of staff we interreacted with was brilliant, friendly, helpful and keen to make things go smoothly but personally I felt they were let down by the organisation. I think whoever is in charge of organisation needs to get better as it was also difficult to get back out afterwards with the road closures and limited number of routes into Sunderland making it quite difficult.

I also can’t ignore the weather; it was horrendous as I’ve said for most of the day and that continued into the night. We were standing and by the time Bruce came on after 7.30 we were very cold and wet. One of my companions was at the point of going and standing on the concourse just for some dry and heat.

So how was the gig itself?

Well, I knew from experience Bruce would play for about three hours. He never has a support (aside from when I saw him in Rome last year when he had Sam Fender who was awesome). So, you know when you go see the Boss you won’t be shortchanged for your ticket.

Let’s get it out the way straight off the bat, Bruce is the greatest rock and roll live performer currently touring, he’s 74 years of age and puts all other bands to shame with his stamina, his energy and his ability to interact with the crowd.

He had his work cut out here, the crowd were cold, wet and miserable. So, to walk out on stage and kick off with 'Waiting' On A Sunny Day', was a moment of genius. We all joined in enthusiastically, mostly because we all agreed with the sentiments. I think for the first hour or so it’s the hardest I’ve seen Bruce work to get an audience going. It took a while but after that first hour I honestly felt it was one of the best crowds I’ve been part of at a Bruce gig. There was a feeling of all in it together, the dad dancing was busted out (including me which I’m not ashamed to admit) and the rain, while not totally forgotten, became a lot less important! It did help that there were periods when it eased off!

The set list was probably the second best I’ve experienced at a Bruce gig (my favourite remains Leeds Arena when he played a lot of unexpected songs and went crowd surfing). I do think he missed a trick not playing 'Marys Place' given its refrain of let it rain but otherwise it was spot on.

Personally, I was overjoyed he played 'Atlantic City' although I was thrown a bit by the new arrangement, but I love it and it could only have been beaten by 'Reason To Believe' (subtle hint Bruce if you read this, add that into your set list from now on!). There were however so many fantastic songs (he played 28 in total) that if there was one you didn’t like so much just wait a while another one would be along.

'Badlands', 'She’s The One', 'The Rising', 'Backstreets', 'Hungry Heart', 'Glory Days', D'arlington County', 'Born to Run', 'Dancing in the Dark', '10th Avenue Freeze Out' with the traditional tribute….. this is one of rock and rolls greatest back catalogues and he mined it to the full.

One annoyance was the woman near us who talked loudly and annoying all the way through 'See You In My Dreams', completely oblivious to the fact that everyone around her was turning to stare at her, I did wonder if a public lynching might have happened if the song continued…..

The best thing about seeing Bruce though is the humanity he brings to his gigs. He has a unique genius in that in the middle of a massive crowd he can connect one on one with people in the audience. He was constantly on the go, not caring about the rain or the fact he was clearly getting soaked. He gave his harmonica to one young girl who looked like she was on the verge of tears, flirted quite heavily with one woman on the front row who looked like she would have been quite happy to call an end to life immediately after as it was never going to get better than this, got some of the kids on the barrier to sing along with him and, even when one guy wouldn’t let go of him, was totally chilled, ignored it and waited patiently for security to remove the grip.

If you only go see one live act in your life go see the Boss, even if you aren’t a massive fan of his music there is no greater live act in the world, the E Street Band are packed with individuals who have had massive careers in their own right and yet the joy of playing with the Boss shines through, the crowd are very much part of the show and it is what rock and roll is all about, he may no longer be the future of rock and roll as Rolling Stone proclaimed , but that only because he is the past, the present and all the best bits of what rock and roll can be. He will never be matched, never topped and is all you need. Bruuuuuce!

Review - Iain McClay

Photos - G's Gig Shots