For seven long years, the one Bruce Springsteen live shows in Recent York City were modest shows with the Recent Jersey legend performing solo and telling stories in a Broadway theater.
It almost seemed as if he had come to terms with the undeniable fact that his glory days were finally over.
But on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Boss returned in all his arena glory – with the E Street Band once more at his side.
In the primary of their local gigs on the 2023 trek that kicked off in February, Springsteen and his beloved backing band played together in Recent York City for the primary time since The River tour in August 2016.
There was excitement and anticipation within the air even before Springsteen and crew took the stage just 10 minutes after their scheduled 7:30 am start time – to raised play those marathon, three-hour live shows they’re famous for.
Shouts of “Bruuuuuce!” swept through the sector until the band took the stage, one after the other, but they reached the peak of the roar as Springsteen himself finally appeared.
“Recent York!” he exclaimed, as if he was just as blissful to be back home along with his musical family.
And as he launched into the “Born within the USA” anthem “No “Give up”, it was clear that the all the time buff Boss wouldn’t back down from Father Time – even at 73.
Even when he entered “Ghosts” – from 2020’s “Letter to You”, through which he confronted his own mortality – Springsteen sounded as vital as ever.
And you may feel some love from the opposite side as Clarence Clemons’ nephew Jake passed on his late uncle’s spirit on the saxophone.
While Springsteen’s latest album, 2022’s Only the Strong Survive, is a solo effort – to which he nodded with soulful pride in his cover of the Commodores’ “Nightshift” – this tour is unquestionably about those special E Street moments like sharing mic again with ace sidekick Steven Van Zandt again for classics like “Prove It All Night”.
And that is exactly what they did – until the concert reached a crescendo with an epic encore, opening with a dramatic duet of “Jungleland” and “Thunder Road”. After which there was “Born to Run”, which with the lights on was nothing in need of a spiritual revival for “tramps like us”.