Vancouver gets a healthy serving of classics and deep cuts at Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert at Rogers Arena
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Christmas came early this year for Vancouver rock ‘n’ roll fans. The present was delivered at Rogers Arena as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played their 114th and final North American date of their ongoing world tour.
In a 31 song set that spanned the group’s five decade-plus career, the Boss and his core backing combo, expanded to include 18 ace players, put on another one of its legendary marathon performances.
Where artists half their age are already resting on their laurels, the surviving original lineup of Springsteen, keyboardist Roy Bittan, guitarists Nils Lofgren and Steven Van Zandt and rhythm section of bassist Garry Tallent and drummer Max Weinberg still play like they’re working for scale. They clearly love what they do, and they really work at it.
So much so, that there wasn’t even a Happy Birthday moment for Van Zandt who turned 74 last night. The job comes first.
A catalogue as deep as Springsteen’s is what guarantees that devoted fans across generations will keep coming to your concerts, particularly when classics such as The Promised Land and Hungry Heart are delivered with as much full-on energy as the day they debuted in the set. Springsteen structures each evening to tell a kind of story, changing arrangements around in new and imaginative ways to deliver dynamic one-of-a-kind experiences and this tour has seemed to be meditating on mortality.
Of course, a majority of the Boss’s best songs were always melancholic reflections on lives less lived and last chance attempts at hope. But in the epic sway Springsteen gave to Atlantic City this night was near tear-inducing in its drama. As he belted out “Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact/ But maybe everything that dies some day comes back,” Springsteen conducted the musicians with his hands, lowering the tempo and volume to almost a whisper before moaning out the chorus’ closing verse “And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.”
Every aspect of the show, from the lighting cues to the choice of what to project on the surrounding screens highlighted the storytelling in his songs to maximum effect. And as much as he is the frontman, Springsteen gives everyone a chance to shine with Bitten, Lofgren and saxophonist Jake Clemons all delivering moving and powerful solos throughout the show.
Clemons is the nephew of the late Clarence Clemons, who was such a key fixture in the E Street Band that a photo montage of his years with the group is a regular feature of the gig. His are big shoes to fill and the younger Clemons totally owns the post he’s held since 2012, blowing sweet blasts of brass in everything from the cover of the Commodores’ hit Night Shift to the jazzy interlude that preceded E Street Shuffle.
From the blazing classic boogie of Ramrod and pleading soul of Human Touch, both of which had their tour debuts at the Vancouver show, to the show stopping version of Last Man Standing, which featured killer trumpet work from Barry Banielian, the performance played out like a finely crafted play.
One minute everyone would be dancing around the stage smiling and the next would be Springsteen in close focus, lit only by a single red light with his eyes tightly shut, 5 o’clock shadow stubble shining absolutely lost in focus singing Backstreets like a lament. Taken almost to the breaking point, the tune would then explode into another spirit-affirming anthem the crowd could air punch to the Heavens.
By the time the band got around to a rag tag version of the seasonal classic Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, it was almost a relief to hear them just goofing off after such a masterpiece display of musicianship. It was kind of delightfully dumb.
After a much deserved bow, everyone shuffled off the stage save Springsteen who reappeared with his acoustic guitar and harmonica to leave everyone with a poignant version of I’ll See You in My Dreams.
Dedicated to a 101 year-old fan, it was indeed the stuff that dreams are made of. With any luck, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be making musical memories for many more listeners lucky enough to see them live in the future.
They sure don’t show any signs of slowing down.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band set list for Nov. 22 at Rogers Arena.
- Spirit in the Night
- Lonesome Day
- Ghosts
- Letter to You
- The Promised Land
- Hungry Heart
- Ramrod (tour debut)
- Human Touch (tour debut)
- Atlantic City
- Youngstown
- Long Walk Home
- The E Street Shuffle
- Nightshift (Commodores cover)
- I’m On Fire
- Racing in the Street
- Last Man Standing
- Backstreets
- Because the Night
- Brilliant Disguise
- Wrecking Ball
- The Rising
- Badlands
- Thunder Road
- Meeting Across the River
- Jungleland
- Born to Run
- Bobby Jean
- Dancing in the Dark
- Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
- I’ll See You in My Dreams