He takes to the enormous stage lit with a positive
yellow glow generated by the setting London sun. The weather hadn’t been this
good all day. With powerful, forceful down strokes the opening notes screamed from
his guitar. They are raw and matched by the distinct character in his voice,
raspy and masculine with a hint of a drawl. Stretching beyond the line of sight
in all directions, a sea of people go crazy, echoing the chorus to this
rendition of The Clash’s London Calling.
Bruce Springsteen has arrived and he is ‘The Boss’ of Hyde Park, London on June
28, 2009.
Despite his personal protest, Bruce has been known as
‘The Boss’ since the rise from his young days as an unsigned musician. He
collected the pay and distributed it evenly. But it is due to his ability to
decide, direct and lead that the name stuck. He commanded commitment, dedication
and knowledge in every pursuit of achieving his best, at home, or in the
studio, or on stage. He commands the attention of the crowd and conducts the
band with authority. The title fits.
Barely minutes into his performance, Bruce stood and
delivered a solo guitar bridge of London
Calling. A tight, jagged motion; producing sounds that mean so much and
longs to impress, matches the pensiveness in his face. He displays the passion
for what he believes in and makes others believe. This looked like Bruce
introducing a song written in 1855 by Stephen Foster and sounded like Bruce
owning Hard Times Come Again No More
by making it so culturally relatable that anyone would believe it was written
yesterday. He is his own man and stands admirably, stylishly in shirt, denim
and black boots, and with conviction.
Bruce will stand and fight for how he wants to be
known, for what he does and doesn’t believe. As a 23-year-old artist, making a
name as the outstanding local live act, Bruce secured a contract with Mike
Appel and Colombia Records. After years of struggle, Bruce won the rights back
to the catalogue of his early songs, lost in that contract deal.
Placards and posters emblazoned with song titles
littered the front few rows of the audience, lurching arms keen to pass their
song request over the fence to Bruce. The connection of his songs to the masses
is what ignites and fuels the admiration, excitement & devotion. His stories
ring true & hold deep with a certain few and others wonder of the expansion
of his imaginative world. To many, his tales are fantasy, life unthinkable,
disillusioned, and a world unknown.
To the few his songs are the characterisation of real life, they have
felt of what he sings. Bruce pointed selectively to the signs that appeal to
his feeling within that moment. It is not the first or last time he gets this
close with the audience. Bobby Jean is
a choice he knows will get a grand response of participation. Waving his guitar
back and forth, Bruce is in unison with every fans’ solitary arms raised below
him.
Bruce, sometimes through his actions but mostly due to
attitude, endurance & celebrity, is the face for the downtrodden or
underachiever, impoverish or underpaid. Those he feels affiliated to, akin
with. He lends himself to the movement, as his songs are a commentary of
American life from a working class perspective. He is the icon for the
embattled and will be followed to the end.
The energy that is put into this performance is driven
by a wonderful excitement for music and love for mutual involvement. Out in the Street is when Bruce first
descended the stairs from the stage to deliver directly in front of the first
row of fans. A long catwalk borders the barricade, a plinth for which Bruce
interacts many times with the temporary community that he belonged. After delighting
those that managed to brush a fingernail against him Bruce comically staggered
back up on stage and is joined by each of the band members at the microphone to
do their own little rendition of the chorus. He is having fun and bellows “Let
me hear you London,” as the song wraps up. The joy continued and he wishes
everyone to know how important everyone is within that moment. Bruce delivers a
preachers’ sermon during Working On A
Dream of how the power of rock ‘n’ roll on this evening will wash away all negatives
with positives. He builds a communal love by encouraging that “we have all the
tools we need right here on this stage, and on this lawn tonight” and sets the
roles required from both The E Street Band “to bring down the power of the
music” and for “London…to bring the noise!” With both arms aloft, index fingers
pointed skyward spinning in harmony Bruce whips the crowd into frenzy.
Bruce still lives only miles away from where he grew
up and even closer to where he forged a career. He is part of a community,
always first to lend a hand and keeps his friends close, most of them on stage
with him.
The movement he puts into his performance is a
reflection of his personality and beliefs. The right-handed two-finger point,
toward the back of the crowd, clutching his pick between index and middle, his
arm curved as if to swoop up the entirety of the crowd in one swish. An
endearing smile, happy eyes and lit up face revealing obvious joy during Waiting On A Sunny Day. The cheerful
mood as the sun slowly descends during The
Rising met with the rising of everyone’s hand to clap with the beat. The
energy is shared and he feeds off crowd enthusiasm, it reveals the passion for what
he loves. But lyrics sung with feeling are so much more prominent when the
slowed tempo of a heartfelt ballad is delivered in the vein of a spoken word
poem. The look of contemplation on his face, crouched with his arm outstretched
and hand wrapped around the base of the microphone stand as if it were holding
him up before delivering Outlaw Pete.
The sombre, stoic, drawn look that hints toward a tear when delivering Racing In The Street, perhaps more representational
of a troubled artist and reflective mind.
Bruce was shy, introverted and a self-confessed weird
child. Playing guitar gave him confidence and identity, “a reason to live”. He
engrossed himself, driven by perfectionism and a desire for more in life. He
didn’t wish to become his hard working verbally abusive father. He became lonely
and introspective, then depressed and suicidal.
The darkness wrapped around the outside of the stage
illuminating its presence and envelopes the admiring energetic crowd. The band
is still dripping with energy, and sweat, it has been nearly 3 hours. Determined
to finish with as much gusto as he started, Bruce runs around engaging with the
audience, playing with band mates and joking with lead guitarist Steve Van
Zandt while playing Born To Run
before leading the band on a merry dance, single file off the stage toward the
crowd, making them beg for more American
Land. The exhaustion has set in. The zoned out glaze that swallows Bruce
displays the effort that he has put into this show and tour. As Glory Days comes to its rocking
conclusion, Bruce, propped up against
Van Zandt asked, “I want to know what time it is?” Van Zandt with a sense of
timing for suspense responds emphatically, “It’s curfew breaking ‘Boss’ time!”
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played a
headlining 3-hour Glastonbury Festival set the very night before, costing the
festival promoters penalties for passing their allocated time curfew. They love
to perform.
Dancing In The
Dark is the final song, not his best song but not his worst. There is equality
about Bruce; the celebrity of his songs, the balance of the set list, his way
of saying goodbye, even in a shared bow arm-in-arm with his compatriots at the conclusion
would look weird if it were just Bruce on his own. With pleasure Bruce
farewells, “London you have just seen the heart stopping, pants dropping, hard
rocking, earth shocking, booty shaking, love making, Viagra taking, history
making, legendary… E… STREET…. BAND!!!” The crowd cheer, the pure roar acknowledging
the end is here and this may be the last times they will ever see ‘The Boss’
live again. Or may even be the first and last time they will ever see ‘The Boss,’
like it was for me. Bruce points in the distance and mutters “thank you”
multiple times, quickly moving the focus of his eye to include as many faces as
possible.
Bruce moved around the stage like a true experienced
performer. By the end of the second song the hint of sweat on his shoulders coming
through his shirt is noticeable, by the end of the concert his shirt is a
heavier shade of green. With the energy and dedication he puts into the
performance it’s hard to believe he is on the eve of his 60th
birthday. Born Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen, September 23, 1949.
