The Boss

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 60^th birthday. Born Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen, September 23, 1949.