In Cardiff three nights earlier, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band set a remarkable tone for the rest of their European leg, and after their first show in Wales since the year 2013, they were now back in Northern Ireland for the first time in eleven years also. With Boucher Road Playing Fields the site for their return, a large audience had big expectations – and rightfully so after May 5th – for another all enthralling 2024 World Tour performance.
Sadly, the potential of this show was largely affected by the fact Bruce came into it suffering from a cold he’d picked up a few days prior. Nobody knows where the music would have led him if he was playing with the utmost energy, and while I’m certain that those in the house weren’t entirely disheartened by the sight of his runny nose and the sound of his strained vocal, for those of us listening to the show through the Live Download, his vocal makes for a disappointing listen at times. Still, he gave it his best, with that strain in the voice actually making for many unique and unusual vocal approaches over the night, while the E Street Band, Choir and Horns put in an extra shift to supplement the songs Bruce was struggling on.
The efforts of the E Street Band and E Street auxiliary to help Bruce were immediately evident as they stepped onstage and burst into “No Surrender” for an immediate 2023 International Tour flavour and feeling of déjà vu for fans who’ve followed this ongoing tour. Not the fluid, polished performance from Bruce that we heard open so many shows from last February to August – note the way he sang “the walls of my room, are closin’ in!” for a summation of his altered approach to almost every song on the night – but this is what bandmates are for and every E Streeter from Little Steven Van Zandt to Michelle Moore ensured the night ahead was set up fine despite those struggles from the man in charge. That continued as songs everyone became well versed to last year followed. “Lonesome Day,” “Prove It All Night, “Ghosts” and “Letter To You” suggested that this one might be a bit more standard in comparison to the Cardiff show that opened with “So Young and In Love,” but as was made abundantly clear last year, there’s more to a show than the setlist. Even with Bruce weathered, these songs had their positives, with an inspired falsetto in “Lonesome Day” impressing us before he employed a more hushed vocal than usual for “Prove It All Night,” to positive effect. Of course in the year 2024 we know fine well that vocal quality comes second at best in this Darkness track, and thankfully the guitar playing was very good. Even the mid-point solo which felt a touch disjointed stunned everyone listening, before a coda floored all on Boucher Road and all listening to the Live Download. The stellar guitar work seeped into “Ghosts” with cool – and unconventional – licks standing out in the intro and what followed was a performance that won’t land near the top of this stand out song’s performances when this tour is said and done, but if anything it was better than the Saturday Night Live performance back in December 2020. Admittedly that isn’t a high bar to attain, but as they say, for every cloud there is a silver lining. Mind you, the enthusiasm with which Little Steven shouted “hooooome!” prior to the coda and the power with which Jake Clemons played his saxophone during it was enough to tell us that a ‘poor’ “Ghosts” on this tour is still capable of raising the hairs on our arms.
Then it was time for “Better Days,” which thankfully remained in the set after its long anticipated tour debut in Cardiff. Unfortunately its tempo makes this a difficult song to sing right during the best of times, so unsurprisingly it wasn’t a glorious second outing since 2017 on Bruce’s part. That clarity and grit which fuelled the Cardiff version was gone; instead he tried to sing this with a hearty defiance. A positive sign, however, was the E Street Band playing this remarkably well, so providing it stays in the set once Bruce recovers, we could be in for many tremendous performances.
Following the rarely played Lucky Town favourite the setlist followed a very similar pattern to May 5th, with the run-up to “Last Man Standing” and “Backstreets” only missing “The River” and “If I Was the Priest.” More on the latter in a few moments. First, “The Promised Land” saw promising signs of vocal improvement from Bruce amidst a near-perfect E Street Band effort. The song went a bit awry at the end, resulting in a repeat of the coda, this time featuring Jake’s sax for a real exclamation. Exclamations were then mostly absent during “Spirit in the Night,” as Bruce couldn’t be particularly emphatic in his proclamations and interrogatives. Nonetheless, he put a good amount of emotion into what he could get out, repeating “can you feel?!” several times to bring a different kind of energy. That wasn’t the only notable contrast to the song either, as the final verse – which has really become the moment of the song on this tour – saw Bruce vary from the usual lyric and sing “me and Crazy Janey were making love loooovvveee” for a soulful moment. One of those unique approaches in the wake of his cold, and it was mint! Not lost by his illness was his ability to tease the audience, as evident when singing the “we closed our eyes…” line just after the above mentioned lyric alteration. I guess if Bruce wasn’t on top form, he needed Belfast to be!
Belfast were certainly on form for “Hungry Heart” afterward, Garry Tallent’s bass complementing them superbly as they sang the first verse and chorus – Bruce threw in another soulful declaration of “oh yeah!” here, too – and the end result saw everyone present further roused. The “Nightshift” tribute to lost souls would eventually do the same, serving cathartic themes once the tempo was raised from Bruce’s sombre opening, where the ache in his voice was very appropriate considering what he was singing about. Then came another tribute by way of a beautiful “My City of Ruins.” In this one I loved Bruce’s immediate “oh yeah now!” as he felt the music before speaking to Belfast about what this song represents, calling on them to remember those “whose lives moved our hearts and touched our souls.” During the song he sang with much passion, defying what his cold was limiting him to – buoyed on by something bigger, perhaps? – singing a powerful “while my brother’s down on his knees!” and crying a strained, but striking “I need I need some faith!” en route to a finale that was equal parts thundering and tender. Of a lesser quality to the excellent version in Cardiff, this was still a true stand out performance on May 9th.
Upon the end of “Ruins,” the E Street Band (sans Barry Danelian) left the stage, with Bruce in a sole spotlight to perform “Last Man Standing” without anyone to cover his vocal drawbacks. Thankfully, that wasn’t an issue. A gruff introduction saw him make small tweaks to his story, such as a nod to the towns that had “no bands” and the towns that had “bad bands,” and a comment on the difficulties he experienced learning guitar. “I made up songs on the untuned guitar… then somebody showed me how to tune it, but now all the songs I made up sounded like sh!t.” These contrasts complemented what he said about his life’s journey with George Theiss, and his assurance to Belfast that “grief is just the price we pay for loving well.” What followed was a perfect solo performance of his tribute to Theiss (complete with a trumpet solo from Danielian). Where that cold had negatively affected many, if not all of the songs played prior, it only added to this one, as his phrasing on account of it captivated greatly. Be it the way he delivered lines such as “somewhere high… hard and loud!” or the brittle, brittle way he sang “last man standing now” to see the song out. The heartbreak in his voice as has stated “now” was as devastating as I can recall ever hearing it, and that includes the performance I witnessed in person last May in Paris. Then came a “Backstreets” that was similarly heightened where we may have thought otherwise. That was especially the case for Bruce’s interlude in tribute to Theiss, which not only added to the song prior but served as the heart of the show. Yes, those final declarations of “backstreets!” were rough, but they more than exemplified the commitment that flowed through the near-ten minutes of this one.
As we might expect then, after a first half where the biggest surprise was “No Surrender” opening, the stand out example of setlist variation came post-“Backstreets” in the segment we’ve believed to be just about locked-in. The so-far unplayed “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)” had been pencilled in to be played in-between “Because the Night” and “She’s the One,” but Bruce called an audible and “If I Was the Priest” got the nod instead. A selection of much optimism for those of us attending shows in Europe this summer. The fifty-year old song released in 2020 came after a “Because the Night” not too different to usual, as Bruce has employed the rough and rugged approach he sang with here for a while now. The most striking difference was actually Nils Lofgren’s guitar solo, which was really spectacular, and that guitar at the finish ultimately segueing us into “Priest” was very refreshing. The Letter To You favourite wasn’t entirely polished, as the clearly taken-aback E Street Band took some time to find their groove and the Little Steven-led outro was rather raucous, but I think I speak for every fan in saying I’d take that every night if it meant this song featured nightly. Even imperfect this one shines (like that light on yonder mountain) in a way few other songs in the setlist can. Driven by outstanding work from the Horns, Max Weinberg and Charlie Giordano – the latter’s riffs in the final verse were gorgeous – Bruce gave a vocal that leaned closer to good than bad. Using his strained voice to his advantage, he brought so much punctuation with lyrics such as “boots and spurs!”; “and I were a PRIEST!”; “sells her body on MONDAY!” notably emphatic. Then as Little Steven and the Choir took over with hearty harmonies for the finale, Bruce complemented them with likewise imperatives of “c’mon!” which were another nice, unique touch on the night. The fifth outing of “If I Was the Priest” mightn’t have been the best – it may have even been ‘the worst’ – but it nonetheless showcased how strong this song is in any form. It’s only right that Bruce and the Band should ‘make up’ for it by playing the song in every upcoming European show, yeah?
Sadly “She’s the One” suffered a fair bit on account of Bruce’s cold, with its fluidity and intensity dampened to a larger degree than any other song on the night, and although the E Street Band were as stupendous as usual, everything needed to click here, meaning it wasn’t enough. On the other hand, “Wrecking Ball” wasn’t too different to what we’re used to, as Bruce sang well enough amidst a stirring band effort. The biggest contrast here came in the way Bruce spoke “well they just been turned into parking lots” rather than shouting it, and it served as another class, unique moment in Belfast. “The Rising” saw Bruce very strained next, which was unsurprising given how much he always put into the song, and cold or not he clearly wasn’t going to refrain from that on this night. The hopeful anthem also saw Nils follow on strongly from “Because the Night” with a delectable solo, and while his playing in this one isn’t always of note after his efforts in the famed Darkness outtake, it may be worth keeping an eye on this one to see if he really starts challenging himself over the course of this European leg. This sequence concluded, of course, with the pairing of “Badlands” and “Thunder Road” and while the former also lost intensity as was to be expected, it wasn’t lacking in commitment. Bruce wasn’t able to sing the song’s lyrics with immense passion, but in his phrasing these lyrics rang as true as ever, undoubtedly leaving those on Boucher Road awe-inspired. “Thunder Road” seemingly confirmed that, as Belfast’s singing along was brilliant before Bruce took over with his typical tenderness enhanced. Mind you, that tender approach didn’t last the full song, because that final declaration of “to wiiiiiiin!” – while very strained – was as passionate as it gets.
More changes to the planned setlist followed at the top of the encore, as “Born in the U.S.A.” had been setlisted, but very likely because of Bruce’s illness they gave that one a miss. Instead, “Land of Hope and Dreams” was audibled and while previous versions on the tour have seen Bruce sing with a similar tenderness to “Thunder Road,” this was different. The tempo from Max that the rest of the E Street Band picked up was so rousing, it was like they amplified their intensity to ensure this one was just as impactful as “U.S.A.” would have been, and Bruce’s vocal beside this playing was incredibly earnest. Make no mistake, he didn’t take it easy here, rather it was a similar story to “The Rising” in how he gave every lyric as much power as he could. Where Max and Jake led the song instrumentally with profound contributions on the drums and sax, Bruce tried to match them. His final calls to “come on this train!” and his final, ferocious instruction of “all you got to do iiiissss!” exemplified that, and the earnest nature with which he sang was enough to leave us all questioning the importance of vocal quality when the intimacy between artist and audience is this great.
Mission statement “Born to Run” and an emotional “Bobby Jean” added weight to that, and then a returning “Glory Days” shifted the tone while retaining the communal themes as a stand out of this home stretch. There was much to enjoy in this one, and I liked Bruce and Stevie contrasting their usual “remember that girl who lived up the block?” back and forth with a changed approach, and Bruce declaring “oh f*ck yeah!” in response to Belfast singing “but I probably will!”. The best moment of the song, though, was very arguably what happened during the “I want to go home!” debacle between Bruce, Stevie and the audience. Now, this wasn’t the first time that Bruce called on Max for the decision to stay or go, but it was the first time Max made his decision with such an emphatic declaration. Bruce’s Southern Fried Chicken had to wait, because the Mighty One had spoken! More noteworthy moments followed after “Glory Days,” such as a “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” sung with a much more subdued vocal approach – it was similar to his Broadway delivery at times – and a “Twist and Shout” featuring one very pronounced “work it on out” vocal (2:13 on the recording) and an excellent banter between man and audience: “you think you can outlast the E Street Band? After fifty f*ckin’ years?! … You got a lot of balls in Belfast, baby!”. This rowdy cover led into Bruce’s solo finale, “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” We’ve heard this song sang with a worn vocal already on this tour, on the second night in San Francisco, so with thanks to Belfast for their support and for sticking with him despite his setbacks, of course he sounded much better than on March 31st in this one, employing a typical vocal to give Belfast the best he had to send them home.
An interesting night on the 2024 World Tour with a lot of unique positives and a fair few setbacks, if anything this one was a testament to Bruce’s character for ploughing on despite his ailments, combining with the E Street Band to succeed in doing what they came to Northern Ireland to do: rock Belfast into the ground. Would they do similar to Kilkenny next with Bruce in hopefully better health?
Kieran’s recommended listening from May 9th, 2024 – Belfast, UK:
“Prove It All Night,” “Ghosts,” “Better Days,” “The Promised Land,” “Spirit in the Night,” “My City of Ruins,” “Last Man Standing,” “Backstreets,” “Because the Night,” “If I Was the Priest,” “Wrecking Ball,” “Thunder Road,” “Land of Hope and Dreams,” “Glory Days,” “Twist and Shout” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”
You can download this night in Belfast on Springsteen and the E Street Band’s 2024 European leg here.
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