The Best of The River Tour 2016 – 17: January to February, 2017

by Kieran Lane, posted in Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, music, The Best of The River Tour 2016 - 17, The River Tour 2016-17, Tours

Oceania: 22nd January to 25th February

Officially titled the Summer ’17 tour, there could be an argument made that the fourteen shows played in Australia and New Zealand at the start of 2017 weren’t actually part of The River Tour that I’ve covered in the previous three guides. That being said, given the short period of time between the final show of 2016 in Foxboro and the first show in Perth, as well as the continuity of setlist structure in these two shows and the lack of major changes over the course of this run, I believe there’s enough of a correlation to consider this part of The River Tour.
While the shows played from the end of January to the end of February do not reach the legendary heights of some of the shows played in 2016, there were still some great shows played. Here are the best shows of this part of the tour.

IF YOU MISSED PART THREE ON THE 2ND NORTH AMERICAN LEG IN LATE 2016

January 22nd 2017, Perth, AUS

While this opening show of the tour retains the playing of 70s material played in the 2nd North American leg, this show will be remembered for its astounding politically driven opening with the five-pack of “Lonesome Day”, “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, “No Surrender”, “Out in the Street” and “Land of Hope and Dreams” played to pay respect to “the new American resistance” fighting against hate, division and in support of justice for all back in the USA. It’s evident Springsteen and The E Street Band are motivated based on the level of performance throughout this three and a half hour show, and this motivation leads excellent performances of “American Skin”, “My Hometown” and “Dancing in the Dark”. What is also notable about this one is the extremely rare playing of “Blood Brothers”, albeit under unfortunate circumstances as it’s requested by a fan whose friend had recently passed away. In a show filled with emotion, this performance is the most emotional of them all, with Bruce playing it solo acoustic, it’s truly heartbreaking given the context of the moment.
While there are many shows from the 2nd North American leg featuring the 70s material, there is so much more to this show that the performances of “Lost in the Flood”, “Kitty’s Back”, “Incident on 57th Street” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” can be looked at as more of a bonus than the main attraction of the show.

Rating: 8.5/10

January 30th 2017, Adelaide, AUS

While all of these 2017 shows were excellently performed, after the first show Bruce dropped the rarely played 70s material and went back to playing songs that are more common for the ‘casual’ audience, however there are some shows where certain songs were played that give a real “big time” feel and make them stand out more. That is most certainly evident in this one, which is another politically driven show.
Following “New York City Serenade” Bruce gives his support to the many people stuck in airports around America courtesy of the travel ban that had been instilled before Max builds to a rousing tour debut of “American Land”. Likewise with the speech on the first night in Perth, this was really something cool to listen to at the time and still is today. This opening of relevant songs features another outstanding version of “Land of Hope and Dreams” and an absolutely brilliant, apt, version of “Trapped”. Following this and a good selection of the usual River Tour setlist suspects, “Something in the Night” returns to the set as Bruce and The E Street Band work towards performing a modern day classic.
The most fascinating, and random. moment of the show comes when Bruce starts interacting with members of audience dressed up as characters from 50s sitcom “The Honeymooners (known by diehard fans to be a Bruce Springsteen television favourite) who find themselves brought up on stage to sing Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”. It’s completely fine, the singing isn’t terrible from the fan and it’s all good fun. That being said, if you’re really intrigued by Bruce played “Brown Eyed Girl”, I’d recommend the version from 2014 in Charlotte, NC. “Racing in the Street” is magnificent as was the norm during its outings in 2016 and 2017 and is the standout of the show. As great as the version played in Philadelphia on September 9th was, there’s something about this one makes it that little bit more superior – there’s an amazing moment at 4:35 where you can hear Max quietly playing the cymbals on his drums in the background that emphasises the sound quality of this release.
In another similarity to Perth #1, there’s a solo Bruce performance, but again for unfortunate reasons. “If I Should Fall Behind” is solemn, powerful, and with the context of it being played – a lady in attendance requested it for her son who had recently passed away – it’s a quite upsetting.
Following this the show is ended on an upbeat note, with a really strong version of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” featuring the great Richie Sambora guesting in and adding an awesome interpolation of guitar to the piano and organ heavy intro, while “Shout” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” are a euphoric end to one of the very best shows played in this Oceania leg.

Rating: 8.75/10

February 2nd 2017, Melbourne, AUS

This 2hr51min show to kick off two nights in Melbourne may not be the stand out on paper when compared to the two aforementioned shows or even the two shows below, but there could be an argument made that this is the best E Street performance of 2017, with the Band at the top of their game and this is the best Bruce’s vocals were this entire stage of the tour, which is saying something as there was a notable improvement in all 2017 shows in comparison to 2016. This opens with the first, and most likely only, ever performance of “Don’t Hang Up”, played for contextual political reasons at the time, and though it’s far from Bruce’s best ever cover, ever since first hearing this I’ve really liked it. This is a really fun performance that’s played really well, and it’s something different. There’s great performances of “The Ties That Bind” and “Glory Days” in this opening, however the strongest point of the show comes about forty minutes in: the four-pack starting with “Wrecking Ball”, followed by the very best performance of “New York City Serenade” of the entire tour, “Atlantic City” and “Johnny 99”. In regards to “Wrecking Ball”, “Atlantic City” and “Johnny 99”, I’ve heard some amazing versions of these songs, and while it can’t be said these are the greatest ever versions, they’re absolutely outstanding and are up there with the very best I’ve heard from the 2016 – 2017 shows. What makes “New York City Serenade” is a combination of Bruce’s vocals, the playing of the string section and The E Street Band and the song’s many performances finally culminated in the perfected, quintessential version of the song from this tour.
There’s a lot more very good performances in this show, including a remarkable solo effort of “Long Walk Home”, but the mid-set performance of “NYCS” is what steals this show.

Rating: 8/10

February 14th 2017, Brisbane, AUS

This special played on Valentine’s Day truly is special in every sense of the word. Opening with another fantastic “New York City Serenade”, in its penultimate performance of the tour and being followed by a six-pack compiled of four outtakes and two “Lucky Town” OZ tour debuts. “Janey Don’t You Lose Heart” is joyous while “Rendezvous” and “Be True” are rousing. “Back in Your Arms” is a bit of a cluster in regards to timing and playing issues, however the great Nils Lofgren’s musical knowledge is highlighted as he saves this performance and gets Bruce and the rest of The E Street Band on track. This version pales in comparison to the outing in Dublin in May 2016, but it’s most certainly something different and is a fun 16 minute journey to listen to from start to finish.
At only 2hrs46mins and with twenty-six songs played, this show doesn’t have the wide variety of Springsteen’s catalogue like other shows from 2016 have, but the rare songs played, including the first performance of “Leap of Faith” since 2013, which is very enjoyable, make for a must-have. What’s also notable is “Rosalita” closing the main set as it would for the final four shows – I really liked this as “Rosie” being played not only adds a big time fun atmosphere to every show it’s played in, but it’s positioning in the setlist was reminiscent of tours from 1975 – 1985. I’d like to hope it will be retained here if Springsteen and The E Street Band are to tour again.

Rating: 8.75/10

February 16th 2017, Brisbane AUS

After hearing it enough in the show played above, it’s around an hour into this when I really start thinking that Springsteen is definitely shouting “Brucebane” out to the audience, and given how the audience are in the palm of his hand for a near three hour show, the city might has well have been named after him on this night.
With a setlist crafted for a young fan who had been trying, and finally succeeded on this night, to meet Bruce for the help he’d given him in difficult times, there is no better performance, no better setlist and no better example on this tour of how the only thing for sure with an E Street Band show is that nothing’s for sure. With the first live performance of “Working on a Dream” since it’s only outing in 2012 following the last “New York City Serenade” of the tour, this show was automatically a notable one. The next twenty minutes made it something extraordinary. “Roll of the Dice” is initially underwhelming as for the second show in a row Bruce gets the timing wrong on a rarely played song, but once he corrects himself and the band kicks in this version is simply euphoric, a joy to listen to and one of my top three highlights of this show. “Jole Blon” and a very unique full band “Long Time Comin'” follow, before a fan, via sign request, is brought up on stage to sing and play “Growin’ Up” with Bruce. Normally fans being brought up on stage can be a risk in many ways, but this pays off and the young Nathan Testa does a great job. Alongside “Roll of the Dice” as my highlights of the show are the beautiful, passionate version of “Follow That Dream”, which conveys the context of the young fan meeting Bruce before the show in the most brilliant way, and the show closing full band “Thunder Road” that is the most immense finish to a show on this entire leg of the tour.
Similarly to all these shows mentioned, there is so much more to this night that contributes to it being the best on the tour, including really great versions of “Fire”, “Jungleland” and “Dancing in the Dark”.

Rating: 9.25/10

All of these shows and more from the Oceania 2017 leg of The River Tour can be found on http://live.brucespringsteen.net/catalog.aspx if you want to check them out – while I wouldn’t consider the show one of the very best, I’d be remiss if I didn’t advise you to check out the amazing Bruce solo playing of “The Promised Land” to start the show in Mount Macedon on February 11th.

Stay tuned for more Springsteen content coming up, including a review of the newest Archive show which is going to be released next Friday.