Bruce Springsteen Live Downloads Review: January 29th, 2014 – Cape Town, SA – Bellville Velodrome

Following the fourteen premieres and emotional intensity of night two, you couldn’t be blamed for thinking Springsteen and The E Street would take it easy on this final night inside the Bellville Velodrome. It’s a tough act to top, so that probably explains why Cape Town were only treated to sixteen tour premieres on this night – if you’ve been keeping count, that rounds up to fifty-seven different songs in total across the three nights – and thirty songs coming in at three hours and two minutes. The Second Night Rule is great, The Third Night Rule is something else entirely.

Where night two was one that gradually got better and better as it went on, there’s no time for slow starts on this night and as a result we get a good version of “We Take Care of Our Own” to start the show off. For those who were ruing or celebrating the lack of Wrecking Ball material on the 28th, I imagine they’ll have been surprised by Bruce’s addition of five tracks from that album to this setlist, a striking statement that the Wrecking Ball Tour isn’t quite over yet, regardless of this tour being under a different title.
This “We Take Care” is sang with a bit of wear and tear in Bruce’s voice and without some of the vehemence that makes other versions scathingly great, but there are no moments where his singing diminishes the work of The E Street Band, in particular Max whose forceful tempo immediately sets the tone for the night. It’s more of the same in “Night”, and while Jake makes a slight botch during his opening solo, he ensures that it doesn’t happen again within the song, playing a series of stellar instrumentals (1:09 / 1:59 / 2:47). Alongside this we get a couple of nicely stated lyrics from Bruce – “sound of the bell” (0:20 – 0:24) and “You work 9-5 and somehow you SURVIVE!” (1:55) – and also some nice duetting between him and Stevie. Stevie’s contributions aren’t as splendid as we’ve heard them in the past (or will again in the future) but on this particular occasion they just feel right for the song.
“Night” is one of those tracks where Springsteen and The E Street Band always struggle to replicate the same lightning that they caught in the bottle for the studio version on Born to Run, however it can’t be denied that it’s always a thrill to listen to it live. It even once again raises that question I pondered back in January: Is there a version of the song that doesn’t hit the spot?
I also have to call back to another previous comment, this time from mid-August in the conclusion of my Cape Town night #1 review. I mentioned how the inclusion of “Nelson Mandela” set the tone for experimenting in the setlists on this tour, and while this next performance isn’t one of the dozen unique covers we’ll be talking about in the coming weeks, the fact that “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” is the third song in the set is the eccentricity of this tour in a nutshell. It isn’t a particularly remarkable version, though The E Street Band play well and Bruce’s deliveries of “trying out his attitude on all theeeeeee cats!” (1:24 – 1:27) and “Steve I ain’t here on business, I’m just here for!” (1:49) are good (we can’t hear the audience loudly respond to the latter, but it’s not a massive hindrance), however the thrill of this one appearing so early in the set is more than enough to draw you into the performance.

In comparison to the five tracks from Wrecking Ball, for the third time this tour it’s just the four from High Hopes, and it’s an instance of two-in, two-out tonight. “American Skin” is out for the first time on the tour (a shame really, given how great those opening two versions are) and “Just Like Fire Would” is gone so soon after its live concert debut. In for them are “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, which is back with a brooding vengeance as the penultimate song of the main set, and “This is Your Sword”, the fourth live debut of the tour from the album. Unfortunately this tour debut isn’t a good one. The Horns sound good and triumphant, but the delivery of lyrics from everyone – Bruce, Stevie and The Choir – sounds a bit too jumbled, and while I’d say this needs work for future live performances, the fact that there are only two more after this seems to suggest Bruce himself didn’t think it was worth it.
In “High Hopes” there’s some emphasis on the lyrics I highlighted as notable from the night before, but compared to that previous version this is a little more restrained in relation to grit and anger. I think the percussion in this performance is particularly impressive compared to the last two shows, as Max and Everett both play even more rapturously, and that’s of course accompanied by another searing Morello solo. It’s early days, but it should be interesting to hear if any other E Streeters get stuck in and overshadow these three as the tour progresses.
As for “Heaven’s Wall” appearing eight songs later, this third outing of the tour finally brings us a version where we can feel an abundance of energy in the performance. I’m not sure if it’s because it follows the motivated “Jack of All Trades” or because the song has finally ‘clicked’, but I continually find myself enjoying this one. The highlights of the previous two nights in Max, Cindy, Michelle and Stevie remain very good, and there’s also more vibrance and fire to Bruce’s vocals, so let’s hope it keeps up in the next ten performances.

As noted, “Heaven’s Wall” is eight songs away from “High Hopes”, and immediately following the titular track of the tour is the first of four album double headers. It was “Prove It ’78” into “Darkness” the night before, and tonight it’s “Adam Raised a Cain” into “Something in the Night”. It’s also an immediate shout for highlight of the entire concert. The opening of “Adam” seems to combine several variations of the song over the years, as that extended forty second intro calls back to The Roxy ’78, and those Horns (0:50 onwards) add a touch of the Tunnel of Love Express to this rendition. And Bruce makes sure his guitar solo in-between covers every other period in which the song had been played with such fire. His weathered vocals are in return more suited for this era, but he still manages to recite every lyric with the necessary amount of intensity, and in the background Roy, Charlie and Garry excellently provide that sombre, elegiac sound to ensure the rendition works. With further fiery guitar instrumentals from 2:43 onwards and 5:31 respectively, if there’s another version of “Adam” on the tour that comes close to this, we’re in luck (spoiler warning: there is).
There are a select amount of Springsteen songs that, when played live, tend to stand out and steal the show. I’m not referring to “Incident” or “Racing in the Street”, but more the likes of “Jackson Cage”, “Night”, and “Something in the Night”, which are always so flawlessly performed you find yourself going back to them over and over when the show is over. I’m not 100% sure if that’s because of their lyrics, instrumentals (or both), live history, or a combination of the three and more, but there’s almost always something truly magical about songs like these, and that’s the case with this following performance of “Something in the Night”. As soon as Roy starts playing that piano instrumental you know you’re in a for a good time, even if it doesn’t sound any better than any he’s ever played before on the song. And when Bruce starts with those “woah-oh-oh’s“, the weary vocals prominent in “Adam” are seemingly replaced by crystal clear soul, before a loud, raspy howl at 0:50 brings the rest of The E Street Band in – and what else could you ask for? Well, if you were to ask for four more minutes of an excellently sang and performed version of the song, featuring blissful organ swells from Charlie, great backing vocals from Stevie and stellar drumming and bass playing from Max and Garry, you’re in luck.

That second album double header comes right after, featuring the second and third Wrecking Ball album tracks of the night: the tour debut of the title track and “Death to My Hometown”. “Wrecking Ball” is sang and played well and has a couple of nice aspects such as Soozie’s violin playing, the mixing in the audience and their clapping (1:10 / 3:12), and also in the keyboards playing of both Roy and Charlie – these two in particular combine for another nostalgia driven rendition of the song. As for “Death to My Hometown” it’s a similar story to the night one performance (aside from the very quick one second build to the intro) with the Horns once again sounding incredibly jubilant (2:39 – 3:20) and Bruce singing with an intense, quick fire approach. Not a great version of the song, but a fine one nevertheless.
“Hungry Heart” next isn’t anything special, but it is noteworthy for Bruce altering the lyrics and singing “I met her in a Cape Town bar“, the harmonies provided by the Choir and for Jake’s solid solo to cap the song off from 3:17. Oh, and for Bruce going three for three on crowd surfs too – it can’t be denied that these Cape Town audiences were reliable!

A delightful looking two-pack on paper of “Tougher Than the Rest” and “Jack of All Trades” follow and luckily for us they’re delightful in execution as well. With additional electric and acoustic guitar nicely provided by Nils and Soozie, this is a fine performance of the Tunnel track with the only flaw admittedly being Soozie’s backing vocals, which aren’t as graceful as Patti’s usually are. Alongside this Charlie plays very tenderly on the keys and Bruce takes the opportunity to again alter his singing of several lines – “You’re all dressed up in blue” / “So somebody ran out” / “If you’re looking for love” / “Some girls they want a handsome Dan” / “All you’ve gotta do is say ‘Yes’” – with these deliveries either emphasising certain lyrics or being sang at a quickened pace.
Bruce opens “Jack of All Trades” mentioning how the last several years have seen “very hard times back home“, and notes how many in South Africa have also been struggling, essentially dedicating the song to those natives and anyone else around the world facing hard times. He’d commonly say something along these lines leading into the song from 2012 – 2014 and I can vividly remember him saying it prior to the performance at the Wrecking Ball gig I attended in Sunderland in June 2012. This version is of similar quality to that one too in how inspired it sounds, and likewise with “Something in the Night” and those other songs I highlighted, this rendition really accentuates how consistently fantastic this song has been in its live airings. There aren’t any standout vocals or instrumentals compared to the Apollo Theatre, Olympiastadion or later versions from 2014, but like those versions this is sang and played with such purpose that you can’t help but be astonished by Bruce’s words, those Horns or Tom’s electric guitar playing.

The opening four minutes of the “Because The Night” track are dedicated to finding Tom’s brother in the audience, getting him onstage and having him propose to his girlfriend, and it’s wholesome if not a little long and, well, a bit of a pointless inclusion on an audio recording. Despite that, when it’s done Bruce plays six minutes of “Because The Night” and “She’s The One” afterwards as part of a special double header for the future married couple. The Darkness outtake made famous by Patti Smith is without the unique repeated “Take me now” from night one, but it’s still a solid performance featuring immense Horns playing (6:09 – 6:25) and that superb solo from Nils (7:09 – 9:14). One aspect of Nils’ solo in this song that I’ve always loved, and one that I believe makes it stronger than Tom’s “Joad” solo, is in the way he so excellently transitions the playing back to Bruce for the finale. It may be simple, but it’s still really awesome.
“She’s the One” follows on in strong fashion, with a couple of good vocals from Bruce including his impressive and tender deliveries of “French cream won’t soften those boooooots, French kisses won’t break that heart of stone no” (1:06) and “she’s the one yeah” into a wild “YOOOOOOO!” from 1:34. Even greater than this, though, has to be those instrumentals blending together from 3:34 starting with Jake’s scorching sax solo, and culminating with strikingly good piano and guitar performances from Roy, Bruce, Nils, Tom and Stevie. Now I wonder if Tom’s brother and his fiancé requested these two recordings to be played at their actual wedding reception?

If you’re still recovering from “Working on the Highway” fatigue after the 2016-17 tour, you might be thinking that the song will disrupt the double header prior in the worst way, but in fact it’s a fun rendition of the song with some nice guitar playing. It’s not quite on the level of my favourite Archive versions from Los Angeles 1985 and Boston 2007, but as we’ve determined in the past, that should have no impact on how much we enjoy this or any other rendition.
The U.S.A. track is followed by another performance notable for its guitar playing, and I’d go as far to say the extended guitar driven intro of this “Shackled and Drawn” is absolutely brilliant. “Gimme some Nils!“. And alongside that we get an excellent instance of vocal fluctuation from Bruce when he sings “Up on banker’s hill the party’s goin’ strong, down here below we’re shackled and drawn!” from 3:01 to 3:10, and just listen to how raw his voice gets at the 3:06 point, it’s class! The final big highlight on this one surprisingly isn’t the preaching duet between Bruce and Cindy (which is still magnificent, don’t worry) but instead Max’s pounding drumming from 6:17 that makes the finale all the more resounding – and if you’re playing this song in Cape Town for the final time, you want it to end on a thunderous note.
“Sunny Day” follows as it did in the previous two shows and it’s a relatively standard performance. It’s not amazingly sang by Bruce, and not sang at all by the ‘Sunny Day Kid’, which technically makes this volunteer the best speaker of the song to date, and a pioneer at the same time. History is made on the final night in Cape Town.

“The Rising”, which again features those stunning swells from night two, will likely have additional meanings as 2020 goes on, and as well as being a tribute to the men and women who climbed to uncertain fates on September 11th, 2001, I imagine the song will serve as an anthem for the overlooked, the invisible and unheard, the same people Bruce – and on this tour, Tom – sing about in the aforementioned “Joad”. Of the two it’s Tom who stands out most for me on this one, and not just for his instrumentals from 2:48 and 5:32 either, as it’s rather his singing and the way in which he recites lines like “sleepin’ bag“, “takes a drag“, “first shall be last” (1:45 – 1:59) and “somebody’s struggling to be free” (4:34), that I find remarkable on this night. There’s a lot of conviction in his tone of voice, and that’s nicely contrasted by the delicate piano playing from The Professor throughout. There’s a lot going on in this one and even after several listens I’m bound to have missed something spectacular. What most certainly can’t be missed though are those howls of “the highway is alive tonight!” and “with the ghost of Tom Joad!” from both Bruce and Tom at 4:45 and 5:21 respectively. They’re so good and so aggressively sang that you could make a very strong argument about how the guitar playing, possibly for the first time, isn’t the most devastating element of this song.

As it did the night before, “Badlands” ends the main set in usual, stimulating fashion, but likewise with the show twenty-four hours earlier, this grand performance of one of Bruce’s greatest songs is outshined by the opening song of the encore: “Sun City”.
It had to be played at some point over these three nights and there’s no better time than the final night to play what is one of the finest examples of The E Street Band’s relationship with South Africa. Accompanied by fellow singer and activist, Mos Def, we get a genuinely good version of the song, with exceptional vocals from Little Stevie (who leads, of course) and Bruce, who thankfully delivers that “we’re stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back!” (1:35) line with the same fire that he sang it with in 1985. He does similar when howling “this quiet diplomacy ain’t nothin’ but a joke!” (2:09) and “look around the world it can’t be denied, why are we always on the wrong side?” (2:55) too, complemented well by Tom’s strong vocals leading up to the former and the harmonies of The E Street Choir over the song. In terms of a perfected performance, we’ll see that there are many better as the tour progresses, but I don’t think any will be as apt as this one. A fun and significant rendition.

“Meanwhile thirty years ago back home, we had our own economic apartheid. For thirty years… For thirty years… For a hundred years…”

Starting off the encore is what I’ve long considered to be the definitive officially released version of “Rocky Ground”. This mightn’t be sang as well as the Apollo version we talked about last month and it’s without that stirring “I’m a solider!“, but it’s much more of a complete performance thanks to Bruce connecting the struggles of South Africa and America, singing with a gentler, more emotionally driven tone. It’s also benefitted by the always reliable trumpet playing of Curt, rugged guitar playing of Tom, and by Michelle’s rap, which she recites on this night through speech rather than singing. In return there are no flubs, and we get a spot on contribution from her, leading to a powerful finale. This is the last time the song would be played live, and it’s good that it went out in strong fashion.
The encore proper sees “Born to Run”, “Dancing in the Dark” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” as the only songs retained from the night before, while “Glory Days”, “Seven Nights to Rock”, “Twist and Shout” are specially included, and “Thunder Road” returns to bring the Cape Town run of shows to an end in the best way.
“Born to Run” once again has Roy’s piano playing very prominent in the mix, standing out above just about every other instrument, and much like the January 28th show, we get some fine audience participation at the finale. Though, the audience participation in this one is nothing compared the interactions Bruce shares with them from “Glory Days” onwards. The tour debut of the Born in the U.S.A. track is relatively straightforward, despite Stevie’s nice guitar licks at 1:13, until the three minute mark when Bruce and Stevie start bantering with one another, and then Bruce banters with the audience: “We gotta get goin’ Steve! We gotta get to Johannesburg! We gotta get to Johannesburg! No Johannesburg? Keep going right here? Keep going right here?? Oh right! Oh yeah!“. As with most of the encore regulars, “Glory Days” can get a bit repetitive with nothing overly unique about the song, so it’s always nice when Bruce and Stevie add these instances of dialogue to the song, as minor as they can be.

“No Johannesburg? Are you sure? ‘Cause we will keep goin’! We will keep goin’!“

“Seven Nights to Rock” is, as noted above, very basic and similar to the versions you can hear on Helsinki 2003, MSG 2009 and The Birthday Show from September 2012, and the only difference is the outstanding guitar playing of Tom from 2:43. There are several versions on the tour, so I’m looking forward to hearing more of his playing on this song, and who knows, maybe there’ll be a performance that really stands out. This one is followed by a well sang rendition of “Dancing in the Dark”, featuring additionally good “oh oh ohhhhs” (2:42) led by Stevie, and while Bruce doesn’t ruin his voice with the final “HEY!” – the recording actually leaves us unsure as to whether he even tries hitting it on this night – that, unfortunately, doesn’t have any impact on the quality of “Tenth”.

“Are you done yet Cape Town! You’re finished! You’re tired! You’re ready to go home! Are you done yet?! Are you done yet?!”

“Tenth” begins with an awesome piano lick from Roy about two or three seconds in, and as has been the case for all of these encore tracks, The E Street Band play consistently well throughout. It’s just a shame that Bruce (most likely) got himself a bit too exhausted building up to the song as he struggles vocally on the song once again. I pondered last time out in these 2014 reviews whether “Tenth” might be better as a concert opener, but today I’m starting to think that Bruce might be intentionally singing the song in this worn way. He sounded good singing “Dancing” prior, and he sounds fine singing “Twist and Shout” and “Thunder Road” afterwards, so it should really be more of the same with “Tenth”, shouldn’t it?
“Twist and Shout” is fun, and at five and a half minutes (a couple of which are dedicated to band introductions) it’s one of the easiest listens of a regularly appearing track on these Live Downloads – Archive Series releases. And we even get a Kevin Buell namedrop just before! Yeah, it might be Bruce asking where he is with the right guitar, but a Kevin Buell shout out should always be appreciated, no matter the context! As mentioned above, The E Street Band play excellently on this, and Bruce even realises it himself, speaking for the audience in proclaiming “The greatest band in the land!” as the song comes to a finish. I’m not going to disagree with him…

“You really never know on any given night what you’re gonna get, what to expect, particularly when you haven’t been some place.”

Following thank yous, additional comments about cold water and sharks, and apologies in advance to the audience for them to not being able to walk, talk or do anything bar one specific activity once this show ends, we get the final song of the night, and Cape Town stand as a whole, in the aforementioned “Thunder Road”. I mentioned above about Bruce sounding fine singing this one, and though that might have been an understatement (he sounds brilliant) some of that may be down to the acoustics inside the Bellville Velodrome, which you could say allows his deliveries of “make it if we run” (2:43) and “ghosts in the eyes of all the boys” (3:33) to resonate all the more. It’s simply a beautiful performance, and though I can’t speak for you South African fans, if Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band were to never play Cape Town again, I think this is the perfect way to go out on top.

With sixteen tour premieres making for fifty-seven different songs played across three nights, the final night inside the Bellville Velodrome really could have ended after “Something in the Night” and still left the Cape Town audience satisfied. Instead what we’ve got here is a three hour marathon compiled of thirty varying songs from all over the place: There are multiple High Hopes and Wrecking Ball tracks, including the live premiere of “This is Your Sword”, a randomly placed, but always appreciated outing of “Rosie (Come Out Tonight)”, a marriage proposal leading into rousing renditions of “Because The Night” and “She’s The One”, and those performances of “Sun City” and “Rocky Ground”, which are truly remarkable. If you’re playing Cape Town for the third, and possibly final, time, you definitely want to do it like this.

Rating: 8.25/10

Kieran’s recommended listening from January 29th, 2014 – Cape Town, SA:
“We Take Care of Our Own”, “Night”, “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”, “Adam Raised a Cain“, “Something in the Night“, “Wrecking Ball”, “Tougher Than The Rest”, “Jack of All Trades“, “Heaven’s Wall”, “Because The Night”, “She’s The One”, “Shackled and Drawn”, “The Ghost of Tom Joad“, “Sun City“, “Rocky Ground” and “Thunder Road”.

You can download the final night from Cape Town here.

Thanks for reading my review of the third and final show from Springsteen and The E Street Band’s Bellville Velodrome stand in January 2014! If you were expecting this last week, I’m sorry it’s late, hopefully the review of the newest Archive Series release from London 2006 sufficed in the meantime though!
Next up from the 2014 tour is the final South African show of the tour from Johannesburg, and, well, either before or after that will be the newest Archive Series release, which was delayed this week due to scheduling conflicts leading into Labour Day. And who knows, soon enough there might even be a new Springsteen album or box set to review, as the rumours have really been heating up lately.
Again, thanks for taking the time to check out this review, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did revisiting the show and writing about it!