Bruce Springsteen Live Downloads Review: April 3rd, 2016 – Oklahoma City, OK – Chesapeake Energy Arena

“Oklahoma City!!! We’re so glad to be with you tonight! Are you ready to be entertained?! Are you ready to be entertained?! Are you ready to be transformed!?!“

The fourth month of The River Tour 2016 begins in interesting fashion with only the fourth ever live Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert in Oklahoma. The first took place all the way back in 1975 – its setlist unknown – so while the history shared between Springsteen and Oklahoma is small, what is shared is certainly notable. Bruce and the E Street Band didn’t wait too long before making their second appearance in the state: a concert in Norman’s Lloyd Noble Center in December 1978; but the gap between this and the third was substantial. A one-off in Tulsa’s Bok Center on the opening leg of the Working on a Dream Tour was a short affair that blended a couple of touring tracks with crowd favourites, and I can’t help but imagine ardent fans left that concert thinking about what could have been had Oklahoma been made a regular stop after the Darkness Tour.
They’re set to return to the state with a show in Tulsa in February 2023, but on this April night Springsteen and the E Street Band make a start at making up for lost time on this reprise of the first tour they passed them by, and considering the history shared, it should be interesting to see if there’s an extra emphasis on the theme of community throughout this fourth show, forty-one years after the first.

Community certainly flows throughout The River. After “Meet Me in the City,” which is played with great intensity (and yes that final call of “if you can holler!” is as fiery as it was last time out in Denver), Bruce refers to The River as the album where he stepped out of the marginal community in Asbury Park he was a part of and sought to understand what it meant to be part of the wider community. His “Coming of age record,” as he calls it, he tells Oklahoma of the themes he explored for the album and how in doing so, this would hopefully allow him to experience them in his own life. Then, with an invitation offered to the Chesapeake Energy Arena audience to join him, the first journey down to The River of April 2016 begins.

With nightly highlights: “Jackson Cage,” “Independence Day,” and “Here She Comes Walkin'” into “I Wanna Marry You” standing out in the first half; and “Fade Away,” “Stolen Car,” “The Price You Pay” and “Drive All Night” doing the same in the second, Springsteen and the E Street Band ensure that Oklahoma City get the very best of what their River album performances are offering on this tour. In addition to this, Nils Lofgren shines with fresh “Out in the Street” harmonies in this first show of the final month, as well as a particularly awesome solo 2:27 into “Cadillac Ranch” – he hasn’t been playing them like that on this tour! In these two songs and beyond Nils is joined by equally spirited vocal and instrumental efforts from his bandmates, Little Steven, Garry Tallent and Soozie Tyrell, and with these aspects we’re shown that the theme of community isn’t exclusive to just the characters of The River or Bruce and the Oklahoma audience. In his autobiography, “Born to Run,” released later in the year 2016, Bruce would stress the importance of ‘and‘ in reference to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. On this night the four above mentioned members work masterfully alongside Roy Bittan and his mesmerising intro for “Point Blank,” Charlie Giordano and his blissful riffs in “Fade Away,” “Max Weinberg” who towers in “Two Hearts,” and Jake Clemons who burns the house down in “Ramrod” to stress what it means to be a Band. As we look towards the 2023 World Tour and ponder what the future holds for Springsteen and the E Street Band after it ends, as we enter the endgame of the first portion of 2016 the E Street Band are certainly heeding the words of Bruce’s outro to “Wreck on the Highway.” Aware that time is limited and they won’t be doing this forever, this is another example of them doing their work and doing it damn good.

“That’s The River!“

Springsteen and the E Street Band’s work isn’t done after The River, and they maintain their form to treat Oklahoma City to another seventy-five minutes of good music. The House Party and encore sequences are straightforward tonight, but they find importance in calling upon their history in Oklahoma, and also giving the audience a taste of the eras they missed. With three Darkness era tracks and a joyful “Thunder Road” standing out, community is again prominent as “Badlands” kicks off this portion in thunderous fashion. With rallying renditions of “Lonesome Day” and “The Rising” in-between, “The Promised Land” brings Oklahoma even more catharsis, highlighted best by emphatic harmonica at 3:00 and likewise harmonies from Little Steven immediately afterwards. Unfortunately this one does feature a drawback in the audience not reacting loudly at 3:35 – a result of Bruce not appearing here in abundance over the years – but thankfully after this initial hesitation Oklahoma City find their voices to help ensure a rousing finale.
“Because the Night” showcases Nils further prior to “The Rising,” and then in the main set ending “Thunder Road,” Bruce offers his second invitation of the evening to the audience. This invitation is even greater than his previous one for a trip down The River too, because on a night focused on making connections, this performance exemplifies Bruce and the E Street Band’s mission statement, and it sees them strive to make sure future appearances in Oklahoma will be without any hesitations such as the one we hear in “The Promised Land,” but rather an atmosphere akin to that of Ullevi or the San Siro.

The mission continues in the encore, and while the songs selected are – as noted – typical for the tour, they’re perfect for this occasion. A solid reading of “Born to Run” adds one more invitation, and stirring versions of “Dancing in the Dark” and “Rosalita” make for an outright celebration. The biggest highlights of this finale, though, are in fact our final songs. “Shout” follows an ardent “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and creates even more of a frenzy in the Chesapeake Energy Arena, but despite its wild atmosphere, it’s Bruce’s cries of “I DON’T THINK I CAN STOP NOW!” that resonate most. On a night that could have been difficult, and one where Bruce and the Band could have taken it very easy, here we see Springsteen swept away by the music and what his audience has given him. With this unwillingness to leave the stage, he adds one more song, “Bobby Jean,” for a sentimental finale. The history Bruce shares with Oklahoma may be minimal, but they go back a long way and with this song he lets his audience know they mean a lot to him. Calling on Stevie’s guitar riffs and Jake’s final sax kiss for extra emotional touches, if Oklahoma had once again been passed by in 2023 and this ended up being the last time, I think those ardent fans leaving the Chesapeake on this night would have been very satisfied with the show Springsteen and the E Street Band treated them to. Can it be bettered next year?

“Oklahoma City! The E Street Band loves ya!“

After a series of stormers to end the month of March, the final portion of the opening U.S. leg begins solidly with a very fine rendition of The River in front of an audience who’d been starved of live Springsteen in the past. As we listen we can note some disinterest, but ultimately we hear Oklahoma as very appreciative of the performance Springsteen and the E Street Band give them. As we enter April 2016 we know very well what songs stand out in The River and post-album sequences, and determinedly played versions of “Jackson Cage,” “I Wanna Marry You,” “Drive All Night” and “The Promised Land” combine with the likes of “Crush on You,” “Lonesome Day” and “Bobby Jean,” to result in a show that equally rouses and refreshes as we look to the final eight shows in the U.S, which continues in Dallas next time out.

Rating: 7/10

Kieran’s recommended listening from April 3rd, 2016 – Oklahoma City, OK:
“Meet Me in the City,” The River, in particular: “The Ties That Bind,” “Jackson Cage,” “Independence Day,” “Hungry Heart,” “Out in the Street,” “Crush on You,” “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch),” “Here She Comes Walkin'” – “I Wanna Marry You,” “The River,” “Point Blank,” “Cadillac Ranch,” “Fade Away,” “Stolen Car,” “The Price You Pay,” “Drive All Night” and “Wreck on the Highway”; “Badlands,” “The Promised Land,” “Because the Night,” “Thunder Road,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” “Shout” and “Bobby Jean.”

You can download the first stop in April on The River Tour 2016 here.

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