There’s a moment in Thom Zimny’s 2020 Letter To You documentary where, having finished work on their first two song performances for the LP of the same name, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band share a toast to their vision of the opening nights of the 2022 tour: four nights in the San Siro. Of course, by the time that documentary and LP were released we were in the midst of what would ultimately put a stop to a 2022 tour, and while the San Siro wasn’t available for the 2023 International Tour, Springsteen and the E Street Band did try their best to get back to Milan this time around. Rather than opening their tour in the famed home of both AC and Inter (or Inter and AC depending on your preference), they closed it out about twelve miles northeast of Milan, in Monza and its Circuit racetrack.
Despite summer being here and the venue being right, fans wouldn’t see the second tour outing of “Racing in the Street” – or any other songs worthy of a timely appearance – on this night, and instead Springsteen and the E Street Band’s go-home show in Europe would end more or less how it began without any major additions to the setlist.
Still, regardless of the familiarity many fans have with this setlist, this show was a fine example as to why Bruce has stuck with it for so long, as he, the E Street Band and the Monza audience – many of which may have been experiencing it for the very first time – made for a damn good finale in Europe, one that reminded all why the connection between Springsteen and Milan is so strong. A smoking “No Surrender” got all in the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza nicely warmed up, and the evidence of that was well reflected in the songs that followed. “Hey!” chants led into “Ghosts” as was the case in Hockenheim, and they were noticeable prior to the coda too as Monza made it clear they were with the men and women onstage, and while those onstage reciprocated in kind – Max Weinberg stood out in both of these opening two songs with fantastic drumming – those in the audience did their best to take this show to a level above. The best example of that here came halfway through “Ghosts” as Bruce and Little Steven Van Zandt sang the third verse and Monza did exactly what Bruce praised them for in the above mentioned Letter To You film by singing the song’s internal riffs. Not even ten minutes into the show and a blissful reminder of the absolute blessing live music is. Monza’s singing of those internal riffs transcended the Letter To You favourite, carrying over into the start of “Prove It All Night,” and if we thought this one and its truly incendiary guitar playing couldn’t get any better, we can trust in an Italian audience to give songs that extra nudge into the “Oh my God!!!” category.
It wasn’t an entirely perfect start to the show however, as a roughly sung “Letter To You” followed, and despite Bruce’s commitment making for a passionate two-pack with “The Promised Land” afterward, if the setlist isn’t to change come August, those onstage certainly left themselves with an opening night task for Chicago, because “Out in the Street” was also imperfect on account of a piano delay in the opening moments – if you’ve ever wondered what a guitar-driven start to the River rouser would be like, this unique version gave us an answer. Unfortunately there would be further imperfections as the show went on, most notably during “Backstreets” as Bruce got mixed up early on singing “we swore…” to somewhat stain an otherwise magical performance; and there was a similar instance in “Dancing in the Dark” during the encore at the top of the final verse – in Bruce’s defence, these are two lines I still stumble singing along to as well!
Fortunately the positives very much outweighed the negatives as the night went on, and “Kitty’s Back” rounded out the opening portion of the show with scintillating guitar and more stupendous participation from Monza in particular (I loved their response to Bruce’s towering shout of “LITTLE BIT LOUDER!”) before “Nightshift” and “Mary’s Place” soulfully segued all into the next sequence. As always it was a highly emotional one concluding with the aforementioned “Backstreets” that saw Bruce complement his towering vocals and the E Street Band’s likewise music with a tribute and a promise to the memory of George Theiss. Also standing out in this sequence was “Johnny 99,” a thematic outlier that served as more of a laughter through tears folk tale, and for the second show in a row it staggered with tasty guitar riffs, plenty of cowbell and a gloriously tragic declaration of “BURN OL’ JOHNNY 99!”. “The River” stood out too, its very fragile harmonica intro setting the tone for a tender performance, and I like how Monza themselves complemented with resounding participation during the coda, chanting that seeped into the next song, before Bruce halted it with a simple guitar strum so he could begin reading the introduction for “Last Man Standing.” I’m sure Monza could have chanted all night long!
Having respectfully and euphorically experienced “Last Man Standing” and “Backstreets,” Monza would get more opportunities to chant in the rocking selections that rounded out the main set: “Because the Night,” “She’s the One,” “Wrecking Ball,” “The Rising,” “Badlands.” It was the latter two songs that stood out most here, the title track of the 2002 LP extra passionate in execution once again and the live essential afterward sensational – those “E Street Band!” chants were well earned – and while the three songs prior were as solidly played as they have been since February 1st, as we look toward the third leg of the tour and presume the setlist won’t change, I must say that I’d like to see “Because the Night” given the “Prove It All Night” treatment. For a few months now I’ve been speaking of the Darkness track’s ’23 performances in the same breath as ’78 and ’81, and a similarly hypnotic evolution of the album outtake – think mesmerising intros akin to ’78 to go alongside Nils’ solo – wouldn’t be taken for granted!
Time will tell as to how these songs and this setlist evolves on the next stage of the tour, but there was still time to go in Europe, as Springsteen and the E Street Band saw the night out in mostly straightforward fashion. The addition of “Twist and Shout” – complete with an interpolation of “La Bamba” – for a celebratory finale was the most notable song performance of the encore. For any other show in Europe I’d probably say it was the most notable moment outright, but that actually came after the song had concluded, as Bruce gave thanks to all European fans (I’ll speak on behalf of all of us in saying you’re welcome!) and made a mouthwatering declaration of “We’ll be back!” before closing out this leg of the tour in the same way he did the first, with a final song of acknowledgment, and a final tribute to Italy, Europe, George Theiss and all others in absentia, “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” Bruce’s promise will surely make for a lot a sleepless nights ahead out of excitement, but for the time being, all European fans will rest well with images of this long-anticipated tour running through the mind.
Kieran’s recommended listening from July 25th, 2023 – Monza, IT:
“No Surrender,” “Ghosts,” “Prove It All Night,” “Letter To You,” “The Promised Land,” “Kitty’s Back,” “Nightshift,” “Mary’s Place,” “Johnny 99,” “The River,” “Last Man Standing,” “Backstreets,” “Because the Night,” “She’s the One,” “The Rising,” “Badlands,” “Glory Days,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Twist and Shout” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”
You can download the final night of the 2023 European leg from Monza here. Thanks for following along this stage of the 2023 International Tour with me! Next up, the start of the second North American leg from Wrigley Field in Chicago.
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