Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Philadelphia review: A concert with a message
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band had a special message for Philadelphia at a packed Citizen’s Bank Park on Wednesday night.
They ain’t going anywhere.
“We ain’t quittin’,” said Springsteen while introducing “Last Man Standing” from the band’s 2020 album “Letter to You.” “We ain’t stopping -- what the (blank) for? Why do people stop?”
Why indeed, when the E Street Band on stage in Philly on Wednesday was firing on all cylinders and fuel-injected with fun.
Springsteen, 74, had a big smile on his face for much of the show. He worked the fans near the stage during the rollicking “Working on the Highway” and gave a customer on the pit rail an item from his pocket during “Hungry Heart.”
“We came all the way from Central Jersey, a 90-minute car ride, just to ask one question -- can you feel the spirit?” said Springsteen during the “Spirit in the Night” introduction.
That would be an affirmative.
Fun times, but a Springsteen and E Street Band show is not a one-dimensional affair. Wednesday’s concert had a degree of solemnity. “Atlantic City,” a song not about the city’s best side, opened the concert followed by “Lonesome Day.”
Springsteen and E Street performed the darkly hued “Streets of Philadelphia” for the first time since 2016. The Oscar-winning track from the 1993 movie “Philadelphia” about the plight of AIDS sufferers during the onset of the epidemic seemed to have a new bearing here with the help of the E Street Choir providing an uplifting dimension to the song. Max Weinberg’s subtly funky skip beat set the mood.
The summer noir classic “Racing n the Street” was brilliant thanks largely to an epic Roy Bittan piano run.
The Boss’ vocals improved considerably throughout the evening. He started out throaty and unsteady on “Atlantic City” and “Lonesome Day” but remarkably gained his footing soon after. By “Nightshift,” he was brilliant with trills and a soulful vibrato. He's brave, too, to share the vocal spotlight with the exceptional talents of E Street Choir members Curtis King and Ada Dyer on “Nightshift.”
The show’s core theme of mortality and its motivational properties the show has remained for the last 18 months. Springsteen, as in previous concerts, spoke of the passing of George Theiss, his friend and bandmate from the '60s-era Freehold band the Castiles, in a mid-show monologue prior to “Last Man Standing” and “Backstreets.” It's still very poignant and moving. Springsteen dedicated “Last Man Standing” and “I'll See You in My Dreams” to Thiess' wife, Diana Theiss, who was at the show.
But the format has opened up. They're raging into that good night with a righteous noise, a smile on their faces, and a funny aside or two. Like the Boss' take on Freehold TV options in the '60s.
“The great thing about Freehold is we sit in between Philadelphia and New York,” said Springsteen during the mid-show monologue. “Back in the day, you could get Channel 2, 3, 4, 5, Channel 6, Channel 8 -- we'd get all these Philadelphia channels. You guys used to have all those teen shows after school from the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, Lloyd Thaxton, 'American Bandstand.' Philly is a heavy music town!”
Philly fans are Springsteen's people. A swinging “Twist and Shout” was performed around the three-hour mark of the show.
“I know Philly is a tough town but are they looking a little tired to you?,” said Springsteen with a big smile to Steven Van Zandt mid-song.
“You think you can outlast the E Street Band? Where you been the last 50 (blanking) years?”
The beat kicked back in, Springsteen swung his guitar around his neck five times fast and a woman next to me squealed with delight.
More: 6 history-making moments featuring Bruce Springsteen in Philly
Bruce Springsteen is back: Boss joins Zach Bryan for two songs in Philadelphia
Wednesday's concert was the first of two shows Springsteen and the E Street Band play at Citizen's Bank Park. The second is Friday, Aug 23. The shows are makeup dates for the Aug. 16 and Aug. 18, 2023 shows that were postponed due to a Springsteen illness. The Boss missed a string of shows last fall as he battled peptic ulcer disease and he thanks the crowd for their patience regarding the protracted makeup date.
Springsteen and the E Street Band last played in the city on March 16, 2023 at the Wells Fargo Center during the early U.S. arena run of the tour.
Springsteen postponed four shows in Europe this summer due to “vocal issues” that arose after a May 22 show at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England, in what fans said was a chilly and rainy day.
Upon returning to the U.S. after the European tour, Springsteen joined Zach Bryan for two songs, “Atlantic City” and “Sandpaper,” at the country star's Aug. 7 show at the nearby Lincoln Financial Field in Philly.
When not hosting concerts, Lincoln Financial Field is the home of the Philadelphia Eagles and Citizen's Bank Park is the home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tickets for Friday's Springsteen and E Street Band concert are available starting at $149 on www.mlb.com/phillies.
Bruce Springsteen setlist: Aug. 21, 2024
Atlantic City
Lonesome Day
Night
No Surrender
Ghosts
Working on the Highway
The Promised Land
Spirit in the Night
Hungry Heart
Youngstown
Long Walk Home
The E Street Shuffle
Nightshift
Streets of Philadelphia
Racing in the Street
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because the Night
She's the One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Twist and Shout
I'll See You in My Dreams
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Springsteen and E Street in Philly review: See special message
