Bruce Springsteen specializes in heart-busting, big-life-moment songs told from the perspective of someone who knows time is short so you better make every second and every song count. Also every concert.
The iconic New Jersey heartland rocker gave us over three hours of total passion and commitment at the Air Canada Centre, in support of his The Ties That Bind: The River Collection box set, which celebrates the 35th anniversary of 1980’s The River, a four-album effort that he and his nine-piece E Street Band played front to back.
The final chords of one song barely finished ringing out before The Boss, looking lean, tanned and handsome in hues of black and grey (and his trademark jeans), counted in the next one with gusto.
Occasionally he offered up an intro. Independence Day, he said, was about being stunned by the discovery of your parents’ humanity, of realizing for the first time that they once had dreams of their own. “It’s a song about adult compromises,” he said, “and the blessings those compromises brought.”
Uplift immediately returned with the familiar opening notes of Hungry Heart, especially when he held back for the first verse and let us sing it on our own.
The continued push-pull between serious and fun, between dark and light, between sprawling “compositions” and lighter-weight fare – Crush On You, You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) – was hugely satisfying.
And after so many Behind The Music-type rock band documentaries, it was great to see seemingly genuine playfulness among the musicians onstage, many of whom have been in the E Street Band since the 70s and 80s. With drummer Max Weinberg and bassist Garry Tallent holding down a steady back beat, the others harmonized and soloed and did cute little moves in sync.
Blazing saxophone is as fundamental to Springsteen’s sound as lonesome harmonica, and Jake Clemons, nephew of deceased E Street member Clarence Clemons, captivated, especially on an epic rendition of The Price You Pay, one of the set’s standout numbers. Guitarists Patti Scialfa and Steven Van Zandt turned out powerful harmonies all night, often sharing the centre mic with Springsteen and appearing on the Jumbo screens.
Crowd interaction was also high. Springsteen regularly left the singing to us, lighters came out during gorgeously melancholy The River, and an 89-year-old woman celebrating her birthday got the chance to waltz with The Boss during Dancing In The Dark during the greatest-hits portion of the set as her elated daughter looked on.
Despite the concert already being two hours deep by that point, it was that greatest hits section that offered up some of the most energetic moments.
The Promised Land (requested via a sign held high) hit hard. Patti Smith Group’s Because The Night, which Smith co-wrote with Springsteen, was a mind-blowing surprise, his version more triumphant than Smith’s during her last few visits to Toronto and featuring a dazzling, almost comically lengthy guitar solo by Nils Lofgren that ended with him shredding while spinning around and around in a spotlight.
Brilliant Disguise was gorgeous, with a slightly changed chorus melody. The crowd lost its mind during Badlands, Born To Run and the aforementioned Dancing In The Dark.
We hit the three-hour mark. “Are you ready to continue?” Springsteen shouted. “Are you ready to continue?”
Ready or not, he gave us Rosalita and a cover of the Isley Brothers’ Shout, which he repeatedly extended in an almost compulsive way. “I’m just a prisoner of rock and roll!” he shouted, almost apologetically, as it finally rolled to a close. There was, of course, no need for an encore.
Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live in Toronto on February 2nd, 2016
Concert Setlist:
1. Meet Me In The City
2. The Ties That Bind
3. Sherry Darling
4. Jackson Cage
5. Two Hearts (W/ It Takes Two ending)
6. Independence Day
7. Hungry Heart
8. Out in the Street
9. Crush On You
10. You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
11. I Wanna Marry You (W/ Here She Comes intro)
12. The River
13. Point Blank
14. Cadillac Ranch
15. I’m A Rocker
16. Fade Away
17. Stolen Car
18. Ramrod
19. The Price You Pay
20. Drive All Night
21. Wreck on the Highway
22. The Promised Land
23. She’s The One
24. Candy’s Room
25. Because The Night
26. Brilliant Disguise
27. The Rising
28. Thunder Road
29. Badlands
30. Born To Run
31. Dancing in the Dark
32. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
33. Shout
The Fat Angel Sings 