“Hanover, are you ready?” This is how Bruce Springsteen greeted the audience in the Heinz von Heiden Arena in Hanover on Friday evening (July 5th). At 7:45 p.m., the eyes of almost 45,000 Springsteen fans in the stadium in Hanover were on the “Boss”. He was to play 30 songs from his 50-year career with his E Street Band over the next three hours.
For the really big hits like “Born In The USA” and “Dancing In The Dark”, the people who had travelled from all over Germany had to wait until injury time, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm. In pleasant temperatures, people danced with outstretched arms to Springsteen’s stadium rock in the best sense of the word.
There were a couple of small surprises in the setlist of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s concert today at Heinz von Heiden Arena in Hanover, Germany —”Into the Fire” and “The E Street Shuffle” — and one big one: “Janey Needs a Shooter,” in its live debut.
“Janey Needs a Shooter” dates back to the early ’70s, though Springsteen did not finish it and release a studio version of it until 2020, on his “Letter to You” album. Warren Zevon recorded a different version of it on his 1980 album “Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School”, with the title “Jeannie Needs a Shooter”; Springsteen received a co-writing credit on that version.
“Into the Fire” made its first appearance at an E Street Band show since 2016, in Hanover. “The E Street Shuffle” was played often at last year’s shows, but this was its first appearance in 2024.
Among the highlights of this great performance were classics such as “Because The Night” and “The River”, which Springsteen still performed visibly moved. He also seemed moved by “Last Man Standing”, a play about the loss of loved ones, and had the text faded in in German translation. All his songs sounded perfect, at least in the interior of the stadium.
Even after the concert marathon, vest, white shirt and dark red tie still fit perfectly. And even though Springsteen did not respond to the song title requests on the held up signs this time, he made many a fan particularly happy by signing autographs in the front row before saying goodbye to Hannover.
The Fat Angel Sings 