Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Olympiastadion Munich 2nd July 2009
Setlist: Badlands / My Lucky Day / No Surrender / Outlaw Pete / Spirit In The Night / Working On A Dream / Seeds / Johnny 99 / Atlantic City / Seven Nights To Rock / This Hard Land / Oh Pretty Woman (tour premiere) / Because The Night / Waitin' On A Sunny Day / The Promised Land / The River / Kingdom Of Days / Lonesome Day / The Rising / Born To Run / 10th Avenue Freeze Out // Bobby Jean / American Land / Detroit Medley / Glory Days /Dancin' In The Dark
Surprisingly, I had never seen His Bruceness live before. The truth of the matter is that I had never really been a fan until the last few years, his more recent material, particularly the Magic CD. When my daughters announced that they were going to Glastonbury, at which Bruce would be appearing, I decided that I couldn’t not go to see him when he played Munich; it’s a matter of principle, you understand. Admittedly, a strange reason for spending money on a concert ticket, but there you go, I do things like that. Thank God created eBay on the 6th day…
Even as I arrived at the Olympiastadion, I was still not sure if I would even enjoy the gig. I had done some revision on the older material and, of course, I knew the more popular songs but, still, I was prepared for the fact that I would not know much of the stuff they would play and this could be a long performance. Moreover, I was gobsmacked when the security Stasi didn’t start creating a fuss about the Canon EOS in my bag, even when I replied, “My camera!” when asked what that the big, bulky object was I had secreted about my person. Makes a change… but I wasn’t about to argue.
As much as I hate stadium and arena gigs, The Olympiastadion is an iconic venue and one of those distinctive structures that stands out in my memory from the 1972 Olympics. It felt pretty damn cool to be standing there, I have to say, and it was a beautiful summer’s evening too.
Just after 8.15pm, Bruce and the E Street Band took to the stage. They left the stage just before 11pm. During the entire show Bruce only stopped once when he grabbed a sign from someone in the audience. The sign had an old cheesecake model picture on it and the words ‘A Pretty Woman for Roy’s birthday’ (as it was, indeed, the keyboard player’s birthday that day). The band then decided to play Pretty Woman, a song that they had never actually played before [in the live set]. They rehearsed for no more than a minute, figured out the song and gave a flawless impromptu rendition. Now, if they can do that, what do you think they did with the songs they knew how to play? Precisely. Magic, our Morris. It has to go down as one of the most amazing gigs I’ve ever seen.
I am familiar with the other work of both E Street guitarists, Nils Lofgren and Steve van Zandt, having seen Lofgren many times as a solo artist and with Neil Young. I saw Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul at Reading Festival back in the day. The other band members are legends in the business too in their own rights, but together they constitute one of the most legendary backing bands this side of Crazy Horse or The Heartbreakers. But, it was Bruce himself that became the focus of my attentions. His work rate is so incredibly high that you just wonder how he does it, given that he is no longer the young man he was thirty-odd years ago when he first arrived on the scene, a bloke from New Jersey who looked as though he should be doing a lube job on your car. He looks fantastic and he performs his heart out, and you just know that he does this at every single gig, whether he’s playing in front of 30,000 in Munich or 30 in some small New Jersey bar. I suddenly understood why people are fanatically devoted to this man: he works so damn hard and earns your respect and, by God, he deserves it. You know where he is coming from. He may be one of the biggest stars on the planet but you are left in no doubt that he is as much an ordinary bloke as you are. I realised why people love his songs too. They are great stories; tales of everyday folk, living everyday lives, with all the baggage, hassle, and crap that that encompasses. For me, it was an especially poignant experience because I’ve spent some time in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and have even been to The Stone Pony, in Asbury Park. As I watched and listened I could see myself driving down the Atlantic City Expressway to that former East Coast gambling Mecca and walking along the Boardwalk, going to the Jersey shore, or choking on the fumes of industrial North Jersey, or venturing into the wide-open spaces of South Jersey. The longer they played, the more I was drawn in and enthused. It is Bruce’s performance and personality that is infectious, energising, and inspiring though; you can’t help but be converted to one of the adoring throng, worshipping at the feet of one of the all-time greats.
As for all of the songs that I didn’t know, you’d be surprised how many of them I did actually know.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
4th July 2009
Even as I arrived at the Olympiastadion, I was still not sure if I would even enjoy the gig. I had done some revision on the older material and, of course, I knew the more popular songs but, still, I was prepared for the fact that I would not know much of the stuff they would play and this could be a long performance. Moreover, I was gobsmacked when the security Stasi didn’t start creating a fuss about the Canon EOS in my bag, even when I replied, “My camera!” when asked what that the big, bulky object was I had secreted about my person. Makes a change… but I wasn’t about to argue.
As much as I hate stadium and arena gigs, The Olympiastadion is an iconic venue and one of those distinctive structures that stands out in my memory from the 1972 Olympics. It felt pretty damn cool to be standing there, I have to say, and it was a beautiful summer’s evening too.
Just after 8.15pm, Bruce and the E Street Band took to the stage. They left the stage just before 11pm. During the entire show Bruce only stopped once when he grabbed a sign from someone in the audience. The sign had an old cheesecake model picture on it and the words ‘A Pretty Woman for Roy’s birthday’ (as it was, indeed, the keyboard player’s birthday that day). The band then decided to play Pretty Woman, a song that they had never actually played before [in the live set]. They rehearsed for no more than a minute, figured out the song and gave a flawless impromptu rendition. Now, if they can do that, what do you think they did with the songs they knew how to play? Precisely. Magic, our Morris. It has to go down as one of the most amazing gigs I’ve ever seen.
I am familiar with the other work of both E Street guitarists, Nils Lofgren and Steve van Zandt, having seen Lofgren many times as a solo artist and with Neil Young. I saw Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul at Reading Festival back in the day. The other band members are legends in the business too in their own rights, but together they constitute one of the most legendary backing bands this side of Crazy Horse or The Heartbreakers. But, it was Bruce himself that became the focus of my attentions. His work rate is so incredibly high that you just wonder how he does it, given that he is no longer the young man he was thirty-odd years ago when he first arrived on the scene, a bloke from New Jersey who looked as though he should be doing a lube job on your car. He looks fantastic and he performs his heart out, and you just know that he does this at every single gig, whether he’s playing in front of 30,000 in Munich or 30 in some small New Jersey bar. I suddenly understood why people are fanatically devoted to this man: he works so damn hard and earns your respect and, by God, he deserves it. You know where he is coming from. He may be one of the biggest stars on the planet but you are left in no doubt that he is as much an ordinary bloke as you are. I realised why people love his songs too. They are great stories; tales of everyday folk, living everyday lives, with all the baggage, hassle, and crap that that encompasses. For me, it was an especially poignant experience because I’ve spent some time in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and have even been to The Stone Pony, in Asbury Park. As I watched and listened I could see myself driving down the Atlantic City Expressway to that former East Coast gambling Mecca and walking along the Boardwalk, going to the Jersey shore, or choking on the fumes of industrial North Jersey, or venturing into the wide-open spaces of South Jersey. The longer they played, the more I was drawn in and enthused. It is Bruce’s performance and personality that is infectious, energising, and inspiring though; you can’t help but be converted to one of the adoring throng, worshipping at the feet of one of the all-time greats.
As for all of the songs that I didn’t know, you’d be surprised how many of them I did actually know.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
4th July 2009