The Printed Word

Where this gig rates on Springsteen’s tour is entirely subjective, but it will go down as one of the wettest, if not THE wettest ... A summer’s night in Sunderland saw the heavens open and the poncho sellers make a quick buck as they huddled in bus stops on the road leading to the rather mis-named Stadium Of Light which was shrouded in low cloud. It made Manchester 2016 feel like nothing more than a light shower, so all credit fo Springsteen and the E Street Band - and their tech team - for turning in a superb 28-song, near  three hour show in the most challenging of conditions. Any time you thought the rain had eased, you only had to look to the lights to see it swirling round the stage and the stadium. Instruments were soaked, and the close ups on the giant screens showed just how wet things really were up there. While the band donned jackets and scarves, Springsteen strolled out dressed as if it was just another day; waistcoat, tie and shirt, took one look at the rainfall and op...

  A near ten-hour flight separates Asbury Park, NJ, and Boucher Park, Belfast, but the difference between them is much, much wider. On one hand you have the mesmerising imagery of boardwalks, carnivals and the Stone Pony, on the other, a park that is basically grass and gravel, next to a generic industrial estate and retail park that could be Anywhere, UK. Belfast’s Boucher Park is as far removed from rock ‘n’ roll as you can imagine - only the moving canvas of Springsteen t-shirts gave away the fact something extraordinary was happening close to the tile warehouses and garden furniture outlets. The stop–start early queue which snaked to the gates led to a wristband which led to the front of the stage with tantalising snippets from the end of the soundcheck carrying over the fencing. I’ve never had the urge to do ‘the pit’ or rollcall - turns out you didn’t really need to do either in Belfast as the wristband got me to within half a dozen rows at the front.I suspect I could have go...

It’s difficult to choose which superlatives to use first. Exhilarating, joyous, uplifting, incredible, awesome, unbelievable - they all fit, and still don’t somehow fully capture the experience and emotion of watching the greatest live performer of our generation. Bruce Springsteen at 74 is at the peak of his game, hollering every vocal full throttle, and shredding guitar solos as if each one might be his last, and, after 29 songs with little more than a breath to count the band in, he still looks full of energy.  Just as Murrayfield 2023 didn’t feel like the final farewell, so Cardiff 2024 left us with the sense he was far from done. Three hours on stage, and playing with a relentless intensity, Springsteen looks better than ever and is playing better than ever. Maybe we all ain’t that young any more, but this gig defied time, and the older we get, the more they mean. The smiles that lit up the faces of the band on the big screen gave you an insight into how much fun this was. The...

Forty-three years have passed since I first saw Bruce Springsteen on stage at the Edinburgh Playhouse. He’s now 74, I’m 60, and we’re on tour this summer. When I say ‘on tour’, strictly speaking he’s on stage and I’m just a face in a crowd of 60-80-000 others, but it’s been a lifelong journey together. Almost got to meet him once -  a story for another day -- so the lifesize cardboard out which sits behind my seat and features in all my conference calls, is the closest our paths will ever come to crossing. My first gig came via a free ticket because my dad stayed in the row of houses opposite the Playhouse’s stage door. Afterwards my brother and I scooted down the lane, through the house and opened the garage door to watch the band depart in their limos. Standing just feet away, the teenage guitar playing me toyed with stowing away to live on E Street. It seemed a much cooler place than Wester Hailes; one of the parts of Edinburgh the tourists don't get to see. Alas, common sense ...