Bruce Springsteen, Sunderland: It's raining ...
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 opened with Waiting On A Sunny Day - and, after a long delay to the start, the stadium needed that injection of humour.
It was well past 7:30 before the band came on. By then covers had been placed and taken off more than ounce, and the pitch only filled up late on, everyone opting to stay dry in the concourse. Outside, the courtyard was a grey, largely abandoned zone - the wind which whipped round the stadium blew the froth off one woman’s beer - and the food stalls all felt too remote for a visit.
So, we needed that sense of joy that came with the opening acoustic guitar chords of ‘Waiting’ and the re-assurance that everything was going to be okay - as time wore on more than a few did wonder if this would even start given the downpour- and it also signalled business as usual whatever the elements threw at this gig.
I guess faced with such grim weather bands do one of two things. They hunker down and dial it in - or they simply get wet along with everyone else and give it everything they have. No real surprise which option the E Street Band took.
At 74, Springsteen danced in the puddles on stage with all the glee of a little boy, and finished by stripping down to his t-shirt for the finale. He had nothing left by then - to use a sporting phrase, he emptied the tanks.
He also shook up the setlist once more, underlining the sense of exuberance which has characterised this UK tour.
We got rollicking Light Of Day and a powerful, show-stopping Racing In The Streets with Roy Bittan's piano solo soaring high into the clouds, and I’m still racking my brains to recall if I’ve ever heard him play Atlantic City. I’d also add a magnificent The River to my own list of highlights.
Despite the conditions it was, for me, better and tighter than Belfast and, if there had been a roof on Sunderland, it would have been up there with the opening night in Cardiff. Folk in the north-east don’t need roofs - they just get wet and get on with it! As Billy Connolly famously once remarked: "There is no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes."
Final shout out has to go to the Metro team which made travel so easy for first time visitors to the city. Adding a ‘Springsteen concert’ option to the ticket machines was simple and hugely effective in getting people on to the right platforms and right trains. It also said 'welcome' - a very simple but upbeat message on such a wet day.
Getting in and out of the stadium Of Light was very straight forward, and when you have been soaked to the skin, that’s all you can ask for. London in July should surely be much sunnier …
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