ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band brought their celebration tour of 1980’s “The River” back to Washington Thursday, this time al fresco at a sold-out Nationals Park.
It was a radically different show from the one they played at the Verizon Center in February. This time out the band neglected to play “The River” front to back. In fact, only three “River” songs were played (“Out in the Street,” “Sherry Darling” and “Hungry Heart”).
Did Mr. Springsteen get bored with the tour format? Perhaps. Or perhaps he saw it as an opportunity to dig deeper into his back catalog and play chunks from his storied discography that haven’t been touched in years, or wouldn’t necessarily jive with songs from a newer record.
A perfect example of this was the song that kicked off the night, “New York City Serenade” from 1973’s “The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle.” Complete with a six-piece string section, this 10-minute-long homage to Mr. Springsteen’s romantic ideas and fantasies about New York City was a quirky way to kick off the night. But it was lush and full, and, paired with the light drizzle coming down, it seemed to say, “This is not going to be a usual Springsteen/E Street Band show.”
It would also be the last “slow” song for the next three hours. Mr. Springsteen and company were raring to go, continually ratcheting up the audience with covers, a slew of old favorites and multiple “sign requests,” a bunch of which he gathered while running the perimeter of the pit during “Lost in the Flood.”
One of these signs prompted the jazzy swing that is “Kitty’s Back,” complete with band solos. Continuing on the tangent of songs from “The Wild, the Innocent” was the ethereal storytelling of “Incident on 57th Street,” straight into the barnburner of “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” just as it flows on the record. This song duo should be listed in the dictionary as “how to create a musical slow burn,” and, as expected, it drove the audience into a happy sing-along and air guitar bliss.
Drummer Max Weinberg was dripping wet with sweat by the end of it, and even Mr. Springsteen’s famous Fender Esquire was perspiring.
At about this halfway point, Mr. Springsteen jumped forward in time with another sign request, this time for his cover of “Trapped.” Mr. Springsteen’s rock anthem take on this old Jimmy Cliff song was played often during the “Born in the USA” tour, so much so that many believe it’s an E Street Band original. And last night showed that the years have done nothing to temper its intensity, nor the power with which the band attacked it.
The tour debut of “Better Days” from 1992’s “Lucky Town” followed, as did another sign request, this time for a moving version of “American Skin (41 Shots),” the song inspired by the 1999 police shooting death of Amadou Diallo in New York. Mr. Springsteen sang the entire song with his eyes closed, as if reciting a prayer, and Nils Lofgren wound the song up with a shredding guitar solo.
Mr. Springsteen raised the spirits then with two of the three “River”-era songs, followed by a block of tracks from 1984’s “Born in the USA.”
He has publicly stated that he started learning different vocal techniques during the recording of 1995’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” and it was interesting to see how he applies them to his older songs. The addition of keening, as he did during “I’m on Fire,” and the vocals changing to a slightly different range, as with “Downbound Train,” gave these 32-year-old tunes new life.
Beyond its opening with “Secret Garden,” there was no slowing down with the encore either. The cheers when pianist Roy Bittan played the iconic opening to “Jungleland” made him smile broadly. The Moon Mullican cover of “Seven Nights to Rock” made the joint swing. “Dancing in the Dark” wound up with not just one, but four audience members onstage during the Courteney Cox moment in the video — one to dance with violinist Soozie Tyrell, one with guitarist Patti Scialfa, one bride on her honeymoon to dance with Mr. Springsteen and one young girl of about 12 to help Mr. Springsteen pick the guitar.
Encore staple “10th Avenue Freeze-Out” had a lovely video homage to late E-Street band members saxophonist Clarence Clemmons and keyboardist Danny Federici. “Bobby Jean” ended the night, but they could have ended with the 10-minute version of the Isley Brothers cover of “Shout,” complete with Mr. Springsteen falling to his knees, getting covered with a cloak James Brown-style, leaving the stage, then returning triumphant for another round of “whaa oohhh ohhh ohhh.”
This new leg of the “River” tour seems to be a celebration of E Street Band past in general, with its deep-cut song choices, its covers and pushing the lengths of the already marathon shows. A few days ago, the band played four hours in New Jersey, the lengthiest U.S. gig ever; last night at Nationals Park, the show lasted three hours and 45 minutes in spite of the rain and the humidity. With bandmates pushing 70, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band displayed more energy all night than most people show at 30.
If this comes from being “just a prisoner of rock ’n’ roll,” as Mr. Springsteen proclaimed at the end of the show, there is no doubt that the audience would gladly don those prison stripes right along with him.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.