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Bruce Springsteen is a legend in the rock music business and has been putting out hits since the early 70’s. You either love him or you hate him. If you love him then you probably already know everything there is to know about a Springsteen concert, and if you don’t then you probably couldn’t care less. To recap though, Bruce and the band routinely play three hour long shows and that’s what fans have come to expect. He’s got enough hits that he could play only songs that everyone in the stadium could sing along to, but at least in this show he played old stuff, new stuff, hits and deep tracks. It was all good but I’m not going to comment much on the music. You can read tons of reviews by others much better at writing reviews of the show if you’re curious.
So, just a few thoughts.
First, Sam and I were in the nosebleed section of Climate Pledge arena. There isn’t a bad seat in the venue and although these were way up there, we still had a decent view of the stage.
If you zoom in you could convince yourself you had great seats.
I guess my only disappointment was the sound. I’ve been to Climate Pledge several times now but always much lower and this was the worst sound by far. It wasn’t bad by any means, just a little muddy or boomy, depending on the song, compared to other shows I’ve been to. I don’t think it was the sound mix either. The mix was actually really clean. Here’s an example of what I mean. Again, it wasn’t bad, just not amazing.
The other thought is concerning Bruce and the band, Bruce in particular. The core group of the E Street Band have been together for a long time, and that means they’re…old. Well, old compared to me at least! Bruce is 73 years old and they’re playing well over 75 shows in the 2023 tour. Three hour long shows where Bruce runs around the stage like a kid the whole time. If nothing else the energy he has gives me an inspirational standard to try for. He’s clearly taken care of his body and is in great shape. His voice sounds like it did 20 years ago (is that good or bad???), his guitar playing is great, just in general you would have no idea how old he is. And that is how it should be.
In the category of “it’s a small world”, Sam and I saw two different people we know, one from church and one from Costco on our way into the arena. It’s always fun to see people you know outside of your normal context.
We also sat next to an interesting family, or at least they were interesting to me. They were from the Netherlands but recently moved to Vancouver, BC. This was their fifth Bruce Springsteen show, but first on this side of the pond. The husband was who I was standing by so I only talked to him. He spoke great English but as a family they only spoke Dutch (I assume that was the language) to each other. Regardless of the reason I always admire anyone who can pack up the family and move half way around the world.
Anyway, that’s Bruce.
