Bruce Springsteen is 65 years old today. I am close behind. He is timeless. I am not.
Somewhere along the time line, I misplaced my adventurous rock and roll soul. I now rarely venture into large, live musical arenas unless I am shown to my seat and addressed as "Sir". That wasn't happening last night as the melting pot of proles, burbanites and elites mixed it up at Fenway Park for Bruce and the equally ageless E Street Band. So, on this night, I chose to sit on a roof top patio at the invitation of, and in the delightful company of my niece with the rock and roll soul, high above the park with the stars and the moon in the sky and let that ageless musical thunder roll over me in the clear warm summer night breeze.
Oh sure, I missed seeing the visual spectacle of this wonder of nature pouring every ounce of unbridled physicality, stamina and passion into another 3 1/2 hour performance and, by the way, he sure ain't standing in one spot strumming diddle-diddle diddle all night long. And he does this night after night, for years on end all around the world! How he does it, I have no idea, but somewhere along the artist's continuum he surpassed every other performer in history or legend for his ability to bring it every single night. And he does it because someone in that sea of anonymous faces might be the one person who has never seen him before and he truly believes that he owes that person the greatest show he can possibly give. It's the Promise of Deliverance and he proves it all night.
(Aside: I admit I wish I had seen Bruce bring the eleven year old boy on stage to sing "Waiting for a Sunny Day" and the Clarence Tribute, but I'm the one who chose to walk past the scalpers on Last Ticket to Paradise Row.)
But for me, the man proved it to me often enough back when there were 30, 200, 600, 800, 2000 and 20,000 others in the room. So, on this night, I chose to simply lean back and listen. What I heard was equally wonderful.
The band has now grown so large as to constitute a veritable orchestra.His musical influences have been so thoroughly absorbed that by now, he has become an encyclopedia of American music with classic '50's and '60's rock as his jumping off point with a stomping encore of Dirty Water (and don't we all hope that the otherwise long forgotten and rarely lamented Ed Cobb gets his royalty checks for that one), sequeing into Twist and Shout pounding that point home. But there's so much more.
The music is full and lush with flecks of early E Street jazz, tinges of Dixieland and Second Line Strut, Boom-Boom Hooker blues, rural Guthrie cum Dyan folk and country, Bob Wills' western swing, riding above a full voiced angelic gospel choir flowing and bubbling under the La Bamba beat all coming together in a rock and roll stew.
And then there are the songs. Does he still write of the common man from a Mansion on a Hill? Of course he does. What matters is that he still can. Cynicism shrivels and shrinks before the honest and true man. The lyrics rarely touch on new themes? What of it? At 62, Steinbeck and Hemingway were shells and at wit's end,. Salinger couldn't be bothered. Fitzgerald and Kerouac had long since given up the ghost.
Rockers? Relics all. Dylan gropes for light in the enveloping darkness. Neil lurches determinedly but with an uneven meter. Van Morrison relies on that wailing voice to lift him beyond the constraints of endless falling leaves. Jagger and Richards? Townsend? McCartney? Not one or any other has written a song for the ages in many faded moons.
This is no oldies tour like the Rolling Stones, The Who, or whoever else is on the periodic cash cow circuit, acting as nothing more than their own cover bands, playing endless, identical versions of Satisfaction of Won't Get Fooled Again. Oh sure, the familiar 3 chord contours and the flood of melodic memories of so many old favorites won't fade away. Where would Rosalita be without those organ riffs lifting her into her hero's arms? But, the determination to write, to find new characters, new themes, to forage back through the mists of time to and revive nearly forgotten musical treasures and forge them into something new remains strong and true.
Still, at 62, even the great artist is allowed to simply refine, and not wholly redefine, his dreams and visions. And so he does. The lyrics may no longer be startling clear fresh and uncut diamonds, rare and never before seen or heard, but they are still crafted with care and a sense of moral purpose and conviction. Marry them to the ever expanding universal beat and it's music that still reminds us that this man is a very great artist precisely because something somewhere in his heart understands your own and he desperately wants you to know and share in it. And two hearts truly are better than one.
It's beyond the matchless 40+ years of 3-4 hours shows, the sheer physical exertion; the diving and jumping, exhortation, incantation and celebration that one soul can muster that makes Bruce so completely unique.
It's the artistic courage and conviction and the simple act of caring that has sustained him and we, his audience through all these years.
In the end, Bruce gives voice to what matters most to him; his life long conviction that rock and roll will truly save his mortal soul and help lift ours along the way - and he proves it every night all night with an unshakable and unquenchable determination to share and exult in that process with each and every note he plays.
That's why he is The Boss - and the greatest rocker of them all.
A STATEMENT FROM BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ON NORTH CAROLINA
As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Sunday April 10th show is canceled. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.
Crowd Surfing Hartford, February 2016
Who else could or would do this, night after night after night?
Fenway Park, August 15, 2012
Entrance
City of Ruins and band intro
Darlington County
Johnny 99
Dirty Water
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