Springsteen and the E Street Band wrapped up their European tour over the weekend with back-to-back shows at Barcelona’s enormous Camp Nou — the largest stadium in Europe. Even at that size, the place was packed, with 80,000 tickets sold per night; that made things somewhat uncomfortable on the floor, but with the level of Bruce fanaticism in Spain being what it is, it surely only added to the atmosphere for a good portion of the crowd. Trond Broensad writes: “Last night was my first show in Spain, and if you haven’t seen Bruce play for a Spanish crowd, it’s an experience you don’t want to miss. The energy in the crowd is just unbelievable — they were into it from beginning to end, dancing in the nosebleeds 200 meters from the stage!”
Over the two nights, Bruce and the band played a total of 43 different songs, with 15 songs coming out for the final night that weren’t played the night before. Night one, on Saturday, was a relatively straightforward set, at least for a tour that’s continually evolving. Broensad continues: “The show has changed over the course of this leg, and Patti’s return is a fine addition. There was less focus on the reqests than I saw earlier on the tour, with a little more structure in the set. ‘Backstreets’ and ‘Janey’ were by request, and he really nailed ‘Backstreets.’ No tour premieres or really big surprises, but what the hell. Those don’t matter when you hear really great versions of ‘Backstreets,’ ‘Jungleland,’ ‘Tunnel of Love’ and ‘The River.’ ” By the end of the show a good deal of the E Street Band: The Next Generation were twisting and shouting onstage, too.
For Sunday night’s closing show, repeat attendees might have felt like they were witnessing a continuation of the night before: “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out,” often an encore song, kicked things off, and of the first twelve songs, only “Radio Nowhere” was a repeat. Anyone disappointed in Saturday night’s “standard” setlist got a slew of rarities, too, including the tour premiere of “I’m Goin’ Down,” the second tour performance of “Light of Day,” and a trifecta of “This Hard Land,” “Youngstown,” and “Murder Incorporated.”
Hearkening back to the show-closing cover-song blowouts of old, both “Detroit Medley” and “Twist and Shout” came out in the encore, as did the Young Springsteens once again, joining their folks to wave goodbye to Barcelona, and to the 2008 European Magic tour. It’s been a remarkable two months, with Bruce and the Band quickly getting up to speed on the larger stadium stage and expanding the show to match. In addition to songs tailor-made for these bigger venues, like “Hungry Heart” and “Born in the U.S.A.,” they broke out some classic covers (“Summertime Blues,” “Twist and Shout,” “Seven Nights to Rock”) and long-lost rave-ups (“Held Up Without a Gun,” “Stand on It,” “I’m a Rocker,” “From Small Things”) as well as surprise slow-burners — like “Drive All Night,” “I’m on Fire,” and “Racing in the Street” — that overcame the enormous environs to play incredibly well. Hard to believe it’s over so soon. But if you’re looking for a sad song, we ain’t gonna play it: in just one week, the summer U.S. leg begins — and for a few shows, the outdoor venues continue — with Bruce and the E Street Band’s homecoming stand at Giants Stadium kicking off on Sunday night, July 27.
