Thursday 25 July 2024.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND. Thursday 24 July 2024 - Wembley Stadium, London. Bruce plays the first of his two shows at this venue. Bruce plays the last shows on his three month European Tour of stadiums. I have seen Bruce over 20 times since 1975, when as a 16 year old, i saw both his debut UK shows at Hammersmith Odeon. It is also the 40th anniversary of his 'Born In The USA' album ,which catapulted Bruce to stadium level, and I saw him play Wembley Stadium in 1985. I didn't see either of his Hyde Park shows in 2023, which was the only time I have not seen at least one show when he has played London. I also saw him play The San Siro Stadium Milan 2008. I also saw Bruce in Cardiff in 2013. One of the greatest live performer's the rock era has ever witnessed, Springsteen will turn 75 this year, and is coming back from a health scare that forced him to postpone this second leg of his world tour. Expect a nice long set as usual. ---------- It was a cool evening . with a bit of drizzly rain. Our view is at the back of the massive gold circle. Even that area is very full....the stadium is rammed . BRUCE and the band arrived on stage at 7.15pm and played a mammoth set of 3 hours 15 mins. Three big screens showing live footage. Bruce is smartly dressed like Gareth Southgate. Waistcoat , tie , white shirt....and Dr Martens . It looked like a massive 18 musicians on stage , including a brass section and backing vocalists. Pretty amazing to see The Boss deliver a three-hour plus rock’n’roll odyssey with the kind of hunger and raw passion that belies his near 75 years. There is no extended stage extension , but Bruce walks down the steps many times to a podium to get close to the lots fans down front with song titles held aloft with their handmade signs. Even a typically British summer can’t derail proceedings from the off, with the singer successfully facing off against moody rain clouds to whip the crowd up into the near-religious fervour for which the famously committed fans of the E Street Band are known. For over three hours, it seemed, Wembley became the Church of Springsteen. A ferocious run-through of ‘Born To Run’ with the house lights up delivers a sense of intimacy that you wouldn’t expect at this cavernous venue, while ‘Spirit In the Night’ – complete with a customary cry of can you feel the spirit? – sees Bruce take his role as Wembley’s very own lay preacher. Little Steven and Nils are looking and sounding great. It’s to Springsteen’s eternal skill, too, that a run of rarities in the first half are met with sheer joy by long-term fans and delivered with the kind of inhibiting passion that allows the rest of us to treat them like old favourites within minutes. This is shown on ‘Reason To Believe’ and ‘Atlantic City’ – a rare double blast of 1982’s Nebraska. And I'm the second half , when dusk fell and the lights kicked in for when the hits did arrive, they were as fresh as ever. Thunder Road, Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark, and the live favourite Tenth Avenue Freeze Out sent thousands of the faithful into a delirium – so much so that it didn’t matter that they didn’t do Born in the USA. It was a stunning 10/10 show . Full BRUCE setlist played tonight... Lonesome Day Seeds My Love Will Not Let You Down No Surrender Ghosts Letter to You The Promised Land (a couple proposed in the front row, and Bruce gave hom his harmonica) Hungry Heart Spirit in the Night Reason to Believe Atlantic City Youngstown Long Walk Home The E Street Shuffle Nightshift ( Commodores cover) Racing in the Street Last Man Standing ( acoustic; with Barry Danielian on trumpet) Backstreets Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover) ( Bruce wrote it ) She's the One Wrecking Ball The Rising Badlands Thunder Road Encore: Land of Hope and Dreams (with The Impressions “People Get Ready” outro) Born to Run Bobby Jean Dancing in the Dark ( followed by band introductions) Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out ( pictures of Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici on screen) Twist and Shout ( The Top Notes cover) Encore 2: I'll See You in My Dreams ( Solo acoustic) Note: Patti Scialfa is not present. I was inside for the soundcheck 4.20pm to 4.35pm. Soundcheck included: "Lonesome Day", "Long Walk Home" and "Seeds". "The River" was on the printed setlist but not played. ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Wednesday 24 July 2024. Sad news that JOHN MAYALL has passed away. British blues musician John Mayall OBE - whose influential band the Bluesbreakers was a springboard for stars including Eric Clapton - has died aged 90. The songwriter died at his home in California on Monday surrounded by his family, a statement on his Instagram page said. "Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world’s greatest road warriors,” it said. Mayall, who was born in Macclesfield and grew up in Manchester, founded the Bluesbreakers in the 1960s. He was credited with helping to develop a blues revival among white musicians in England - and has been described as the "godfather of British blues". Mayall told the Guardian in 2014 that "at the time, the scene in America was racially segregated" - but in Europe and England "the black blues began to be heard by an audience that was not listening to them in America". After their 1966 album featuring guitarist Clapton, the Bluesbreakers were acclaimed by music critics as one of the world's most influential blues bands. The group also became a training ground for other famous rock musicians including Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, as well as Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones - cementing Mayall's reputation as a "serious talent magnet". I saw John Mayall perform a few times on stage,with the most recent being at The Cadogan Hall, Chelsea in 2017.

Posted 24th July 2024