Rock ‘n’ roll has produced The Killers and the King, but at Scotiabank Place, Bruce Springsteen proved that he is the one and only Boss. Backed by the E Street Band, Springsteen launched into a rollicking three-hour set which proved that, at 63, he is still the best live act in music.
But this was not the same E Street Band that your dad saw in the 1970s. There were gospel singers, an accordion player, a percussionist playing the bongos, and a horn section which breathed new life into old songs.
For the first portion of the set, Springsteen went into his catalog of hits, playing “Promised Land,” and “Ties That Bind.” But by “Hungry Heart” the crowd had decided that it was their turn to sing and they serenaded Springsteen, while he went down into the audience, shaking hands and bumping fists before crowd surfing back to the main stage.
The band then launched into their new album Wrecking Ball, playing the singles “We Take Care of Our Own,” “Wrecking Ball,” and the Celtic-inspired “Death to My Hometown.”
Springsteen played for an hour before turning to the soulful “My City of Ruins” where he introduced the E Street Band. He also took a chance to pay tribute to Clarence Clemons, who passed away last year.
“The older you get, the more ghosts, spirits, walk alongside you. When you’re young, it’s something that you think you’re scared of. When you’re older, you just realize that it’s just old friends walking with you,” Springsteen said.
Clemons played tenor sax on the band’s most iconic records. His nephew, Jake Clemons picked up the torch and did an excellent job of filling “The Big Man’s” shoes.
The mood quickly picked back up with more hits, including “Prove it All Night,” which featured an extended piano and guitar duet which not only featured Roy Bittan’s piano skills, but Springsteen’s surprising guitar chops.
Another memorable moment came when Springsteen noticed two brothers in the front row holding signs that read, “We’d rather see The Boss than Bieber.”
He pulled the boys up to sing with the band and gave them the microphone for a verse, while he grinned from ear to ear.
The show never seemed to end. The band played every song like it was the grand finale, but they kept pulling out one great performance after another. Finally, the set ended with “Thunder Road” which again featured the audience on lead vocals.
Staying true to the Springsteen mythology, his encore lasted for an hour. The house lights were turned on, beach balls were tossed around and they cut through “Queen of The Supermarket,” “We Are Alive,” “Born to Run,” “Glory Days,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.”
Fittingly, the show ended with Springsteen, drenched in sweat, with his first high in the air, chanting a chorus of “Hell yeah.”
Those two words just about summed up the whole night.
