Recap: Springsteen in Phoenix (March 19)

It’s been 19 days since the tour opener of the 2024 incarnation of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. The show took place here in Phoenix, his first show here since March 2016 (!) when Bruce and the Band performed The River start to finish, followed by a greatest hits set.

It’s been 19 days, and it’s that old familiar feeling of slowly coming down from the experience of spending a few hours with Bruce. Stats-wise, it was my 10^th E Street show, and 18^th seeing Bruce (other shows include the ’92 band, solo tours, and the Seeger Sessions Band). 

It’s been 19 days, and I’m still set list tracking as they travel from town to town, busting out the deep cuts (“Jole Blon,” “Tougher Than The Rest,” “Viva Las Vegas”).

Yes, friends, somehow eight years passed between getting to see Bruce, and I can confirm that the magic and buzz you feel for weeks on end after a show still endures. And this time, I brought my youngest daughter – a senior in high school with mere weeks left in her school year. Crazy to think that the last time I saw Bruce she was only 9 years old. Now, she knows that special feeling too.

I will offer one gripe about the ticket prices. The last several times, I bought pit tickets for under $200. This time around, with Ticketmaster’s brilliant “dynamic pricing,” those same pit tickets were going for $750! I’m still not a rich man, so I held out until a couple days before to see what I could stumble in to. In the end, I opted for behind the stage in the corner of stage right. Not optimal, but it was a cool vantage point, and what the hell, you’re in the building seeing Bruce Springsteen.

Top to bottom, the set list did not disappoint, but if I were to give some personal highlights:

• “Thunder Road”- among my top 3 Bruce tunes. The opening harmonica, the opening verse, the deep history steeped in this song; the bare bones versions I’ve loved (MTV Plugged, Live 85-95). Everything about it. Tears welled in my eyes.
  
• “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)” – From his latest album of lesser-known soul covers. This was the surprise of the night for me. The great background vocals with the singers stepping to the front with Bruce. This had me revisiting the album in the days after the show, and definitely gave me a new appreciation for this Ben E. King tune in particular.
  
• “Last Man Standing” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” – both acoustic, with the latter closing the show. They’re from his 2020 Letter To You album, and they pay tribute to his late bandmate George Theiss of Bruce’s first band, the Castiles. Bruce does such a great job of setting the background in an emotional, poignant way.  And for me, I’m just as happy watching Bruce alone with his guitar and voice – after all, those Devils & Dust and Ghost of Tom Joad shows are among my favorites. More goosebumps.
  
• “No Surrender” and “Darlington County” from Born in the USA, which always hit right with me.
  
• “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “Backstreets” – the classic ballads, goosebumps every time.
  
• Last and not least, looking over at my daughter and seeing a big smile plastered across her face, singing along to a bunch of the classics. A memory for a lifetime. Magic in the night.

All I can hope for as a fan is that this wasn’t my last time seeing Bruce the Band. I pray for more.

And now, 19 days later, I scan tonight’s show at the Forum in L.A… and… look at that, another tour debut! He just opened with “Open All Night” (last played in 2014). Lucky dogs. Off to Twitter for some breaking videos.