Bruce Springsteen live in Liverpool: The Boss sounds a glorious battle cry for his America
The healing power of rock and roll is in full effect as Springsteen brings anthems of love, defiance and freedom to a sold-out Anfield Stadium.
“We ain’t going home yet!” declares an age-defying Bruce Springsteen just moments after a flurry of his biggest anthems have sent Anfield Stadium into a state of giddy delirium. The Boss however still has a few tricks left up his sleeve as he launches into a celebratory version of ‘Twist & Shout’ that even Ferris Bueller would be jealous of.
Given that the fab four were so monumental in Springsteen’s own musical education, it’s hard to believe that tonight marks his very first performance in Liverpool in his fifty-year career. This is after-all, a man who grew up worshipping Liverpool’s favourite sons through his teenage years from his sleepy township of Freehold in New Jersey. That sense of fandom looms large instantly as he bounds onstage and says, “It’s good to be in Liverpool where for us, it all began.”
It doesn’t take to see that there’s more pressing business on the agenda though. Before kickstarting a career spanning set nearing three hours, The Boss delivers an impassioned speech that calls on his people. Every word feels like a poignant body blow to Trump and his administration as he wages truth and peace :“The America I love and have sung to you about for so long, a beacon of hope for 200 years, is currently in hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.”
His message to the 60,000 strong crowd on the first of two sold-out nights at Anfield is simple. “Tonight we ask all of you who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices, stand with us against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!” There are few better-ways to tee up fist-in-the-air anthems like ‘No Surrender’ which truly gets the party started before ‘The Promised Land’ as he sings gut-punching lines that perfectly distil the message: “Mister, I ain’t a boy, no, I’m a man / And I believe in a promised land.”
“Is this the house of champions or what?” he smiles before unleashing ‘Wrecking Ball’, much to the delight of the scousers in the crowd. Setlist staples from his later albums are equally epic and rousing, from the marching band celtic-stomp of ‘Death To My Hometown’ through to swashbuckling ballads like ‘Youngstown’. The latter brings an entirely new flavour as long-time E street guitarist Nils Lofgren soaks up the guitar hero status he deserves, wildly spinning around the stage and shredding out a big solo.
More romantic deep-cuts like ‘Atlantic City’ feel like smouldering incendiary bombs in the midst of a hit-filled set, as adoring fans oblige in singing back lines of heart-ache and better times: “Put your make-up on and do your hair up pretty / and meet me tonight in Atlantic City.” The timeless harmonica intro to ‘The River’ also slices through the set like a razor-blade, making for one of the evenings most beautiful disarming moments as his haunting outro vocal refrains are carried by the gentle winds of the Mersey.
When it comes to driving change and delivering his message, it’s clear that Bruce Springsteen is a man who still firmly places his trust in the healing power of rock and roll. You only have to look around at the love and unity in the air as he unleashes a dizzying and life-affirming encore of ‘Born in the U.S.A.’, ‘Born to Run’, ‘Bobby Jean’ and then ‘Dancing in the Dark’.
Still firmly a man of the people, Springsteen has always made a habit of being on the right side of history, whether that was playing when they tore down The Berlin Wall or strumming ‘This Land Is Your Land’ at the inauguration of his good pal Barack Obama. It’s clear that once again tonight, he’s succeeded in genuinely changing the lives of those in the stadium.