They were ‘Dancing in the Dark’ at the Georgian Theatre Royal as ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ played all the hits and more from The Boss’ five decades of making memorable music.
Graeme Richardson and Louise Howarth of the NE Street Band – geddit? – may hail from County Durham, but the sound they produced was pure New Jersey, Springsteen’s hometown.
In fact, ‘My Hometown’ started the second half of the show in tremendous style, but before that we had the pick of some of the Boss’ favourites from his hit acoustic show Springsteen on Broadway.
We started out with ‘Growing Up’ – a song about exactly that, the tensions and tribulations of adolescence. There were particularly strong renditions of ‘Brilliant Disguise’ and ‘Tougher than the Rest’ from his 1987 long player ‘Tunnel of Love.’ It’s an album riddled with doubt and the impossibility of living with such vast fame, coming as it did only a few years after Springsteen’s global smash ‘Born in the USA.’
There was an unusual but welcome choice of ‘Fire,’ a song which was made into a hit by The Pointer Sisters. Yes, Bruce has written numerous tracks for other artists, including the most famous ‘Blinded by the Light,’ which was a No1 in America for Manfred Mann and remains to this day the only single to have topped the US charts penned by The Boss.
Springsteen is essentially an albums man. You cannot get away from the fact that his work is best judged across the long player format, which is one of the reasons why he attracts such adoration for finely crafted, often poignant lyrics, centred around brilliant musicianship.
Graeme and Louise ended the first set with ‘Born in the USA’ a song which, when released, was widely held to be a celebration of all things Uncle Sam. It is anything but. Springsteen rails against the politicians who led tens of thousands to die in Vietnam, a war which is now so much in the spotlight following Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran.
The second half of the show was a belter as hit after hit had them dancing in the aisles, with ‘Hungry Heart’ and ‘Bobby Jean’ particular favourites. It was a show which delivered value for money, running at almost three hours in total – with a 20-minute break – mirroring Springsteen’s own legendary and lengthy live appearances.
The closure was provided by ‘I’m on Fire’ – yet another track from ‘Born in the USA’ – a reminder that Springsteen’s music has a loving and everlasting quality.
For my money The Boss could be the greatest performer in the history of music – certainly live – and seemingly plenty others agree as this was a near-sold out show at the Georgian Theatre Royal.
Graeme and Louise played their hearts out and fully deserved the raucous encore at the end. My favourite? The stripped down melancholia of Atlantic City’ from the acoustic ‘Nebraska’ album, still sends a chill.
