Wembley Stadium might be hallowed turf in sporting terms, but it’s a venue that can be notoriously challenging for musicians hoping to sound, you know, good. Many an artist has been swallowed up by the venue's unforgiving acoustics, and this evening, once again, the national stadium does its best to rob a performer of clarity of sound. Except, this time Wembley has picked a fight with the wrong person.
Much like time, musical trends and the concept of aging, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band take something that could finish lesser artists, laugh in its face and put on a show so thrilling, so euphoric, so life-affirming that tens of thousands of people are still screaming and braying at an empty stage for more, 20 minutes after the band have departed.
Arriving onstage just after 7pm and staying put for just over 3 hours, Springsteen essentially plays the part of his own support band, opening with a handful of deeper cuts from fan favourite albums The Rising and Darkness on the Edge of Town. The likes of Adam Raised a Cain, Candy’s Room and, particularly, a raucous The Promised Land from the aforementioned Darkness... being chucked out early in the set have hardcore Springsteen fans beside themselves with joy.
It’s at this point in the show where the Wembley sound gremlins start to do their thing, and in certain sections of the stadium the echoey reverb makes the likes of Hungry Heart and Darlington County a bit of a struggle to fully appreciate. It’s understandable why a band as vast and as full as The E Street Band are a tough one for a PA to truly capture, but it’s still frustrating.
Luckily, whether it's just a bunch of scrambling sound men or some kind of divine intervention, it seems to get sorted when Bruce brings out his acoustic guitar and plays a tear-jerking version of Last Man Standing, prefaced by a gorgeous story about being the final surviving member of his first ever band and being at the bedside of his school friend as he passed away, that everything falls perfectly into place and we never look back.
Not to discredit the sound engineers, but, when in the presence of Springsteen, you do feel like divine intervention would have been the more likely reason. Aged 74, the man is a genuine marvel, having lost none of his energy, relatability, passion or the ability to truly connect with an audience, it’s truly an honour to witness a master of the live performance in the flesh. He still has a voice that can chill your blood and send shivers down your spine, and it goes without saying that The E Street Band are as tight and as perfect a group of musicians as you’ve ever seen.
The final hour, featuring a frankly absurd run of Badlands, Thunder Road, Born In The USA, Born To Run, Bobby Jean, Dancing in the Dark, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (complete with on screen tributes to Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici) and Twist and Shout, create a bar for live rock music that is surely impossible to match, and sends the entirety of Wembley into a fervour that borders on religious.
Here in 2024, when you witness one of rock's legitimate icons and founding fathers, it’s hard not to shake the feeling that this could well be the final time you’re seeing them. But everything about a Bruce Springsteen show just makes you feel so alive that the idea of him going away seems absurd. “We’ve been doing this for 50 years and we’re not going away!” he barks toward the end of the set. It’s impossible not to believe him.
Bruce Springsteen is on the cover of the new issue of Classic Rock magazine.
