Bruce Springsteen - Hyde Park
*****
It wasn’t until I was walking to the exit, my back aching after standing for three hours watching a music legend, that it finally dawned on me.
Never mind how I would feel in the morning, what about 73-year-old Bruce?
He had just spent 180 minutes bounding around like a man half his age, his sleeves rolled up, his toned biceps glistening in the evening sun. It was quite the performance, not dissimilar to Mick Jagger – you can’t take your eyes off him as he commands every inch of the stage.
But unlike his fellow septuagenarian, Bruce likes to play longer… much longer.
With organisers moving the start time to 7pm, there was no danger of falling foul to Westminster Council’s strict curfew. And thank goodness as fans were treated to an epic set bursting with hits spanning his 50-year plus career.
All the massive tunes were ticked off: Born to Run, The Promised Land, Born in the USA, The River and Badlands etc.
But it was in the quieter moments that set this show apart. Holding back tears, Bruce said he wrote Last Man Standing after the death of George Theiss, who had been the only other surviving member of his first band The Castiles.
“At 15, it’s all hellos, and a lot later on, there’s a lot more hard goodbyes,” he said, urging people to “seize the day”.
Carpe diem? With that blistering show, the Boss certainly did.
