| I’ve always loved Bruce’s songs, his lyrics have been a lifelong inspiration to me and overall outside of metal music he’s one of the greatest for me. Springsteen has never played in Finland before and some believed he never would. So when these two concerts were announced back in November 2002, i rushed to get a ticket. The first show was on Monday, and i thought about going there as well. However, when tickets were sold i really couldn’t afford an extra gig and of course it sold out almost as quickly as the first one. But i’m happy that i got to see him, one time’s more than enough. I arrived at the Stadium with a friend of mine well before 7 PM, dark clouds were gathering up so we bought some raincoats. Also bought a tour program and a t-shirt although we had to hurry to get into our seats in time. No time left for beer, unfortunately. We had great seats close to the stage where we could see pretty much everything clearly. Only keyboardist Danny Federici was behind a cabinet, but i could see a figure moving behind from time to time. Few drops of rain actually came down when we were just getting inside but after that the sky cleared up. And couple of minutes before concert began, the sun started shining so everything seemed perfect. Well, after the sun had set weather did start to get colder. Luckily by the time encores arrived, everyone was standing up and moving so that kept us warm till the end. The anticipation was getting high and finally the members of The E-Street Band walked on stage on by one and kicked off with the title track of ”The Rising.” No acoustic ”Born In The USA” like on the first night. Overall the set was different, more surprises and rare tracks although some of the good ones also got left out completely (Bobby Jean, Darlington County etc.) But you can’t please everyone. What
can you say about Bruce? The man is really an icon. He looks 10 years
younger
than he is and
still gives out everything he’s
got on stage. His vocals were powerful, clear and upfront. Except fluffing
couple of lines in ”She’s The One” it was a faultless
performance. The bass sound that was bothering the first concert was better this time around but IMO still a bit too loud. Anyway, you could hear all the guitar solos and other instruments clearly so no major problem here. There were two large screens on both sides of the stage but the one on our side decided to go busted before the encores. Well, no big deal. After the first show there were some reports about the lack of audience participation. However, as the first night was really a bonus show with more tickets gone to firms and other casual fans, the second show was filled with diehards. Still, it took us 5 or 6 songs to get properly warmed up. By the time they played ”The River” and ”Waitin’ On A Sunny Day,” the whole crowd was getting up, singing and clapping their hands. Finns are usually a bit reserved but Bruce definitely got them into it on WOASD, running back and forth, urging everyone to sing along. After this point the show kicked into a higher gear, and everything just exploded when the encores arrived. During ”Glory Days” i think everyone at floor was banging their fists in the air. Bruce also tried out few words in finnish: ”miten menee?” (how’s it goin’?) ”saisinko hiljaisuutta” (may i have some silence) and ”kiitos Suomi, kiitos paljon!” (thank you Finland, thank you very much) Before sitting down on piano to play ”My City Of Ruins,” he thanked the whole crowd again for coming and selling out these two shows. Highlights: there were so many. ”The River” rarely played ”we haven’t done this one for a while, let’s see how it goes” - just beautiful. Couple of other faves of mine ”She’s The One,” ”Candy’s Room,” ”Darkness On The Edge Of Town,” ”Thunder Road” – ”Lying Out There Like a Killer In The Sun, I Know it’s Late But We Can Make It If We Run..” great stuff. The first encore with rockers from ”The River” played back to back was phenomenal: ”Cadillac Ranch” – there was a sheet at front throughout the show requesting that song and Bruce acknowledged it: ”you get what you ask for..” ”Hungry Heart” was amazing, to hear 40 000 or so people singing the chorus. Almost brought tears to my eyes, again Bruce was in command here. Running around in front of the stage, and even getting down to shake some hands during this song. ”Ramrod” seemed to go on forever and the band was having a great time, Roy Bittan played a solo piano interlude and someone placed a reindeer hat on him behind. Nice joke. ;) ”Born To Run” – perfect song for outdoor stadiums i suppose. This song took my voice out completely… Lows: not much. IMO some of the new songs just don’t sound as good on stage as they do on record. ”Waitin On A Sunny Day” and a 15-minute ”Mary’s Place” (during this one Bruce shouted ”get your finnish asses of your seats” – and most of us did so) worked well but with others the crowd didn’t seem to know quite how to respond. I was surprised to see that a lot of people didn’t know the lyrics to new songs. After all it’s been almost a year since the album was released.. There was also a time limit for noise disturbance, which meant they had to stop at 11 PM. Shame as it seemed we could have got couple of extra songs. Anyways, here’s the setlist: 1.The Rising Concert started a little after 8 PM and finished around 11 PM. Bit tired at the moment, since it was around 1.30 before i managed to get some sleep…but it was all worth it. All in all three hours of great fun and brilliant music. There has been some comments that these might be the last shows Springsteen will ever play here. But his last words to the crowd were ”we’ll see you again soon” so i guess there’s a reason to be hopeful. I know i’ll be there! Thank You, Bruce!! :) |
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN |
HELSINKI OLYMPIC STADIUM 17.6.2003 |