February 25, 2023 -- Concerts Are REALLY Back!

Portland, OR
Moda Center

In 2020, when all my concerts were canceled and ultimately led to a two-year-long gap in seeing live music, I longed for a show full of life and energy. With all that was going on -- staying home, isolation, fear of the unknown -- the top thought in mind was "God, I need a Springsteen show." I had to get out of the house and feel alive, and that was the fastest, surest way I knew. In October, 2020, Bruce released a new album with the E Street Band, Letter to You. The first song I heard from that album was "Ghosts" and my immediate first reaction to hearing it was "oh man, this will sound so good live!" I hoped I wouldn't have to wait too long.

I only saw one concert in 2021, towards the end of the year as things became less restrictive and vaccinations more available, and it felt so good to feel like life was getting closer to "normal." I saw more shows in 2022, and even traveled to Las Vegas for a couple. Still, the one show I was really waiting for wasn't on the agenda. Yet.

Finally, in July 2022 Bruce Springsteen announced tour dates. First were shows in Europe, then shows in North America. But wait... there isn't a single show in California?! Oh hell no, I'm not waiting any longer than I have to for this. What's the closest show? Portland? Cool I have friends and cousins in Portland so at least a place to stay if no one wants to go with me. Sure, I figured there would be more North American dates scheduled later in the tour, but it's been too long to wait already. I texted my cousin Laura and friend Mary to see if either were interested in joining me, and Mary took me up on it. Ok off to register for tickets.

I won't go into the whole mess of getting tickets and I get why Springsteen fans are upset about the ticket prices for this tour, but after decades of being under market rate for an act of his stature I'm not going to begrudge him this time. (How Ticketmaster handles tickets and marked up prices on their internal resale market is a WHOLE different scenario.) Tickets were definitely more expensive than I expected, but I was able to get two behind the stage for only slightly more than I'd planned for.

Mary and I have been friends since high school and have always shared a love of music, just not always the same music. Her tastes run more towards power pop/Americana while mine more mainstream rock. There is definitely some overlap and we mostly enjoy at least some of each others preferred genres, and that rigid "I'll only listen to what I like" mindset of high school is long long gone. This is my long-winded way of saying Bruce Springsteen isn't someone Mary usually listens too and had never seen perform, so I gave her some "homework" leading up to the show. Listen to Letter to You and Bruce's latest release Only the Strong Survive since he will surely do a bunch of new songs. Learn the first verses to "Thunder Road" and "Hungry Heart." She did that along with listening to a bunch of E Street Radio on Sirius, so she had a baseline for the concert (while driving her husband slightly nuts with the deluge.)

Finally, it was time to fly to Portland for the show. Just a few complications. Portland had gotten a record amount of snow on Wednesday. Roads were still closed and icy when I flew up on Friday. I assured Mary I could get myself from the airport to her house either using a ride share service or public transit, no need to pick me up. I got to the airport only to have my flight delayed 30 minutes as there was a substitute pilot coming in from Sacramento and he'd gotten stuck in traffic. Ok, that's not too bad. Board the plane, pull out of the gate, and.... sit on the tarmac. There was a problem with one of the navigation computers. Back to the gate to wait on a fix. I figured absolute worst case scenario, so long as I was in Portland by noon on Saturday, I'd be OK. Fortunately we were eventually able to take off, but about 2.5 hours later than planned. I got to Mary's by 7:30 Friday night and had a yummy dinner while we caught up. (Thanks Kai!)

Saturday we just hung out around the house as it was still cold with melting snow on the ground. Not a bad way to spend the day, though I know Mary wished we could have gone out and done stuff before the show. I didn't mind. Resting up before Springsteen is always a good idea. We grabbed an Uber about 5 and headed off to the show. It took us forever to get some dinner as the nearest place to eat by the arena was absolutely packed. I think everyone had the same idea as we did -- don't want to drive/walk around too much in the snow and ice, so just grab something at the arena.

The nice thing about standing around with a bunch of people waiting on a show is a chance to chat with them. I was rather surprised at the number of people who told me they were seeing Springsteen for the first time. Not young kids either, but people at least in their 50s if not older. Including Springsteen on Broadway, this was going to be my thirteenth show. A few weeks ago, my cousin Denise sent me a question from a Twitter account she follows -- "Which band or artist do you think you've spent the most money on?" Well, that one is kind of a "duh" question (and if you're reading this and don't know the answer take a look at the menu to the right) but I wondered who ranked number two, so did some counting of concerts and after eliminating performers whose count is inflated by having toured with Journey, Bruce Springsteen came out on top. Rather as I had expected. He's just someone I refuse to miss if he's in town and I can get tickets, which I have mostly been able to since the first time I got tickets in 1992.

We made our way into the show and found our seats relatively easily. Mary had never been to the Moda Center before, so it was a new experience for both of us. Our seats were behind stage left, which gave us a pretty good view. I've done behind the stage seats before and other than the chance of getting a bunch of cables blocking your view, they're usually pretty good. Sure, the performer isn't usually looking in your direction, but it's a close seat and really a cool perspective looking out at what the performer sees. 

Leading up to the show, I'd been checking out the various set lists of earlier shows. Normally, I wouldn't do this as I like to be surprised, but I was curious what new songs would be included. I really enjoy Letter to You, and even though the broad theme of the album is one of loss, it's also a celebration of life and friendship, and resonates so much. Most of the set lists had at least four songs from Letter to You and one or two from Only the Strong Survive, including my favorite from that album, "Nightshift."

Still, even knowing what to expect, I was thrilled when the band took the stage and kicked into "No Surrender," which is probably my favorite track from the Born in the U.S.A. album. I actually prefer the version from Live 1975-1985 and it's slower pace, but the original version has the high energy needed for an opening track. Thematically, it also works really well with the newer songs, so when the next song was "Ghosts" it was a great transition. As I mentioned above, this was the song I absolutely had to hear live once I'd first heard it. It's a song made to be played live and hearing "Count the band in, then kick into overdrive/By the end of the set we leave no one alive" live and loud was exactly what I was hoping it would feel like.

Contrary to their contemporaries in the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band put on a high energy non-stop performance. One song segued into another with very little down time in between, and absolutely no intermission! The core of the E Street Band are all in their early 70s, but clearly the energy they get by performing gets fed back out and keeps them young. There were a number of times when I would glance up at the screen and noticed just how much joy Bruce was getting from performing live with his long time friends and bandmates. You could just see how much he loves what he does.

We got a tour debut with "I'm on Fire" about half-way through the main set, which was a pleasant surprise. Alas, it took the slot of "Nightshift" which I had been really looking forward to. I love the original version by the Commodores and Bruce does an excellent job covering it. It's also a song that fit in thematically with the broader set. Between the new songs from Letter to You and the older selections from the catalog, many of the songs were about friendship, age, and loss. The deepest of those being friendship and the importance of those close life long relationships we form.

That theme carried on when Bruce got to "Last Man Standing" and he told the story of forming his first band the Castiles (which requires a hand gesture best described as "voila!") when he was in high school with his friend George Theiss. George's death a few years ago was the inspiration for Letter to You and left Bruce as the last living member of the Castiles -- the "Last Man Standing." This was followed by "Backstreets" and in combination they were powerful.

A few other highlights of the set included "Kitty's Back" which is one of his earliest songs. It's one I'm not actually that familiar with as it appears on his second album which I didn't own until a couple of years ago when I decided I needed to complete my catalog. It's mostly an instrumental tune and showcases the talent of the band fantastically. Everyone in the E Street Band, whether a long-time member or a more recent addition/hired for touring only are top notch. I was especially impressed with Jake Clemons over the course of the show. He's grown so much into his role in the band. While no one will ever replace Clarence, his nephew is doing an excellent job. He was really letting his personality show and that he feels like he's really a part of the band.

The encore came upon us quickly (without the band even leaving the stage, just a bow and back to work) and covered all the key points -- audience singing along to "Thunder Road," house lights up for "Born to Run," tribute to Clarence and Danny Federici with "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out." For the latter, Bruce went out into the audience to a secondary stage behind the general admission section to start it off. 

Finally, the band left the stage and it was just Bruce left for one last song. I knew what it would be since I had been reviewing the set lists. My favorite track from Letter to You -- "I'll See You in My Dreams." The song made me cry the very first time I heard it and has continued to do so nearly every time since. Bruce singing this one solo with just an acoustic guitar -- absolutely hammered me. Normally I would not be sitting down for the last song of the show, even a slow acoustic number, but I needed to for this one while I sobbed and smiled and sang along. It was excellent and so powerful.

Once the show was over, Mary and I headed out to catch our Uber home. While waiting in the cold Portland night, I asked her what she thought, and her first comment was "I've never seen so many people on stage at one time!" I got a big laugh out of that. Most of the bands she sees are four or five people and in smaller venues, so it's not surprising that there isn't a plethora of other musicians on stage. The horn section, percussionist, and backup singers alone were more than she usually sees at once. She definitely enjoyed them and can now add another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee to her list (which is one of our on-going conversations about music, I'm leading in that category.)

My 2020 concert longing is finally sated, and even better, I've got tickets to both of his San Francisco shows in December which went on sale last Thursday. They're the last two shows of the tour, so I'm really excited for what they might hold.

 

Set list:

No Surrender
Ghosts
Prove It All Night
Letter to You
The Promised Land
Out in the Street
Candy's Room
Kitty's Back
I'm on Fire
Burnin' Train
Johnny 99
The E Street Shuffle
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because the Night
She's the One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands

Encore:
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
I'll See You in My Dreams