Hyde Park Thunder

You remember particular gigs for different reasons.  Saturday’s Hyde Park show at Hard Rock Calling for Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band is already infamous for the peremptory nature of its ending (of which more later), but that should not overshadow what was – by any standard – an extraordinary show and one of those that in years to come we’ll just sit around talking about the old times, telling boring stories of glory days and saying ‘Yes, I was there’.

Bruce had kept us on a string all day.  We were convinced he would come on stage during Tom Morello’s set, but he didn’t, and it would perhaps have been an anti-climax when Tom joined Bruce and the Band during the main show.  We weren’t anticipating Bruce introducing John Fogerty’s set, nor returning for ‘Rocking all over the world’; but that was a great taster of things to come.  By the time Bruce arrived on stage at 7.20, we were more than ready.  But what an entrance!  It would have been too predictable to repeat the opening of three years ago (with The Clash’s ‘London Calling’), but for Bruce to begin a show by chatting to a hushed audience and explaining that he was going to do a song that he first performed on British soil was both unexpected and a total gift. A frisson rippled through the crowd at the realisation that he was about to do ‘Thunder Road’; a lovely, stripped down and poetic version with Bruce almost a cappella – starting himself off with a single note on the harmonica, and Roy Bittan quietly accompanying him on piano.  And 70,000 word-perfect fans singing like a massed choir.  My all-time favourite Bruce song, and he even played air guitar while singing it.

Could it get any better?  Practically everything you would want was there: some terrific songs all the way through – both old and new, and the much anticipated Tom Morello doing his thing on ‘Ghost of Tom Joad’ was unforgettable.  I would have loved to hear Jungleland, particularly with Jake Clemons being on such great form and stepping into the Big Man’s shoes so well and with such respect (and being received with great affection and warmth by the audience); he would have nailed that sax solo.  I was desperate too for ‘10^th Avenue Freeze out’ but that was not to be.

The one request that Bruce picked from the crowd was a great moment – Bruce had some fun commenting on all the places the requestor had followed them around Europe making the same obscure plea but to no avail.  Tonight was his night and ‘Take ‘em as they come’ (unknown to all but the most dedicated fans and released on Tracks in 1998) took off.  Not played live for almost a decade, but you would never have known – Bruce was on the money with the lyrics and the band was right with him.  And the guy in the front row who had asked for this song, and his young son were singing their hearts out all the way through.  And shedding a few tears.  That’s what a Bruce gig is all about.

The biggest surprise came after ‘Dancing in the Dark’ with the arrival of Sir Paul McCartney – a gracious Bruce remarking he has waited 50 years for this moment to happen. ‘I saw her standing there’ and an extended ‘Twist and Shout’ were history-making moments, even for cynics like me who think Macca is past his prime – he was rejuvenated by the magic powers of the E-Street Band playing live.  As Bruce has often pointed out, miracles happen when they walk out on stage, and suddenly they are all 16 years old again; it isn’t really about tricks – it’s really about magic, and the spell was working on Saturday night.  And then, as we know, the show organisers pulled the plug on the amplifiers and the show was killed stone dead for the crime of busting through an absurdly early curfew.  Another 15 minutes or so and things would have ended anyway and done so on a proper high rather than as a damp squib.  The real shame was that the closer would no doubt have included the anticipated ‘10^th Avenue Freeze Out’ – always a classic of Bruce’s live set, but since the death of wingman Clarence Clemons last year, this has been included in the tour as a particular tribute to the Big Man.  The officiousness of Westminster City Council and concert organisers Live Nation in unplugging Springsteen robbed everyone of an extraordinary finale, but ensured this particular show will be legendary.