Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park
Hard Rock Calling 2012:
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
John Fogerty
Lady Antebellum
Hyde Park, 14 July 2012
I have such sore feet from standing two days in the mud and the rain! But it was completely and utterly worth it and it was certainly a unique experience seeing the Boss playing Waitin' On A Sunny Day as the rain poured from the sky.
This is actually my fourth year in a row going to the Hard Rock Calling festival, although the first time I've got to go to two consecutive nights, and it's funny to think just how different the day was a year ago, especially since it was held earlier at the end of June last year, with the sun blaring down and the ground dusty and dry. When we arrived at Hyde Park it couldn't have been more different: the rain had been falling heavily that morning and this coupled with the crowds that had been trampling the ground the night before at the Soundgarden show, even the woodchips, which had been laid everywhere, couldn't save us from the mud and some pretty mean puddles. Still this didn't stop some people from laying down plastic and lying on the now non-existent grass. Whatever floats your boat and keeps you dry, I guess.
At the very least the sky had cleared and it had stopping raining and Lady Antebellum were on stage performing their radio-friendly brand of crossover country. To be absolutely honest here, I know very little about Lady Antebellum other than their big hit Need You Now (which Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole memorably slaughtered at the Queen's Jubilee concert last month). On stage they sounded fine enough, with a little twang and some nice harmonies but nothing to make me rush out and buy their records. Still they were a nice mid-afternoon act if pretty unmemorable.
Seeing Lady Antebellum had been a (fairly) happy accident but I was keen to catch the next act, a true songwriting and rock legend, John Fogerty, the man who made his name with Creedence Clearwater Revival back in the 60s and 70s. Proving his importance and legendary status Bruce Springsteen himself came onstage early, dressed in a matching plaid shit (which he amusingly pointed out) and shades, and introduced Fogerty as "the Hank Williams of his generation" and a "personal hero" of his. It was a lovely moment and helped the audience sit up and take notice. Although at age 67, with his noticeably darkly dyed hair, Fogerty is no spring chicken he certainly is as energetic as ever and delivered a rollicking, crowd-friendly set full of Creedence classics such as Lodi, Midnight Special, Bad Moon Rising (which I was especially excited to hear live), Fortunate Son, Proud Mary and rather appropriately Have You Ever Seen The Rain? and Who'll Stop The Rain. There was also a fun cover of the Roy Orbison classic Pretty Woman but the best moment, of course, came when Bruce rejoined him on stage and they performed a spirited version of Fogerty's classic Rockin' All Over The World (which I only ever knew as a Status Quo song! See, concert-going is educational too), with both legends grinning away at each other while singing into the same microphone. It was cool to see Bruce isn't too big for his boots to pay tribute to his heroes and come out on stage early to perform with them, but then that's Springsteen all over isn't it? All round great guy.
None of this hampered the huge anticipation for his arrival on stage with the E Street Band either and when he finally did walk on with his old troupe, now dressed in blue shirt and black waistcoast, the crowd went suitably crazy. All that waiting around in the mud had been worth it: the Boss was finally here. And, man, does he still look great, at least a decade younger than his 62 years, and he sounds just as good too. Amusingly he promised to leave us with "legs aching, ears hurting and sexual organs stimulated", which I'm sure was true for many at the end of the epic three hour show.
I remember there was a joke in the 90s that the bootleggers in Camden had stopped recording Oasis's shows because every one was exactly the same. Well, that's something that could never be said about Springsteen, one of the many joys of a Bruce concert is the fact you never know what to expect as he's famous for changing the setlist for every show and digging out surprises. It's the reason some fans have seen him hundreds of times because every show is different. And tonight was no exception right from the start, with Bruce telling us he was going to start with something special, reminiscing about the first time he came to play in London: "this was the first thing we played after our feet touched English soil" he told us before launching into a powerful acoustic version of Thunder Road, which had the crowd singing along joyfully. "That was a little love letter to you tonight," Bruce said, and it really felt like it. It was obvious right from that special start that this was going to be a fantastic show, but then having seen Springsteen three times prior to this that was never in any doubt: he's one of the best performers in the world.
The rest of the night was a lovely mixture of classic songs from his back catalogue and tracks from his latest album, Wrecking Ball, which I must say sounded great. There were so many lovely moments too: Tom Morello, who had played earlier in the day but we had missed, coming on to play on several numbers including the rousing Celtic-feeling Death To My Hometown, a fantastic full-band version of The Ghost Of Tom Joad, and a truly spirit-lifting version of The Rising, among others, while Fogerty was called out to play with Bruce and the band on The Promised Land. The one request of the night (fans write them on cardboard and hold them up for him to pick out of the crowd) was also a wonderful moment, with a Spanish fan who had been following Bruce around Europe who had written all the dates of the shows were he had unsuccessfully requested his song under the title. Bruce ran through all the dates where the poor fan had had no luck and when he got to London he told him that his dream was going to come true tonight and they launched into a brilliant version of the obscure song Take 'Em As They Come (which is on the Tracks boxset). It also made me smile when Bruce pulled out a little boy out of the audience and had him sing into the microphone and of course there was the Courtney Cox lookalike (honestly, she was dressed in the exact same outfit from the video) that Bruce pulled from the audience to dance with at the end of Dancing In The Dark (which at that point we all were).
For the first half of the show I really thought we were going to be lucky, as the rain had held off and Bruce had even commented on it being a lovely night, "I know, give it fifteen minutes, right?" he said, and sure enough, maybe not fifteen minutes later but not long after, it really did start to pour down and kept raining pretty heavy all the way through the rest of the show. But as I said beforehand it did make hearing Waitin' On A Sunny Day even more relevant and special, because I don't think there wasn't one of us in that crowd who didn't feel those words at that moment (even though the song is more about optimism than weather!), especially the kids beside me who were absolutely drenched, having not brought along an umbrella let alone a rainmac or wellies. Ah to be young and foolish. They still looked like they were enjoying every minute of the show though, which says a lot for Bruce's power as an artist, and he certainly didn't let the rain stop him for walking out to the audience constantly.
Not surprisingly there were a few poignant references to the late, great Clarence Clemons who died last year. This was the first Bruce show I had seen without him and I must say that the E Street Horns, particularly Clarence's nephew Jake, did an fine job of not replacing him exactly but filling the huge void that the Big Man left. At one point, during a quiet moment in Spirit In the Night, with Bruce and Jake sitting on the steps that led down from the stage to the audience, Bruce mentioned Clarence with a lot of emotion in his voice, saying to Jake "I don't think you were old enough, you probably weren't even born yet. But me, and your uncle..." and then launched into the final verse of the song. It was nice that he was constantly being referenced. Gone but definitely not forgotten.
The encore was just a huge blast of Bruce's greatest hits played with so much happiness and joy that I could just picture even the biggest Bruce hater having a huge Road to Damascus moment and being converted. After the Wrecking Ball track We Are Alive, we were treated to Born In The USA, Born To Run, Glory Days (absolutely amazing) and Dancing In The Dark. And then he surprised us all by bringing out none other than Paul McCartney as his special guest (to a impressive background of fireworks in rain) to play two Beatles hits (I Saw Her Standing There and Twist And Shout), which of course the press all over the world have reported in detail due to the plug being pulled after they went over the curfew. It was a huge bummer that they didn't even let Bruce say goodnight and thank you or wasn't given a brief minute to explain what had happened (completely ridiculous) and after the huge rush of good energy that the encore and McCartney's appearance had given the crowd it left the whole thing on a strange uncompleted note. But no matter, it came at the very end of the track and didn't stop this from being a truly incredible night. If you love live music, hell, if you love rock music and you haven't seen Bruce Springsteen live you really are missing out. There's still no one (and never will be) anyone like him.
This is actually my fourth year in a row going to the Hard Rock Calling festival, although the first time I've got to go to two consecutive nights, and it's funny to think just how different the day was a year ago, especially since it was held earlier at the end of June last year, with the sun blaring down and the ground dusty and dry. When we arrived at Hyde Park it couldn't have been more different: the rain had been falling heavily that morning and this coupled with the crowds that had been trampling the ground the night before at the Soundgarden show, even the woodchips, which had been laid everywhere, couldn't save us from the mud and some pretty mean puddles. Still this didn't stop some people from laying down plastic and lying on the now non-existent grass. Whatever floats your boat and keeps you dry, I guess.
At the very least the sky had cleared and it had stopping raining and Lady Antebellum were on stage performing their radio-friendly brand of crossover country. To be absolutely honest here, I know very little about Lady Antebellum other than their big hit Need You Now (which Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole memorably slaughtered at the Queen's Jubilee concert last month). On stage they sounded fine enough, with a little twang and some nice harmonies but nothing to make me rush out and buy their records. Still they were a nice mid-afternoon act if pretty unmemorable.
Seeing Lady Antebellum had been a (fairly) happy accident but I was keen to catch the next act, a true songwriting and rock legend, John Fogerty, the man who made his name with Creedence Clearwater Revival back in the 60s and 70s. Proving his importance and legendary status Bruce Springsteen himself came onstage early, dressed in a matching plaid shit (which he amusingly pointed out) and shades, and introduced Fogerty as "the Hank Williams of his generation" and a "personal hero" of his. It was a lovely moment and helped the audience sit up and take notice. Although at age 67, with his noticeably darkly dyed hair, Fogerty is no spring chicken he certainly is as energetic as ever and delivered a rollicking, crowd-friendly set full of Creedence classics such as Lodi, Midnight Special, Bad Moon Rising (which I was especially excited to hear live), Fortunate Son, Proud Mary and rather appropriately Have You Ever Seen The Rain? and Who'll Stop The Rain. There was also a fun cover of the Roy Orbison classic Pretty Woman but the best moment, of course, came when Bruce rejoined him on stage and they performed a spirited version of Fogerty's classic Rockin' All Over The World (which I only ever knew as a Status Quo song! See, concert-going is educational too), with both legends grinning away at each other while singing into the same microphone. It was cool to see Bruce isn't too big for his boots to pay tribute to his heroes and come out on stage early to perform with them, but then that's Springsteen all over isn't it? All round great guy.
None of this hampered the huge anticipation for his arrival on stage with the E Street Band either and when he finally did walk on with his old troupe, now dressed in blue shirt and black waistcoast, the crowd went suitably crazy. All that waiting around in the mud had been worth it: the Boss was finally here. And, man, does he still look great, at least a decade younger than his 62 years, and he sounds just as good too. Amusingly he promised to leave us with "legs aching, ears hurting and sexual organs stimulated", which I'm sure was true for many at the end of the epic three hour show.
I remember there was a joke in the 90s that the bootleggers in Camden had stopped recording Oasis's shows because every one was exactly the same. Well, that's something that could never be said about Springsteen, one of the many joys of a Bruce concert is the fact you never know what to expect as he's famous for changing the setlist for every show and digging out surprises. It's the reason some fans have seen him hundreds of times because every show is different. And tonight was no exception right from the start, with Bruce telling us he was going to start with something special, reminiscing about the first time he came to play in London: "this was the first thing we played after our feet touched English soil" he told us before launching into a powerful acoustic version of Thunder Road, which had the crowd singing along joyfully. "That was a little love letter to you tonight," Bruce said, and it really felt like it. It was obvious right from that special start that this was going to be a fantastic show, but then having seen Springsteen three times prior to this that was never in any doubt: he's one of the best performers in the world.
The rest of the night was a lovely mixture of classic songs from his back catalogue and tracks from his latest album, Wrecking Ball, which I must say sounded great. There were so many lovely moments too: Tom Morello, who had played earlier in the day but we had missed, coming on to play on several numbers including the rousing Celtic-feeling Death To My Hometown, a fantastic full-band version of The Ghost Of Tom Joad, and a truly spirit-lifting version of The Rising, among others, while Fogerty was called out to play with Bruce and the band on The Promised Land. The one request of the night (fans write them on cardboard and hold them up for him to pick out of the crowd) was also a wonderful moment, with a Spanish fan who had been following Bruce around Europe who had written all the dates of the shows were he had unsuccessfully requested his song under the title. Bruce ran through all the dates where the poor fan had had no luck and when he got to London he told him that his dream was going to come true tonight and they launched into a brilliant version of the obscure song Take 'Em As They Come (which is on the Tracks boxset). It also made me smile when Bruce pulled out a little boy out of the audience and had him sing into the microphone and of course there was the Courtney Cox lookalike (honestly, she was dressed in the exact same outfit from the video) that Bruce pulled from the audience to dance with at the end of Dancing In The Dark (which at that point we all were).
For the first half of the show I really thought we were going to be lucky, as the rain had held off and Bruce had even commented on it being a lovely night, "I know, give it fifteen minutes, right?" he said, and sure enough, maybe not fifteen minutes later but not long after, it really did start to pour down and kept raining pretty heavy all the way through the rest of the show. But as I said beforehand it did make hearing Waitin' On A Sunny Day even more relevant and special, because I don't think there wasn't one of us in that crowd who didn't feel those words at that moment (even though the song is more about optimism than weather!), especially the kids beside me who were absolutely drenched, having not brought along an umbrella let alone a rainmac or wellies. Ah to be young and foolish. They still looked like they were enjoying every minute of the show though, which says a lot for Bruce's power as an artist, and he certainly didn't let the rain stop him for walking out to the audience constantly.
Not surprisingly there were a few poignant references to the late, great Clarence Clemons who died last year. This was the first Bruce show I had seen without him and I must say that the E Street Horns, particularly Clarence's nephew Jake, did an fine job of not replacing him exactly but filling the huge void that the Big Man left. At one point, during a quiet moment in Spirit In the Night, with Bruce and Jake sitting on the steps that led down from the stage to the audience, Bruce mentioned Clarence with a lot of emotion in his voice, saying to Jake "I don't think you were old enough, you probably weren't even born yet. But me, and your uncle..." and then launched into the final verse of the song. It was nice that he was constantly being referenced. Gone but definitely not forgotten.
The encore was just a huge blast of Bruce's greatest hits played with so much happiness and joy that I could just picture even the biggest Bruce hater having a huge Road to Damascus moment and being converted. After the Wrecking Ball track We Are Alive, we were treated to Born In The USA, Born To Run, Glory Days (absolutely amazing) and Dancing In The Dark. And then he surprised us all by bringing out none other than Paul McCartney as his special guest (to a impressive background of fireworks in rain) to play two Beatles hits (I Saw Her Standing There and Twist And Shout), which of course the press all over the world have reported in detail due to the plug being pulled after they went over the curfew. It was a huge bummer that they didn't even let Bruce say goodnight and thank you or wasn't given a brief minute to explain what had happened (completely ridiculous) and after the huge rush of good energy that the encore and McCartney's appearance had given the crowd it left the whole thing on a strange uncompleted note. But no matter, it came at the very end of the track and didn't stop this from being a truly incredible night. If you love live music, hell, if you love rock music and you haven't seen Bruce Springsteen live you really are missing out. There's still no one (and never will be) anyone like him.
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