Springsteen and the E-Street Band, now expanded to a stage-filling 17 members, spent 3 energy-filled, tent-revival-like hours, alternating between allowing the sold-out crowd at the Verizon Center to revel in old memories and urging them to make a kinder, gentler America.
The focus of the show, the 6th in the band's current 1st leg of its world tour, was on Springsteen's new CD Wrecking Ball, which Rolling Stone magazine calls "the most despairing, confrontational, and musically turbulent album Bruce Springsteen has ever made."
"He (Springsteen) is angry and accusing in these songs, to the point of exhaustion, with grave reason. The America here is a scorched earth: razed by profiteers, and suffering a shameful erosion in truly democratic values and national charity. This is darkness gone way past the edge of town, to the heart of the republic," wrote reviewing critic David Fricke.
At a time when many rockers have been reduced to performing greatest hits packages in concert, Springsteen included 11 songs from the new CD during the 26-song set.
Of course, Springsteen didn't neglect long-time crowd pleasers from his immense catalog. Most of them came in the musical flurry of the multi-song encore. After closing the 1st part of the show with "Thunder Road," the band followed with staples "Born to Run," "Dancing in the Dark," and a night-ending "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out."
Springsteen also directed the extremely tight band in some lesser-played nuggets such as a back-to-back offering of "Seaside Bar Song" and "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" both from the band's early 1970s years. There were 3 tour debuts - "Adam Raised a Cain," "Out in the Street," (from a sign request by the audience) and "The Promise." Springsteen has always featured covers in his shows and that category was represented last night by a soaring "Trapped," written by Jimmy Cliff, and an upbeat soul medley of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "634-5789," during which Springsteen belied his 4 decades as a performer by crowd-surfing on the extended arms of thrilled fans.
But it was really Springsteen as prophet and advocate of the American Dream that truly defined the night. There were the lyrics of the 11 news songs with their combined premise that good governing and the ideal of sharing with others less fortunate is broken and in desperate need of repair. There was the juxtaposition of the themes of "My City of Ruins" and "The Rising." But, perhaps the most reflective moments came during a subdued, but powerful rendition of "American Skin (41 Shots)," originally written as a reaction to the tragic Amadou Diallo killing in New York City, but equally applicable to the Trayvon Martin shooting dominating the news today.
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To see the complete set list from the show provided by NJ.Com click here. To view Washington Post concert photos click here.
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