Saturday 23 March 2013

Sydney Allphones Arena - 3

Ticket: GA (Priority wristband - first 100)

If anyone was worried that they would miss something special by not going to the final Sydney show, then they were right to be concerned.


After Wednesday's second show there was a contagious sprit of optimism hours before the doors even opened on Friday night that this would be the concert people in the city have been waiting more than a decade for.

Talk in the hours before showtime often debated whether Springsteen seemed a little under the weather with a shorter first show, and less time in the crowd in the second.
This being Springsteen of course, both shows still amazed, thrilled and put other acts to shame with his endurance and entertainment value.

Not to mention a killer set list on the second night which pretty much lead to every other person in the pit bringing in a sign with requests - and after quickly dispensing with a few tour familiar tracks, Springsteen was more than happy to oblige.

We Take Care Of Our Own was back as opener, followed by Wrecking Ball and tour regulars Death To My Home Town, Hungry Heart and My City of Ruins were blasted out with efficiency before he asked what the crowd had for him.



The first request was Growin' Up which lead into the E Street Shuffle, before Springsteen raised the bar for the tour even higher and sealed the night as the best yet for many of those who have followed the band since they arrived "across shark infested waters!"

Taking the call for Prove It All Night - '78 intro, Springsteen caused a mini storm on stage as everyone adjusted their instruments, swapped guitars and Tom Morello shook his head in a way that almost suggested he wasn't up to speed on that one yet.

(Not that Morello needs to convince anyone of his talent as he again used his guitar lead plug to effect in E Street Shuffle - let alone the always impressive Ghost of Tom Joad)

If that was the case it need not matter, as it was Springsteen's moment to show off his playing skills, put to rest any concerns and reports of ill health and tick the box of many a fan's live request wishlist.

The performance was incredible and recieved more awe and respect from the arena crowd than any of the moments to honour E Street's ghosts.

Blasting out the exntended intro, Springsteen led the band through the rest of the song, with Jake Clemons' sax on fine form and Nils Lofgren taking the later solo to remind everyone he's still the guitarist to watch when you're not watching the main man.
If that request wasn't enough it was followed by Trapped and a bucket list call for The River.

Then after a few moments back to the tour structure of Shackled And Drawn and Waitin' On A Sunny Day came another many had been waiting for - Backstreets.
Built up and performed with the epic style it deserved, the track was well worth the wait as it made it's debut on the Australian tour.

As did another song that for some reason gets far too much airplay on Aussie radio stations - Born In The USA.
In case some people hadn't got the message to get out their seats, Springsteen ordered the song to be played loud, and the band fired out a fierce version of the song that started another great encore.

And after the closing Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out people were almost preparing to leave when he took one last request, grabbing two signs and ordering the band back to position for Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).

Not that the band or the crowd needed any encouragement, it was Friday night in the city and everybody wanted to keep the party going, and we had enough requests out there to keep going and going until Melbourne.

Setlist:
1. We Take Care Of Our Own
2. Wrecking Ball
3. Night
4. Death To My Hometown
5. Hungry Heart
6. My City Of Ruins
7. Growin' Up (Request)
8. E Street Shuffle
9. Prove it all night ('78 intro) (Request)
10. Trapped (Request)
11. The River (Request)
12. Pay Me My Money Down
13. Workin' on the Highway
14. Darlington County
15. Shackled and Drawn
16. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
17. Backstreets
18. Ghost of Tom Joad
19. Badlands

20. Thunder Road
21. Born In The USA
22. Born To Run
23. Dancing In The Dark
24. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
25. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (Request)





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