Bruce Springsteen
& The E Street Band
The Forum, Los Angeles, CA – Thursday, April 4th, 2024
Recap/Pics: Will
“Your Concert Review Before Your Ears Stop Ringing”
Why, oh why, did it take so long to see Bruce Springsteen. What an absolutely epic evening. I’m still in awe of the show and I’m trying to remember every bit that I can. I want to hold on to the feeling and memories and hopefully not let them fade away.
The Forum (fuck this “KIA” Forum shit, it’s The Forum) was sold out for the first of his two shows. (The second this upcoming Sunday). I’ve been to sold out shows here before, but this was insane. This is the type of packed that you’d expect if Bruce was playing down the road at the Whisky a Go Go.
(A side note… I DID see Bruce once. It was back in the 90’s during the days of the House Of Blues on the Sunset strip. Every Monday, Jim Belushi and The Sacred Hearts band would play a show and usually a guest would show up unannounced. I was lucky enough to be there the night Bruce came out and played a couple of covers with the band. But I digress…)
No opening act needed. Ever. Bruce, at 74 years young, played for a staggering 3 hours and 15 minutes without one wasted moment. 32 songs (with a few covers thrown in) that spanned his entire 60 year career and didn’t even include some of his biggest hits and fan favorites.
Was I disappointed not to hear “The River“, “Born In The U.S.A.” or “I’m On Fire“? Yes I was. But it was all in retrospect, because during the show I didn’t even notice the time passing. Bruce instilled passion, energy and emotion into every song he played and made even lesser known songs feel like his biggest hits.
Bruce transformed The Forum into a church, a dance club, The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, and even at times into New Jersey itself.
From the most grandiose of full band songs like “Hungry Heart” and “Badlands” to the quieter more poignant moments of “Tougher Than The Rest” & “Fire” with wife Patti Scialfa (who made her first appearance on the tour), every song was a story that had you captivated.
One of those moments was a story he told, while strumming on his guitar, about his friend “George” who recruited Bruce to be the guitarist in his first band back in 1965. A few years back Bruce visited George in the hospital a few days before he passed away from cancer. That left Bruce as the “Last Man Standing” from his original band, which he started playing solo, acoustic.
One thought that went through my head was the amount of times I have seen Bon Jovi over the years. I know Bruce was a hero of his, but it all made sense now. You know how us “old folks” lament about how things were sturdier and more well built “back in the day”. Yeah, sorry, but in regards to Jon’s stage persona, Bruce was the mold.
And let’s not forget that band…The E Street Band are a 17 piece, force of nature. I mean Little Steven (sorry you’re still in that coma, Sil), Max Weinberg, Nils Lofgren… All legends in their own right. But the E-Street Horns and Choir are equally as impressive and important to the voluptuousness of the Springsteen sound.
During “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out“, while Bruce walked around and joined the fans in the middle of The Forum, a video played that showed footage of deceased E street members, Danny Federici and of course “The Big Man“, Clarence Clemons.
Speaking of The Big Man, a definite highlight of the evening was anytime that Clarence’s nephew, Jake Clemons took center stage to rip off some insane Sax solos. The crowd did indeed go wild.
I now get it. BabaBooey had it right all along. I understand the insanity and fanaticism of the Springsteen faithful.
Why, oh why, did it take so long to see Bruce. I won’t make that mistake again. Matter of fact, I’m looking at tickets right now for Sunday’s show.
