Driven by the intense vocals of Bruce and Little Stevie Van Zandt and capped off by their vicious guitar playing, with superb contributions from Charlie Giordano, Roy Bittan, Garry Tallent and Jake Clemons to go alongside them, for as joyous as it was to listen to this, it was also bittersweet knowing there are only four more shows ahead with it as a seemingly guaranteed feature.Įven “Letter To You” and “The Promised Land” next were, for all of their sentiments, anchored by scintillating guitars – though I’d be remiss in not mentioning Bruce’s final “ Ohhh I sent it in…” in the former and Stevie and Jake’s impassioned efforts in the Darkness essential – and through this blazing instrumentation they assured Cleveland that the fire with which the opening three songs were fuelled wasn’t just reserved for the hard-rockers, because even the calmest and most tender of performances needed to convey the message expressed minutes earlier: “ I’ll prove it all night for you!”. Truly stunning! Also stunning was the “Prove It All Night” that followed, because where “Ghosts” was a great improvement on weaker performances, this saw Springsteen and the E Street Band once again build on a series of incredible efforts with the song serving as an incredible example of how they’re proving it all night. “Ghosts” was particularly pristine in comparison to recent versions that have been undone by weathered vocals and instrumental mishaps, and its immensity made for it being a stand out version up to now on the tour – the music that complemented Bruce as he started singing “ I shoulder your Les Paul…” was arguably the most immense moment of all. So, “No Surrender” kicked off the action and set the tone for a night of high energy, and the songs that followed over the next forty-seven minutes only amplified the atmosphere. It was indeed a unique show, but in staying true to the tour’s first North American leg, Bruce made it unique while managing to retain the core of the setlist that shaped the previous twenty-three shows.
Add to that the quality of the shows they did play during that month and the surprises that have popped up in recent shows in Detroit, New York and Brooklyn, you couldn’t blame the audience inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse for anticipating something unique. Of course, that Columbus show was postponed because of illness and soon rescheduled for September 21st, but it begs the question as to whether Bruce and the Band would have something special in store for their Ohioan audience as an ‘apology’ for missing them earlier on in March. In a final month dominated by stops in the New York-New Jersey area, the first of two exceptions brought Springsteen and the E Street Band into Cleveland, just under a month after they were supposed to be in Ohio to play a show in Columbus.
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