Last Man Standing - Bruce Springsteen at BST Hyde Park

Welcome back to our BST Hyde Park 2023 series! We previously reviewed P!nk’s sensational Summer Carnival on the 25th of June, with support from Gwen Stefani. Now we’re back to review Bruce Springsteen’s July 6th show in the park this year. This tour marks his first time in the UK since 2016, and his first concerts with the E Street Band since 2017. With mainstage support from Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls and The Chicks, a good time was had by all. Let’s get into it.

Arriving in the park at 3pm, we headed down to the Birdcage Stage to catch a half-hour set that was already underway for Attawalpa. Prior to the gig, frontman Luis Felber had taken some pictures in the style of the ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ album cover to celebrate playing this gig. Felber hadn’t scrimped on the park presentation, with the band featuring a drummer, bassist, percussionist, keyboardist and live strings of violin and cello. This extra mile would make for a valuable listening experience.

The last song from Attawalpa was especially phenomenal, called ‘More Of The Same’, taken from his debut album called ‘Presence’. The band really got into this longer track, with Luis walking around playing guitar with his left hand, pulling off the strings while he held the mic with his right to continue singing. The audience were appreciative of Attawalpa and it was a great start to another day at BST.  

‘Our job today is to get you guys warmed up for the show!’

For the rest of the day, we would be at The Great Oak Stage. By the time we walked the length of the park to get there, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls were already on their third song. Having interviewed Frank Turner back in 2021 for the re-release of his album ‘England Keep My Bones’, this would be our first experience of seeing him live. The band were playing their 2788th show that day, and helpfully, every show prior to this one had been a warm-up set in preparation for BST.

Frank Turner. Image Credit: Dave Hogan / Hogan Media.

‘I Am Disappeared’ featured an e-bow intro, and ‘Haven’t Been Doing So Well’ had the distinction of featuring not one, but two guitar solos from Frank Turner. He advised the crowd it was a fear of his, but he believed in facing it. The band went straight into ‘Get Better’, which featured clapping along from the crowd. ‘Be More Kind’ was written at a time when the world was beginning to go to shit, so Turner rush-released it because he thought the world would get better soon after. This was all prior to the pandemic, a moment of weary recognition emanating from the crowd.

‘Thank you friends, give it up for the Sleeping Souls!’

‘If Ever I Stray’ went straight into ‘I Still Believe’, with harmonica playing from Jess Guise in addition to the members of the Sleeping Souls. The title of the track blazed on the screen behind the band, which beforehand had featured just their name. There was one more song, Frank had taken off his guitar and jumped from the stage to be down the front with the audience. This was ‘Four Simple Words’. The Sleeping Souls played with infectious energy, the band were over the moon to be playing Hyde Park that day. With career highlights such as headlining Wembley Arena and playing the 2012 Olympics, Frank Turner still viewed this set as a monumental milestone in his journey.

In between sets, it was time to eat something. Mexican? Nah. Burger? Nah. Fish and chips? Nope. I went to a Latino place to order a Peruvian Chicken box. The box was expensive at £14, but it was a full meal. It had cous cous, marinated chicken, pitta breads, salad and sauce. It was a good dinner, and served as excellent fuel for a lot more music ahead.

The Chicks arrived promptly on stage at 5pm, playing a packed hour-long set of their greatest hits and recent songs from their ‘Gaslighter’ album. Without introduction, they began with ‘Sin Wagon’. The song was an immediate showcase of what this band could do, with solos from the bassist, acoustic guitarist, banjo, violin, electric guitar and keyboard. Of course the vibe was different, going from an all-male British band to an American country outfit, but it didn’t feign the crowd in the slightest!

In fact, they warmed significantly to ‘Gaslighter’, the title track from their first album in fourteen years, and their first billed as The Chicks. The album is co-produced with The Chicks by Jack Antonoff and was followed by another song from the album called ‘Julianna Calm Down’. The vocals were perfection, not slipping for a second.

With lead singer Natalie Maines on acoustic guitar, the band played their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’, recorded for their ‘Home’ album of 2002. The crowd sang along with this one, a track Stevie Nicks herself played at the park upon her visit in 2017.

‘Well hello Hyde Park! Are you guys ready for Bruce Springsteen?’

With more tracks from ‘Gaslighter’ and the trio’s 1999 record ‘Fly’, they arrived at the title track for ‘Wide Open Spaces’. There was recognition from the crowd for this song. Performed some twenty-five years after it was first recorded, the track still sounded like the album – The Chicks’ harmonies really were flawless.

The Chicks. From left to right - Emily Strayer, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire. Image Credit: Dave Hogan / Hogan Media.

‘Are you guys ready for a hootenanny?’

This was the introduction for ‘White Trash Wedding’ – this song went off like a barn dance! Crowd members could be seen linking arms and spinning around, getting into the spirit of the music. ‘Daddy Lessons’ was a 2016 track The Chicks recorded with Beyoncé for her ‘Lemonade’ album, which featured footage of the singer on the screen. The track was merged with another from the ‘Home’ album called ‘Long Time Gone’.

‘March March’ was the last song played from ‘Gaslighter’ and was certainly a highlight. It was a political song, and behind the band, the screen displayed images from Black Lives Matter and LGBT marches. Names blazed on the screen, beginning slowly with George Floyd and speeding past, too many names to count. Famously crushed by the media when they began expressing their opinion of the Iraq War, it was heartening to see The Chicks fully embrace their political side.

Concluding their set with ‘Not Ready To Make Nice’ and ‘Goodbye Earl’, the band took a bow afterwards and there were calls from the crowd for an encore. But what they wouldn’t get from The Chicks, would be more than made up for by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Walking onto the stage around 7pm, calls of ‘BRUUUUUUCE’ came over the crowd, sounding oddly like a boo, but there’d be no booing tonight.

‘Hello London!’

Bruce Springsteen counted the E Street Band in for their opening number, ‘No Surrender’, the flipside starter of ‘Born In The U.S.A.’, an early showing of a classic for the crowd that were locked in from the get go. ‘C’mon Steve!’ Of particular note is the continuing on-stage chemistry between Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt, their musical camaraderie evident even with thousands of people in between. A Ukrainian flag could be seen in the audience with ‘No Surrender’ written across it, demonstrating the power and relevancy this music still has, thirty-nine years after it was released.

With the cymbals still shimmering, drummer Max Weinberg began the beat for ‘Ghosts’, taken from the ensemble’s recent album ‘Letter To You’. The recording sessions were rapid, getting the whole album down in a manner of days, months prior to the global lockdown. Bruce led the audience to clap along before beginning the lyric in a break, sounding every bit as classic Springsteen as the previous song. Bruce used this track to introduce some members of the band, including saxophonist Jake Clemons, nephew to original E Street member Clarence Clemons.

In the dying moments of ‘Ghosts’, Springsteen shouted, counting in the next song – ‘Prove It All Night’, one of a few tracks to be played from ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ this evening. Bruce and Van Zandt exchanged an energetic call and response of ‘Yeah!’ into the same microphone before Springsteen took a guitar solo and dramatically brought the song to a close.

Continuing the mega-medley of sound, the band began the title track from ‘Letter To You’. This clever interspersing of newer material amongst classic songs would be a winner for the crowd, who responded well to the songs. Of Springsteen’s vast catalogue, he and the E Street Band would cover music from no fewer than nine of his albums this evening.

Returning to ‘Darkness’, ‘The Promised Land’ would be among many highlights for Moths and Giraffes from this night, which received a massive cheer upon hearing Bruce’s harmonica playing. Frequently descending the stage to visit the audience, the harmonica would later be a gift for a young fan in the front row.

The band followed this up with ‘Out In The Street’, taken from Springsteen’s 1980 double-album ‘The River’. That record received a huge outing during the E Street Band’s last tour, understandably the showing of this album would be significantly reduced this time around, but that didn’t stop the crowd singing the loudest they’d sang so far. Bruce spotlighted several members of the band, including guitarist Nils Lofgren, whose membership in the E Street Band dates back to 1984, a musician who continues to work with Neil Young as part of Crazy Horse.

‘Meet me Out In The Street London! Are you ready!?’

Playing the opening guitar riff, Bruce and the Band rolled into ‘Darlington County’. This was one of the songs that saw Springsteen visit the audience down below, grinning from ear to ear as he took selfies with crowd members, with one even placing a bright red hat on his head, ‘Woo! I like this hat.’ The headpiece was adorned with feathers and Springsteen badges. Lofgren joined Bruce down the front before both returned to the stage to finish the song.

Staying with ‘Born In The U.S.A.’, Max Weinberg played a shuffle that brought in ‘Working On The Highway’. It would be Bruce’s first song on acoustic guitar, the playing of which he paused briefly to blow kisses to the crowd before continuing and bringing in the whole band. ‘C’mon London, let me see those hands in the air!’

The E Street Band slowed the show down for ‘Kitty’s Back’, the only track they’ll play from ‘The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle.’ With opening lead guitar from Springsteen, the extended jam particularly showcased the talents of the additional touring members of the band. This included a solo from organist Charles Giordano and the adjoining E Street Horns. Ozzie Melendez was on trombone, with Ed Manion on tenor and baritone saxophone, and Curt Ramm and Barry Danielian on trumpets. Long-time E Street pianist Roy Bittan would take a solo before Bruce would hit an impressively sustained note on electric guitar, stretching it out longer than anyone in the audience thought possible.

A soul classic would be next from Bruce and the Band. Taken from ‘Only The Strong Survive’, his latest album doesn’t feature the E Street Band, but the arrangement of the Commodores’ ‘Nightshift’ comes alive here. Percussion was played by multiple members of the ensemble, but Anthony Almonte on congas had his moment in the song’s introduction. Some performers on that album were present on the stage at Hyde Park that day, including Ed Manion, Curt Ramm and backing vocalist/violinist and guitarist Soozie Tyrell. The closing harmonies from the band were stunning, the sound travelling well in the open-air environment.

Jake Clemons and Bruce Springsteen. Image Credit: Dave Hogan / Hogan Media.

‘London! Is there anybody alive out there tonight? Because if you’re alive, then I’m alive! And that’s what we came here for.’

The upbeat ‘Mary’s Place’ featured an interaction with Bruce and Max Weinberg, the former calling out the number of snare accents he wanted, increasing the number each time. Members of the audience quickly caught on, clapping along. Bruce whispered some of the track’s lyrics, taken from 2002’s ‘The Rising’, but he later showed the extent of his vocal reach as he climbed into falsetto not for the last time.

The production of the 1980’s returned to the set for ‘My Hometown’, a softer track with lyrics echoed by the tens of thousands of fans there. Weinberg’s playing was scaled back, allowing for the strength of bassist Garry Tallent to be heard in the mix, an E Street member going right back to the very beginning of the band.

There was an enormous cheer for the harmonica work that signalled the beginning of the title track to ‘The River’, a song that has received a sparse showing on this tour. With the band’s arrangement reducing, the song was closed by an emotional solo vocal from Bruce, one of the most intimate moments of the show so far. Calls of ‘BRUUUUCE’ in appreciation broke the tension in the aftermath.

‘In 1965, I was fifteen years old. I’d been playing the guitar for about six months…’

This would be the first time Bruce Springsteen would really speak to the crowd at length. This isn’t a bad thing, this show would be packed full of music, but here, the backstory was essential, and a perfect time to break this cycle.

Springsteen was talking about how he met George Theiss, and the story of his first rock and roll band, the Castiles. He fast forwarded fifty years to the moment he was standing at George’s deathbed during his battle with lung cancer. During this time he realised the gift it gave him – to treasure the life you have while you still have it. In these final moments of his speech, the crowd were silent. More silent than I’d heard any crowd at Hyde Park before in some fourteen concerts witnessed there. The hold these words had was unreal.

Inspired by his passing, he wrote the next song, called ‘Last Man Standing’, which featured on 2020’s ‘Letter To You’. The track would benefit from its simpler arrangement - just Bruce on acoustic guitar and Barry Danielian on trumpet. With the audience’s mind on mortality, it’s fitting that during this song, a medical emergency in our vicinity of the crowd would prompt people to call for help and others to rush to that person’s aid.

‘Last Man Standing’ was coupled with ‘Backstreets’, the first song to be played from the universally loved ‘Born To Run’ album of 1975 and was reflected as such in the crowd’s response to it. The E Street Band were back but without most of its ancillary members, showing how this outfit would’ve looked almost fifty years before when this song debuted. Breaking the song down, Bruce took the time to continue speaking to the crowd, that he would keep everyone in his heart. As he whispered, ‘Right here', he tapped his heart, the audience growing quiet to absorb this moment.

Without a pause for thought, the iconic piano line for ‘Because The Night’ was played by Roy Bittan, Springsteen’s co-write and hit for Patti Smith in 1978. A track we didn’t expect to hear, it didn’t stop the audience singing every single word! The song was extended, giving Nils Lofgren a guitar solo, twisting and turning on the stage, tapping the fretboard while Bruce closed his eyes to listen before coming back for another chorus.

It was baffling, the energy this band had to just keep going. By this point, we’re approaching the amount of time other artists would normally be wrapping things up, but there was still another hour left in the E Street Band yet. They continued with another one from ‘Born To Run’. The B-Side to ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out’ called ‘She’s The One’ is a concert staple for the Band, having been played over five-hundred times in their shows. The audience sang between bursts of saxophone from Jake Clemons, while the rest of the E Street Horns would be on an array of percussion for this song.

At its conclusion the crowd burst into calls of ‘BRUUUCE’, quickly silenced by the intro to ‘Wrecking Ball’. The track was written in tribute to the imminent demolishing of Giants Stadium in New Jersey, but since then the song has taken on a life of its own. It’s triumphant, it’s hard not to be swept up in its uplifting melody, beautifully translated in concert here. Though Patti Scialfa would be absent during these shows, additional vocals and percussion would be bolstered by Ada Dyer, Michelle Moore, Curtis King Jr. and Lisa Lowell. But the bulk of the backing vocals would be handled by the Hyde Park crowd that day, resuming chants of ‘BRUUUCE’ before the song had even ended. A total joy to see live.

Remaining in this century, the other track played from ‘The Rising’ would be its title track, and the audience didn’t let up its singing. It’s incredible to think an album from 2002 by a classic artist would be fixed in the minds of a concert-going crowd in 2023. Springsteen fans are a dedicated peoples, basking in all the man’s works!

A massive cheer of jubilation as Bruce counted in ‘Badlands’, the last to be played from ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’. After a guitar solo from Springsteen, the band led the audience in a wordless singalong while Max Weinberg tailed back his playing, some of the loudest singing the crowd had done yet! A drum solo from Max built the song into its finale while the people on the ground carried the vocals. Drummers are a big factor in any band performances, and just like his bandmates, he showed no let up, playing with the energy and hunger of somebody forty years his junior.

The trademark harmonica intro to ‘Thunder Road’ from ‘Born To Run’ rang out through the crowd, and Bruce’s voice was merely the base on which the audience sang. The only other thing that cut through was Roy Bittan’s piano performance. Around us, fans air-drummed Max Weinberg’s build up before the iconic saxophone line was played by Jake Clemons and boosted by the E Street Horns. Applause was universal as the main set, over two-hours in length, finally came to an end.

‘2, 3, 4!’

But there was much, much more to come yet. With Weinberg dropping in on the snare, both Roy Bittan and Charles Giordano played the keyboard melody to ‘Born In The U.S.A.’, mimicked by the audience before there was a lyric to sing. Around July 4th, U.S.A.’s Independence Day, there was a surge for this song, bringing it into the Top 10 of the U.S. iTunes Song Chart. The song is well known for consistently being misunderstood as a patriotic anthem, the most famous of all being Ronald Reagan’s campaigning speech in New Jersey, September 1984. Aside from all of this, it exists outside the bubble of the United States as simply a great song that people enjoy. That was surely the atmosphere in Hyde Park that day.

It ended up being a double whammy, followed by ‘Born To Run’. The crowd continued to sing even the melody lines between the lyrics. Hyde Park is a long way from Springsteen’s live recording of the ‘Born To Run’ tour in 1975 at the Hammersmith Odeon (now the Apollo). But the passion is certainly no less. The commitment to these old songs is just the same as the newer material, fuelled no doubt by the audience they’re performed to.

Image Credit: Dave Hogan / Hogan Media.

Next, the E Street Band played a string of tracks from ‘Born In The U.S.A.’, beginning with ‘Bobby Jean’ and followed by ‘Glory Days’. While the song still played out, Bruce and Steven Van Zandt had a brief, but significant interaction:

‘Are you with me Steve!?’

‘I’m with you!’

‘Is London with us?’ The crowd cheered, understandably. Then, cutting the music, Bruce spoke with relief in his voice:

‘Woo! I’m glad, that’s good, because I think Steve, it’s time to go home!’ No! The crowd didn’t want to leave yet.

‘Say what!?’ – Steve

‘I said, I think it’s time to go home!’

‘SAY WHAT!?’

‘I’m telling ya, they’re gonna pull the fucking plug again!’

Springsteen was referencing the time he invited Paul McCartney out on stage during his 2012 performance at the park, where they played for so long that the power was turned off. The event caused the cancellation of Hard Rock Calling at the venue, where it was moved in the proceeding years. This explained the early start time of 7pm – the band didn’t want to run into the same problem! But Van Zandt had come to a solution:

‘Fuck them!’

‘Alright then, fuck ‘em, right? 1, 2, 3, 4!’

And yet, the band played on, playing a finale to ‘Glory Days’. Turning to face the on-stage camera, Bruce and Steve walked towards it in time with the music, getting steadily closer and closer. On the big screen behind the E Street Band, the faces of Springsteen and Steven filled the projection, blown up for tens of thousands to see as they pulled faces and wrenched at each other. Steven jumped behind the camera to wiggle it as Bruce did the same with his backside, getting possibly the biggest cheer of the evening.

Counting the ensemble in once more, the E Street Band played one of Bruce’s biggest hits, the UK Top 5 single ‘Dancing In The Dark’, and the third track in a row from ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ With so many big numbers for the crowd to sing, throats would be raw by the end of the night. At the conclusion of this song, Bruce launched his guitar through the air, to be caught by a guitar-tech, then ripped open his shirt as if to show the people of Hyde Park his beating heart. Then, over a barrage of sound, sped through introducing the touring members of the band, then the E Street Band themselves. With that, Bruce called out the name of the city six times, each with an overwhelming response from the crowd, the music ceased and Springsteen proclaimed:

‘You’ve just seen the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, earth-shocking, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, earth-quaking, love-making, Viagra-taking, history-making, legendary, E! STREET! BAND!’

But the show still wasn’t over! Bruce riled the crowd up, to sing the melody of ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out’, shouting, ‘I still can’t hear ya!’ Behind the band, images of Clarence Clemons and original organist Danny Federici were displayed in tribute. The song really would be the grand finale of the three-hour show! Somebody nearby called for the entire set to be played again, amidst cheers of ‘BRUUUCE!’ The band took their bows and left the stage, and that was it, right?

Nope. Bruce Springsteen himself came out for a second encore. One more song. This really would be the last song – ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’, a final track from ‘Letter To You’. It was played acoustically, and solo by Springsteen. Some would argue that the big finish was the proper way to end the show, but this intimate and down-to-earth performance was a grounding and heartfelt closing word. It featured gentle singing from the crowd, like a soft, exhaling sigh:

‘We'll meet and live and laugh again, I'll See You In My Dreams, up around the river bend, for death is not the end, and I'll See You In My Dreams.’

Truly, there could not be a single person in that entire audience who thought they hadn’t got their money’s worth that day. Not only were the support acts exceptional, but the E Street Band played their hearts out, covering hits and deep cuts new and old. It was everything a Bruce Springsteen concert should be, retaining all the joy and love people have for this music. You could feel that in Hyde Park, from the very beginning of their set to the end. What a majickal evening.

Image Credit: Moths and Giraffes.

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