Bruce Springsteen in Cardiff review: The Boss' triumphant Welsh return provides storming start to European tour
It's been 11 long years since Bruce Springsteen last performed on Welsh soil so it's little wonder the rock legend's fans snapped up tickets for his Cardiff gig, which just happened to be the opener of his European tour. And what a triumphant return to Wales it was as The Boss and The E Street Band brought us three hours of storming music.
Springsteen is renowned for his impressively long shows and this one didn't disappoint with track after glorious track echoing around the stadium - which had its roof on - and an encore lasting longer than many set lists from lesser stars.
Kicking off 15 minutes later than scheduled at 7pm, there was no support act but who needs one when you've got a massive back catalogue that everyone wants to hear. The show got off to an uplifting start with So Young And In Love and was quickly followed by tracks like Lonesome Day, Darlington County, Ghosts and Better Days, but it was Hungry Heart that really got fans at the Principality Stadium revved up during the earlier part of the show.
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Many were holding placards aloft depicting everything from 'Please can I have a man hug?' and 'I came from Japan' to 'Bruce can I have your harmonica?' and 'Priest please.' The New Jersey native did indeed hand over his harmonica to one lucky fan and he also performed If I Was The Priest telling the crowd: "Here's a song I wrote 50 years ago. It was what I was busy doing while you weren't here."
It was a good 10 songs or so in before the music legend told us: "We've got a story to tell" - yes the gig was only just warming up. He said: "It's great to be in Cardiff, it's good to be in Wales. The E Street Band is here tonight to bring you the joyous power of rock 'n' roll. We're gonna need some help, we're gonna need a lot of help, we're gonna need a sh*t load of help!" But while they didn't really, the fans truly obliged as they sang, danced and clapped along.
Covers of Nightshift (Commodores) and Because The Night (Patti Smith, but co-written with Springsteen) were highlights as was the gorgeous stripped back acoustic track Last Man Standing, dedicated to Springsteen's friend George who had been in his first band as a teenager and has since passed away. "George's death taught me to seize the day," he told us as he was met with cheers.
The second half of the gig included favourites like Wrecking Ball, The Rising and Badlands and while this brought us over the two-hour mark, Springsteen was a long way off finishing yet. Hell yes, there was an encore to end all encores (apart from his own previous encores that is) featuring greatest hits like Born In The USA, Born To Run and Dancing In The Dark. The only strange part of the gig, for me, was that at this point the stadium lights suddenly went up - a signal to start grabbing our coats?
Throughout the night The E Street Band's solid musicianship truly shone through and as for the main man, he may be 75 this year but by heck he can still perform three solid hours absolutely effortlessly without breaking out into a sweat - and this came just months after he had to cut short his world tour due to suffering with symptoms of a peptic ulcer. We waited 11 long years for him to return to Cardiff but it was well worth it - those with tickets to his other European dates are in for a treat.