Springsteen at Brisbane Entertainment Centre

"I don't know who else runs their shows like this!" said Bruce Springsteen after letting the audience decide if the band should play his second studio album from top to bottom, or carry on taking sign requests and having a ball in Brisbane.

The voices, mostly in the GA pit, carried sway with Springsteen, as he announced "It's E Street Shuffle time!"

And so continued a show that even before it finished after 3 hours and 42 aminutes, had already become legendary amongst fans as being the one show they would always remember seeing, or always remember missing.

Rumours that Springsteen was planning another album show with the complete run down of The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle, had been circling since Sydney faded into Darkness and two-sides of the speculated The River failed to flow through the Hunter Valley.

But after an incredible opener of The Bee Gee's Stayin' Alive, with Springsteen and the E Street Choir slowly emerging out of the shadows into a full-blown rock 'n' soul version of the disco classic, complete with additional string section, fans were once again reminded that anything can happen.

What followed was four songs from Springsteen's Greetings From Asbury Park, that would be among a eight new tracks for the 2014 Australian tour, and starting an education for those fans overheard leaving every show complaining about how he didn't perform Born In The USA or Streets Of Philadelphia.

It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City, complete with Springsteen's guitar solo battle with Stevie Van Zandt, was a blast to watch with the enthusiasm from the musicians both obvious and infectious for the high-tempo, party spirit of the band's earlier days.

Carrying straight through with Does This Bus Stop..., Growin' Up, and the crowd-surf inducing Spirit In The Night. (Which came with a hilarious first for Springsteen as someone slipped a phone into his back pocket as he was carried back to the stage.)

An energetic High Hopes and Just Like Fire Would - both covers which started life in their current format at Brisbane last year - was followed by a series of sign requests, which looked certain to derail Springsteen's full album show plans before he confessed they had made plans, but wasn't sure if they had time to fulfil them.

But with an eager audience and a gorgeous string section waiting in the wings following an extensive training afternoon, there could only be one outcome. The crowd demanded and the band more than delivered.

After a rousing E Street Shuffle, the band returned to Danny Federici's signature tune 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) brought out at Hunter Valley and the phenomenal expanded, Springsteen-orchestrated Kitty's Back. Its previous outing at the start of the tour in Perth remains one of the best E Street moments of 2014.

It was the eagerly awaited Incident On 57th Street and album closer New York City Serenade that took the show to epic proportions however.

In particular the latter which saw the aforementioned string section return to the stage and add a soaring finale to the album chapter that until Brisbane, had still been the talk of E Street fans since the song was given the treatment in Europe last year.

For diehard fans the show could have stopped there and still been something special. (Especially with unsung hero of the past two shows Garry W Tallent - this time taking on tuba duties).

But not wasting any time Springsteen took the band forward in time by a decade for Darlington County. Even those standard easy-to-judge Born In The USA-era fans were given a few extras as Bobby Jean and Glory Days were blasted out in the encore.

All before Springsteen of course brought out one final surprise for the Australian tour finale, with Eddie Vedder joining him back on stage for Highway To Hell - the Aussie cover song that is arguably another top highlight of the eleven shows Down Under.

After a long tour across the country it would have been understandable if Springsteen and the band wanted to play it safe and take it easy with a well-rehearsed set list of songs from across this tour and the 2013 Wrecking Ball shows.

But the fact they didn't, and that up until the last of the 222 minutes on stage in Brisbane, Springsteen again gave it his all and kept fans hooked for the next big surprise, simplified why people will beg, borrow and bribe their way to attend show after show, after show.

Brisbane's tour-ending colossus proved the only thing to expect from a Springsteen show is the unexpected.

Set list

1. Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees cover)

2. It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City

3. Does this Bus Stop at 82nd Street?

4. Growin’ Up

5. Spirit In The Night

6. High Hopes

7. Just Like Fire Would

8. You Can Look (But You’d Better Not Touch) (sign request)

9. Sherry Darling (sign request)

10. Save My Love (sign request)

11. Fade Away (sign request)

12. The E Street Shuffle

13. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

14. Kitty’s Back

15. Wild Billy’s Circus Story

16. Incident On 57th Street

17. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

18. New York City Serenade (w/ strings)

19. Darlington County

20. Waitin’ On A Sunny Day

21. The Rising

22. The Ghost Of Tom Joad

23. Badlands

24. Glory Days

25. Born To Run

26. Bobby Jean

27. Dancing In The Dark

28. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

29. Highway To Hell (with Eddie Vedder)

30. Thunder Road (solo acoustic)

Australasia tour so far: 11 shows, 306 songs, 116 different.

First time in a Springsteen lottery?...

You've got nearly 400 hungry hearts waiting to be first in line for the next Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band show and somewhere among them all is the person who will be let in first and have a split second to pick the best position in the crowd.

Previous shows started their lines days in advance with the established, tried and tested (and sometimes detested) roll call. Normally started or kept in line by a few New Jersey accents to add to its Springsteen-fan authenticity.

But for tonight, in the middle of fucking nowhere, to keep people lining up for days you're in a lottery waiting to see if the digit printed on your wristband will be first, last or anywhere in between.

For the first time on the 2014 tour of Australia, the line for a GA ticket has seemed reasonably stress free. 

Any need to get to the venue as early as possible and get a number, followed by roll call, after roll call, after roll call, has gone. Replaced by the knowledge that no matter how soon or late you join the line you could still be last in. Or first. Or second. Or Johnny (99).

So you invest a couple of hours, get what could be a middle range number in the hope it will be drawn, but safe in the knowledge that if your elbows don't rest on a barrier in six hours time, at least you had a lie in this morning.

But then comes the call.

You're told to line up in order. Soon - an hour if you're lucky - after, you hear the total number of people competing for the number one slot is 380-something. And with 329 you're hoping that if anyone else gets it other than you, they have a number higher than 250, and lower than 328.

In other words, number 330, the person behind you has - potentially - just become a total fucking bastard.

You smile at them, make a joke about how they're in for a great night if THEY get in first and you'd be OK because it's not that big a deal. But secretly you're planning on finding out which car they arrived in and letting down the tyres so at the end of the night they have more than just a bottle-necked car park to fight on the journey home.

It's when you start having these dark thoughts that you realise how stressful the Springsteen lottery has become. Despite being friendly, happy even, to people with a better number than you at dozens of roll calls on the tour, you know you would be so much happier if they were for once stuck at the back while you were front in line to strum that guitar during Born To Run and hold up an obscure sign request that blocked their view. Yeah! Fuck you Mr 6ft-4-long-haired-melonhead-in-a-cowboy-hat. Fuck you. And fuck your giant Outlaw Pete sign.

You of course try to calm yourself as the number is being drawn, and you tell yourself that the girl chosen to plunge her hand into the bucket of numbers really isn't a stupid dumbass who just wants to get on stage during Dancing In The Dark with no real appreciation for decades of great music.

She could be the greatest person alive, with a fantastic knowledge and appreciation of the Tracks boxset that you've always wanted in a woman. She could turn round and pull out your winning number, and in the victorious glow be so beautiful you ditch your real life plans and commitments to take her out, become the man of her dreams and live happily ever after with a great wedding day anecdote. Afterall, from behind she kinda looks like she's-...

Oh, there's the number. It's 350-something. You're back in a field getting sunburnt, the person several rows away is now a total bastard and the number-picker really is a Courteney Cox-wannabe dumbass. 

Meanwhile you've wasted at least 3 hours, risked the early stages of skin cancer and could really do with a drink but won't have one due to having to leave the line later to take a piss.

But it doesn't matter, right? Because at least you didn't line up for days on end in a roll call getting tense and the view will still be great, right? And of course you're here to enjoy the show and not take any of this ridiculous, immediate surge of pressure too seriously, right? 

And you're happy that another fan will get to be an active front row, centre-mic participant of the show who may have been waiting more than 30 years and hundreds of shows to be in that spot and may even have a great sign planned like Prove It All Night '78 or Incident... or maybe even Lost In The Flood, or....

- wait, is that Outlaw fuckin' Pete?!... 

Springsteen at Hunter Valley - Show 2

You know when Garry W Tallent comes on to the stage busting out some sweet dance moves that you're in for a fucking brilliant night.

The E Street Band started the night with Curtis King, drummer Max Weinberg and organist Charlie Giordano taking up their instruments and providing a beat for the rest of the band to step into position.

Then outcame Springsteen again asking that question: "Where's the wine?!"

No repeat of the previous night's opener, this time Michelle Moore soon accompanied him up front as the mysterious woman in Ed Burden's Spill The Wine. 

Once again starting up a party for the 17,000 Hunter Valley crowd steeped deep in one of Australia's fine wine regions.

My Love Will Not Let You Down followed as the re-energised, refreshed and recovery-lapsed crowd joined the band in every hand-raising fist pump.

The energy of night 2 didn't let up as the pouding Death To My Hometown spilled into an angry Seeds and Out In The Street ended with an early request for Rosalita - once again not being saved to end the party, but to build it up even more.

The subsequent duo of High Hopes and Just Like Fire Would has become a regular feature after the first burst of songs from the band - but the band don't treat it like a nightly routine. Tom Morello in particular always marking his stamp on the stage.

Night 2 was a great night for the horns section too as a request for Johnny 99 and then later on Pay Me My Money Down just two of the several occasions they became centre stage.

Meanwhile Heaven's Wall  once again belonged to Soozie Tyrell as she playfully battled with the four lead guitars on centre mic.

The real highlights started however when Springsteen announced one they 'hadn't played for a while'.

And he wasn't kidding. Even after the fans cheered for the opening bars of Brilliant Disguise Springsteen made the band start it again to get them all back in time. 

It didn't matter, the crowd was hooked from the first moment with the popular, and rarely played track.

Taking that enthusiasm further the band played straight into Human Touch. Again the audience was stunned with the sound from the whole band, playing at their best, as Springsteen brought out his extended solo for the song and Tyrell swapped stage spots for Morello for her acoustic guitar and backing vocals. Springsteen giving her a shout out afterwards as everyone knew she was having a great night.

For die-hard fans that would have possibly satisfied their desires for a few special numbers, but of course there was more to come.

I'm Goin' Down came with a hilarious quick series of scenes with Stevie Van Zandt as Springsteen repeatedly asked if he was the problem in the song's failing relationship.

The constant thirst for Born In The USA was also met, but only after the band started the encore with the 'signature song' of late Danny Federici - 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).

Again the stunned crowd were in awe as Springsteen led the band through the epic The Wild, The Innocent... track as Roy Bittan stepped away from his piano to take up accordian duties next to the lead man.

The encore continued with some familiar favourites before Springsteen granted one final request, normally asked for by 'guys who've just been dumped'.

Taking solo acoustic duties for I Wish I Was Blind he again reminded everyone that he wasn't just able to orchestrate an 18-piece show band for three hours, he also had the power to bring a hillside of 17,000 people to near-silence - probably while thinking about an ex they secretly and selfishly hope to never see happy with a new lover.

It was the harmonica of a solo acoustic of Thunder Road that brought everyone back to the show for the final goodbye, Springsteen's vocals still on fire right to the end.

1. Spill The Wine (Cover, Eric Burden & War) 

2. My Love Will Not Let You Down

3. Death To My Hometown

4. Seeds 

5. Out In The Street

6. Rosalita (sign request)

7. High Hopes

8. Just Like Fire Would

9. Johnny 99 (sign request)

10. Heaven's Wall

11. Brilliant Disguise 

12. Human Touch

13. I'm Goin' Down

14. Pay Me My Money Down

15. Shackled And Drawn

16. Radio Nowhere 

17. The Rising

18. The Ghost Of Tom Joad

19. Badlands 

20. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

21. Born In The USA

22. Born To Run

23. Ramrod

24. Dancing In The Dark

25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

26. Rockin' All Over The World 

27. I Wish I Were Blind (sign request, solo acoustic)

28. Thunder Road (solo acoustic)

Show length: 3 hours 5 mins.

Australasia tour so far: 10 shows, 276 songs, 108 different

Workin' On The Highway...

People travelled thousands of miles to go down to the Hunter Valley for a couple of great Springsteen shows.

The crowd was loud, and so was The E Street Band.

Left partially deafened by the ultimate in live music experiences voices after the concert would have no doubt been slightly raised from fans getting off one of the many buses taking people back to their beds for the night.

So the following note in my motel room, was perfectly justified....

Until of course I returned that night, after a victorious car park escape, at 1am, to find a work crew out in the street using heavy, loud, destructive equipment to tear and repair the New England Highway right outside my motel...

Workin' on the highway while I was working on a dream... 

Springsteen at Hunter Valley - Show 1

Proving once again that from the moment Bruce Springsteen steps on to a stage you have no idea what to expect, Hunter Valley was given a wine-soaked set list for the first of its outdoor party nights.

Launching with a special Australia-tweaked Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-Do-Dee, Springsteen made it clear that he was hear to rock everyone in the valley - whether in the pit, seats, or ridiculous balcony sit down meal.

The whole band came to the front of the stage for the rock 'n' roll/blues song by Stick McGhee which proved the perfect opener for the New South Wales wine country under the setting sun.

But it wasn't going to be an evening of songs for a soft, delicate pallette as Badlands  thundered into action straight away - and with it the quick return of Jake Clemons who missed Sydney after heading home to see his father who tragically died last Monday.

Back outdoors, and with the return of Jake Clemons, the band sounded firmly at their best.
A request for Murder Incorporated not only appeased fans of 1995's Greatest Hits but also gave Springsteen, Nils Lofgren and Stevie Van Zandt some solo guitar time.
Van Zandt's vocals too were probably the best have been all tour. In particularly as backing duties on The River, which, down in the Hunter Valley, sounded incredible and was one of the stand-out songs of the night.

Trapped made it's 2014 Australian tour debut to a welcome applause before American Skin (41 Shots) again gave Tom Morello room to weave his fantastic guitar solo on the end. It's not as elaborate or celebrated as his mind-blowing work on The Ghost of Tom Joad, but it's one solo you don't want to miss.

So far on this tour Springsteen has pulled out some rare solo performances that leave the most die hard absentee fan drawl with envy. 

Last night was no exception as he pointed to a sign off in the crowd and explained how he had written The Wish for his mother.  Telling the crowd it's probably 'the most uncool thing you can do in rock'n' roll'.
(He even took time to send his mum a photo of the crowd to see on her new iPhone.)

The solo acoustic version of the Tracks song told the story of a young child looking at a guitar in a window while shopping with his mother before seeing it under the tree at Christmas. A song that Springsteen said is '100 per cent true..'

Bringing the band back out for the rest of the encore, Springsteen busted out The Easybeats crowd-pumping Friday On My Mind with just as much intensity as he had when he opened with the cover in Sydney. Only this time, more of the crowd - this writer included - knew more of the lyrics to shout along.

The show finale was looking like a list of closers established so far on this tour before The E Street Band were kept on stage for the final track - a sweeping full band Thunder Road to finish the party before the car park hangover quickly crept in.

(Not for Springsteen though, who this time traded in wheels for wings in a helicopter passing over the avalanche of bottlenecks leaving Hope Estate.)

Set list
1. Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-Do-Dee (Stick McGee cover)
2. Badlands
3. No Surrender
4. Two Hearts
5. Bobby Jean
6. High Hopes
7. Just Like Fire Would
8. Murder Incorporated (Sign request)
9. Trapped
10. Wrecking Ball
11. The River
12. American Skin (41 Shots)
13. Because The Night

14. Workin' On The Highway
15. Darlington County
16. Shackled and Drawn
17. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
18. The Ghost of Tom Joad
19. Land of Hope and Dreams

20. The Wish (Sign request)
21. Friday On My Mind (The Easybeats cover)
22. Born To Run
23. Dancing In The Dark
24. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
25. Shout
26. Thunder Road

Length of show 2 hours 58 minutes
Australasia tour so far: 9 shows, 258 songs, 104 different.

Springsteen at Sydney Allphones Arena

As workers across the city were warned to down tools and get home early before the threat of a freak storm rolled in, there really was just one way to follow up Melbourne's two, reportedly great, full-album shows in Sydney.

A full Darkness On The Edge Of Town show was the highly-anticipated follow-up to the weekend's double album punch, (especially for those who fucking missed it) and the E Street Band were on incredible form.

The album from start to finish was easily the dominating highlight of the night, that also contained a few new Australian covers to surprise the Sydney crowd.

The Easybeats' Friday On My Mind opened the show with Springsteen in full intensity getting the crowd pumped from the opening bars of the Sydney band's famous 60s hit.
(Flowing straight into Out In The Street, with the clear reference to the song in the line 'on Monday I got Friday on my mind' Springsteen was keen to show his love for the Aussie band.)

One of only two sign requests of the night, Cadillac Ranch followed, and the only show at Sydney's Allphones Arena received High Hopes and Just Like Fire Would before Springsteen launched into Spirit In The Night.

This song may have been a surprise for some with the noticeable lack of saxophonist Jake Clemons, leaving the solo duties to Eddie Manion, who ever the talented professional seemed to enjoy the impossible challenge of taking up a Clemons' spotlight.

And Springsteen was keen to show he had no worries about Manion's ability - calling him off stage during Spirit..., and repeatedly bringing him forward for all of the younger Clemons' solos.

He also thanked Manion for stepping into the role while explaining how Jake had left the tour after his father, Clarence's brother, Bill, also a talented musician, had died earlier this week. 

Although he clearly rose to the occasion, Manion's incredible skill and talent on the saxophone couldn't quite fill the void left behind without a Clemons on the stage. Something that Jake has done so well since the death of his legendary uncle by building his own star profile with a fast-growing following of his own.

Making the call to complete a three-concert run of full album shows however was more than enough to appease die-hard fans who were missing Clemons air on stage.
Every song was masterly performed, with Springsteen blasting out an angry guitar solo for Adam Raised A Cain, and Roy Bittan's piano a brilliant stand-out onSomething In The Night.

Springsteen's fierceness appeared to surface again on Streets Of Fire, taking a suitably sharper edge than its earlier appearance on the tour in Perth.

Meanwhile, Nils Lofgren's solo work for the night was saved for Prove It All Night, (not the '78 version), which, like any Lofgren cyclone-powered never fails to impress.
After the Darkness ended it was hard to see where Springsteen could go next for surprises.

But it seemed The Easybeats were not the only Aussie band in for a tribute as the encore started with a rocking version of INXS' Don't Change.
As with the previous cover, the band clearly revelled in being challenged with a local song and the crowd were pumped for show's final hour.

Even then the surprises didn't end as Springsteen turned away the guitar and harmonica for a potential Thunder Road acoustic closer, instead taking a request forSurprise, Surprise and taking on Dream Baby Dream for night's solo finale.

Set list
1. Friday on My Mind (The Easybeats cover)
2. Out in the Street
3. Cadillac Ranch (sign request)
4. High Hopes
5. Just Like Fire Would
6. Spirit in the Night
7. Badlands
8. Adam Raised a Cain
9. Something in the Night
10. Candy's Room
11. Racing in the Street
12. The Promised Land
13. Factory
14. Streets of Fire
15. Prove It All Night
16. Darkness on the Edge of Town
17. Darlington County
18. Shackled and Drawn
19. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
20. The Ghost of Tom Joad
21. Land of Hope and Dreams

22. Don't Change (INXS cover)
23. Born to Run
24. Dancing in the Dark
25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
26. Shout
27. Surprise, Surprise (solo acoustic, sign request)
28. Dream Baby Dream (solo)

Length of show 2 hours 59 minutes.
Australasia tour so far: 8 shows, 232 songs - 101 different.

The pain of missing a spectacular Springsteen show

It doesn’t matter how many shows you’ve seen, how many you’re going to or how many times you break into the top 30 on a Springsteen fan roll call.

If you check the set list of a show that you wanted to see, but were unable to make, then part of you will be probably left devastated by what you see.

After making all 10 Australian shows last year, the plan to see every concert this year was thwarted when The E Street Band’s weekend in Melbourne clashed with an event that was impossible to miss.

So while I was downing beer after beer at a classy, entertaining, all-round brilliant wedding in Western Australia’s South West, Springsteen gave the audience for Melbourne’s first night an incredible show to leave any fan envious.

When you can't make a show, drink until life becomes a show... *

There was always the possibility of Eddie Vedder joining the band on stage, but to bring the Pearl Jam lead singer on to help open the show with AC/DC’s Highway To Hell was a stroke of genius.

To follow it up with Darkness On The Edge Of Town, was enough to create the “head-on collision smashin’ in my guts” feeling Springsteen yells about in Badlands.

Of course these would have both been easier to accept missing out on if Springsteen himself hadn’t told me at a pre-show press conference in Perth that he probably wouldn’t do any full-album shows, only to perform Born In The USA in its entirety for the AAMI Park crowd.

'I'm gonna keep changin' things up'

Although saying that, Springsteen had made it clear he planned to “surprise” audiences and “keep changing it up” when it came to what was played on the night.

With that in mind, it became easier to accept in my post-wedding hangover that Melbourne night one was simply a fluke for Springsteen’s fans who made it to the first stadium show on the Australian tour.

Thinking that however was just the latest in a series of mistakes over set list assumptions.

As Melbourne’s second night started the tracks filtered on to social media and there they were – Growin’ Up and Lost In The Flood. 

The two songs that always come to mind when planning what request signs to make.

I had deliberately avoided making any signs in Perth or Adelaide because I didn’t want to see a song I’d requested played at a show I couldn’t make.

And of course, the killer blow, a full Born To Run – my all-time favourite album – show.

There’s no hiding from it – no matter how good a time I had, by not being in Melbourne, I missed something very, very special.

But the reality is that if unless you go to every Springsteen show for the rest of your – or the Band’s – life, you’re always going to feel that you’ve missed something special – because you will miss something special. Whether it’s a full-album show, a piano solo of For You or a duet with another rock legend.

All you can do is keep track and enjoy the highlights you do make, buy two tickets to New Zealand to extend your adventure and keep checking the weather forecast for the next show… right now there’s storms predicted for Sydney. And with it maybe, some high hopes for a Darkness On The Edge Of Town…  

( * Drink responsibly)