Review of 2nd night Bruce, RDS Dublin 2009

A completely different show tonight. Not just the weather, which was mainly dry unlike the previous night, but a different feel, not to mention a very different setlist (of tonight's 29 songs 14 were not played the night before!). There was a bit less chat from Bruce tonight, although he was no less animated, in a set chock full of classics from the 1st 4 albums, plus a generous smattering from the new album, 2 covers and (I think) 3 Bruce penned songs that were never on studio albums (Trapped, Seeds and American Skin).

The sound was not 100% (vocals a little low), but it improved as the night wore on. Probably a slightly less Greatest Hits oriented set, the crowd still loved it, as band and artist played near definitive versions of some of the man's very best songs, and some of my favourites; No Surrender, Promised Land, Spirit in the Night, Prove it All Night, Jungleland, Trapped, Rosalita; all bloody amazing. Of the lighter songs - Sherry Darling (a request) was very enjoyable, and croud pleasers like Proud Mary and Glory Days were also well received.

Springsteen may not be my favourite artist, but I don't think anyone comes close to him, live, really. An E-Street band show is one of the best communal experiences going - people like it for all sorts of reasons, ok it's very crowd pleasing and a bit hammy at times, but musically this big sounding band has arguably never sounded better, and twice this weekend in Dublin, we could all forget about our troubles for 3 hours, which can't be a bad thing.
Finally, a quick nod to the camerawork, which was very well done, and added a lot to the show.
Lets hope we see Bruce back here again in the not too distant future.
Ken.