After the Working On A Dream Tour we had to wait 3 years to see Bruce live again (Well, 2 years, 10 months and 18 days) during which time many things had changed in our lives. Once again, we would go to Italy. The place was Florence and Clarence was no longer with us.
We really got into concert mood the day before when we went by the stadium to get our numbers.
This is a process that is followed on Bruce Springsteen concerts so that the order in which the fans who have bought a pitch ticket will get into the pit (aka FOS or "Front Of Stage" where other artists charge 300 Euros for a ticket in said area) can be determined. That meant a very early wake up call the following morning so that we could go to the stadium again and with the order of our numbers, receive the much sough after bracelet which would guarantee our entry into the pit.
But, since my BFF and I just wanted to go into the pit without necessarily being as far to the front as possible (which would have meant staying there all day until they let us in), we went back to our hostel to catch up on the sleep that we had missed.
And so it was that in the evening we returned to the stadium and just by showing our bracelet, entered the pit (where with some careful manoeuvres we managed to get far more to the front than we had expected. It was there where we met this lovely little girl, probably Bruce's, if not youngest, then definitely cutest fan who was there for her second Springsteen concert (she had also been in Rome three years before that).
About an hour before the concert started someone told us "You see how the wind is blowing? It's blowing towards us. And see what's in front of us? The stage! So if it rains, we'll be protected by it" Yeah, right, famous last words and all that...
I felt shivers down my spine when Ennio Morricone's intro music started playing from the speakers and Bruce and the band came on stage, first asking "Firenze, siete pronti?" ("Florence, are you ready") and then blasting into "Badlands", it felt like not even one day had passed. These 2 years, 10 months and 18 days had been shrunk to 0 (zero, null).
And then, at the 3rd song the rain started. A rain that would last for the rest of the concert (that's 3 and a half hours to you) and then some, as we were trying to get back to our hostel. But no one seemed to mind. I didn't see anybody leave. And Bruce, although he could have stayed under cover, protected by the downpour, would instead come to the front to get wet with us. And right there at the front row, was a very good friend of mine who missed the chance to see Bruce when he came to Greece in 1988 because she was pregnant. 24 years later her wish came true!
Meanwhile, while Bruce was treating us to old favourites but also new songs from what was then his latest album "Wrecking Ball", the rain kept getting harder. Especially towards the end, it was even more intense and as a result clothes, mobiles and cameras got wet. I had two cameras with me that night. One was completely destroyed by the rain. (And when we got back to our hostel I realized that it was glowing in the dark. Spooky!). Despite the rain and having completed his encore Bruce came back and asked us if we wanted to hear one more song. So it was that the concert's duration came up to three and a half hours. During those hours he covered Elvis ("Burning Love") and - here comes the big surprise of the night - mashed up The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" with his very own "Darlington County".
We really got into concert mood the day before when we went by the stadium to get our numbers.
About an hour before the concert started someone told us "You see how the wind is blowing? It's blowing towards us. And see what's in front of us? The stage! So if it rains, we'll be protected by it" Yeah, right, famous last words and all that...
I felt shivers down my spine when Ennio Morricone's intro music started playing from the speakers and Bruce and the band came on stage, first asking "Firenze, siete pronti?" ("Florence, are you ready") and then blasting into "Badlands", it felt like not even one day had passed. These 2 years, 10 months and 18 days had been shrunk to 0 (zero, null).
And then, at the 3rd song the rain started. A rain that would last for the rest of the concert (that's 3 and a half hours to you) and then some, as we were trying to get back to our hostel. But no one seemed to mind. I didn't see anybody leave. And Bruce, although he could have stayed under cover, protected by the downpour, would instead come to the front to get wet with us. And right there at the front row, was a very good friend of mine who missed the chance to see Bruce when he came to Greece in 1988 because she was pregnant. 24 years later her wish came true!
Meanwhile, while Bruce was treating us to old favourites but also new songs from what was then his latest album "Wrecking Ball", the rain kept getting harder. Especially towards the end, it was even more intense and as a result clothes, mobiles and cameras got wet. I had two cameras with me that night. One was completely destroyed by the rain. (And when we got back to our hostel I realized that it was glowing in the dark. Spooky!). Despite the rain and having completed his encore Bruce came back and asked us if we wanted to hear one more song. So it was that the concert's duration came up to three and a half hours. During those hours he covered Elvis ("Burning Love") and - here comes the big surprise of the night - mashed up The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" with his very own "Darlington County".
SETLIST:
01. Badlands
02. No Surrender
03. We Take Care Of Our Own
04. Wrecking Ball
06. My City Of Ruins
07. Spirit In The Night
08. Be True
09. Jack Of All Trades
10. Trapped
11. Prove It All Night
12. Honky Tonk Women/Darlington County
13. Burning Love
15. Shackled And Drawn
16. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
17. Apollo Medley
18. The River
19. The Rising
20. Backstreets
21. Land Of Hope And Dreams
ENCORE:
22. Rocky Ground
23. Born In The U.S.A.
24. Born To Run
25. Hungry Heart
26. Seven Nights To Rock
27. Dancing In The Dark
28. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
29. Twist And Shout
