When, last year, the tickets of this year's tour went on sale, I didn't have any money. But even if I had, it would be very difficult to get a ticket, because this tour basically was a series of rescheduled shows that were cancelled last year when Bruce got sick and had problems with his voice. Which meant that most tickets were already sold and only the tickets of those who had requested their money back would be available. However, i have never since 2008 not attended at least one show each time Bruce was touring Europe. I thought to myself "maybe later I will try to find a second-hand ticket for Milano". Why Milano? Probably because it was the closest - and easiest - destination and I had done this several times in the past.
And so it happened, that during the Christmas holidays I saw a post on a Facebook group of someone selling a ticket fro Milano. After making several enquiries about it (I was mainly concerned about the name printed on the ticket and whether the Italians were going to check ID's), I grabbed it. It was quite a rare specimen because it was a proper printed ticket. Not a computer printout, a proper old-fashioned ticket. A couple of months later I booked my hotel and during the Easter holidays I booked my flight.
When the day finally came, I got on the plane, got to Milano and then went straight to the stadium because my hotel room wasn't ready yet. My usual hotel in the city had been renovated during the pandemic and had now raised its prices to unaffordable levels, but thankfully I found a new affordable one which is also close to the train station. I met an Italian friend outside the stadium and I was able to get my customary tour t-shirt in peace before the crowds arrived. Then I finally made my way to the hotel where after a quick shower (there was a heatwave in Milano during that period) and buying some supplies from the supermarket I headed back to San Siro full of anxiety and doubts on whether the ticket would be recognized when scanned because it was from last year or that I would not be allowed entry because of the wrong ID. Of course nothing of the sort happened and within minutes I was in San Siro for the first time in almost nine years!
Once I was in, I headed for my seat. Thus situation was different this time. Although I wasn't in the arena, I didn't have to climb all the way to the 3rd tier. My seat was at ground level on the first row, just beside the arena. One of the best seats in the house you could say. All around me were people of different nationalities. In fact, beside me there was a Scottish mother and daughter. And while we were waiting there was another thing to worry about: Would Steve make it to the concert? He had undergone surgery a few days before while on tour in Spain and had not performed in the last couple of concerts, the second one at San Sebastian and the one at Gelsenlkirchner. He had said that he hoped to make it for the second one in Milano. However, this was the first Milano concert...
So when Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band appeared on stage starting with "No Surrender" we were both surprised and relieved that Steve was with them. They then continued with "My Love Will Not Let You Down". Naturally, I have loved that song ever since I first heard it on "Tracks", but now it always brings to my mind the version performed by Meryl Streep (yes, you've read that right, Meryl Streep) and her backing band which included Rick Springfield (who many people back in the day confused with Bruce) in the film "Ricki And The Flash". They followed that with "Land Of Hope And Dreams" which you would of course expect them to play since it's the song that lends its name to this year's European leg of the tour, but it has a special significance for me and San Siro, because it was this song that opened the 2013 concert in that stadium and the next one that I attended which was the first 2016 one once again in San Siro!
As they went on I realized how different - and happier - this year's setlists were compared to the ones from 2024 and 2023. Bruce hasn't forgotten his "Letter To You" album, but each year he focuses on different tracks from it. In 2023 and 2024 he was performing the title track and "Ghosts", but also, in acoustic versions, "Last Man Standing" and "I'll See You In My Dreams" which along with "Backstreets" and the story that he was telling us before this song gave the whole setlist a sad feel, remembering friends who had gone. I went along with it because I had then also experienced a loss in my family. Last year he also added "If I Was The Priest", my favourite from that album. Yes, I know that it was one of his old songs that he had reworked for "Letter To You" but that doesn't change the fact that it is a masterpiece and I was glad that I got to hear it both in Cardiff and Belfast. This year however Bruce has decided to celebrate life. So both "Last Man Standing" and "I'll See You In My Dreams" were gone, but he chose two different tracks from "Letter To You". One was a special acoustic version of "House Of A Thousand Guitars" (another favourite, but I prefer the full band version) and the other one was "Rainmaker" which fit into another theme that he was exploring this year: protest (mainly having to do with the situation in the States).
Which is why he also plays "Death To My Hometown", "Youngstown", "Murder Incorporated" and closes each concert with "Chimes Of Freedom" which is another song that I was first eager to hear when I realized that it was a regular this year, and then glad that I finally got to experience it. Along with "Death To My Hometown" he also played the title track from "Wrecking Ball" which goes to show that he still holds that album in high regard. Now, there are several people who say that all Bruce albums after "The Rising" aren't that good, but I strongly disagree. "Magic" was a great album, and "Wrecking Ball" was of course, not just a great album but also very relevant to the time when it was released and I argued about that 10 years after it had come out. Of course most people agree that "Working On A Dream" and "High Hopes" are not that exceptional because they were written and recorded while on tour, but I have a special connection with the former because i had attended four concerts from that tour in which "Outlaw Pete" and the title track were regulars. As if to prove my point about "Magic" (I attended my first Bruce concert on that tour) he also brought back "Long Walk Home". Most of the regular tracks were also performed especially during the encore (from which "Glory Days" was strangely missing) in addition to a full band version of "Thunder Road".
As I left the stadium and headed to the San Siro underground station (with the by now familiar counters showing how many people can enter each time) I had a smile on my face and a satisfaction that even with those difficulties, I managed to attend at least one Bruce concert this year. As I was saying to a friend of mine during the Hooters concert a few days before, Bruce is my therapist. And a week later, from the comfort of my own home I had the chance to somehow relive the experience when a friend of mine who had attended the second Milano concert (which was a lot similar but had a few differences) played the whole setlist on his radio show...
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SETLIST:
01. No Surrender
04. Death To My Hometown
05. Lonesome Day
06. Rainmaker
07. Atlantic City
08. The Promised Land
09. Hungry Heart
10. The River
11. Youngstown
13. Long Walk Home
15. My City Of Ruins
16. I'm On Fire
17. Because The Night
18. Wrecking Ball
19. The Rising
20. Badlands
21. Thunder Road
Encore:
22. Born In The U.S.A.
23. Born To Run
24. Bobby Jean
25. Dancing In The Dark
26. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
27. Twist And Shout
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