“There hasn’t been a tally since Sally left the alley…” – Bruce Springsteen, “Kitty’s Back” – Photo by your intrepid blogger

O.M.G. I am so happy that I got to see Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band last night at the T-Mobile center here in Kansas City. My god, the energy in that room was fantastic. There’s been a lot of talk about ticket prices, his expanded band (4 back up singers, 4 horns and a percussionist added to the already crowded stage). All of that is just talk. The truth is in the performance. And it was, in a word, amazing. Go see this man in concert.

February 5th of 1981 a much younger Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played at old Kemper Arena in the West Bottoms here in KC – I was not at that show due to a clerical error on my friend Brewster’s part – but I remember the review. I’d become a closet Springsteen fan when The River came out in 1980, about six months prior to the KC show so I was real interested to see what the reviewer said about Bruce. He said, and I’m quoting from memory which is sketchy, “I know it’s only February but we’ve just seen the concert of the year in Kansas City in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.” Not to plagiarize, but it’s February 2023 and we’ve just seen the concert of the year here in Kansas City in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The lights dropped at 7:45 local time as each member of the E Street Band filed onto the stage. I think I saw pianist Roy Bittan walk out first. One by one the gang assembled on the stage. I was surprised how thin Little Steven looked, he was heavier when I saw him on tour in support of his solo album Soulfire. Sax player Jake Clemons, nephew of legendary Big Man Clarence Clemons, was absent due to Covid. Longtime E Street back up player Eddie Manion stepped forward to take the sax solo’s and I think Jake may need to update his resume. Bruce & the Band played last night like a younger, hungrier band setting out to conquer the world, not an established institution who already have conquered the world several times over. I can’t say enough about the setlist. They played all the big songs you’d expect but a lot of the songs while recognizable, were deeper cuts. It was a lifelong fanboy like me’s dream set. Although he’s dropped “If I Were The Priest” from the setlist, which I wish I’d seen but now I’m splitting hairs. This was one of the best Springsteen shows I’ve ever seen.

They opened with the battle cry “No Surrender” which I’d only seen previously on the Born In The U.S.A. tour performed acoustic and alone by Bruce. It was a treat to hear the full band treatment. That led into one of his later tracks “Ghost” from Letter To You, and it was awesome live. It was clear mortality was on Bruce’s mind… These were just the opening salvo’s in a 2 hour and 45 minute ass kicking, booty shaking, dancing in the aisles rock n roll assault. He hit so many highlights – the Darkness On The Edge Of Town tracks “Promised Land” and “Prove It All Night” were taught and wired with energy. “Badlands,” from that same LP, ended the main set on a real high. “Out In The Street” was the only track from the aforementioned The River album and it was a giant sing along.

After destroying the room with “Candy’s Room” the band launched into an epic version of “Kitty’s Back.” I was so joyful during that performance it’s as close as I’ll ever come to religious ecstasy. I”d never seen it played live before. Every horn, every keyboard got a solo. “Little angel starts to shuffle like she ain’t got no brains…” yeah, that sums me up. Springsteen played a lot of solo’s and he was red hot on guitar. He played the classic fender from the cover of Born To Run most of the night. After “Kitty’s Back” he did “Nightshift” from his latest soul covers album. OK I’ll admit I hit the bathroom at the bar during that track but I hurried back as I wanted to be in my seat for my first ever hearing “The E Street Shuffle.” And yes, it was brilliantly faithful to the original. Three tracks in all from The Wild, The Innocent, And The E Street Shuffle is as close as I can come to Springsteen Nirvana. I think Bruce brought this horn section with him and thought, why not dust off these great tunes that need a horn section.

At that point Springsteen hit the only sour note of the night. He played “Johnny 99” the dour Nebraska track like it was a Vegas review. When it started to my ears it almost sounded like a country song but then the horns kicked in. They’re singing about a guy who lost his job, got drunk on Tanqueray and shot a night clerk… and dancing on the ramp off the front of the stage? I was like, listen to the lyrics folks…

At that point things got back on track with a solo acoustic version of “Last Man Standing.” It was an incredibly poignant performance and was preceded by a story from Bruce about his first band. It was one of the rare moments when Bruce spoke to the audience. He was old school last night – just barreling from tune to tune with no banter – and it made for a great performance. At that point the band just continued to blow me away – the great songs just kept coming, again, I can’t say enough about this setlist – “Backstreets,” “Because The Night,” and “She’s The One.” At one point I caught myself wiping tears away from my eyes. He played a song from one of my favorite late period LPs, “The Rising.” Moving track.

The “encore” – the band never left the stage – was an hour. “Thunder Road” led into a spirited sing along – with the lights on – of “Born To Run.” “Born To Run” is a bit of a warhorse but it sounded fresh last night. Then, for my first time ever, I got to hear Springsteen play “Rosalita.” It was sublime. Such a great performance! Just when you thought it was over they launched into “Glory Days” and then “Dancing In The Dark.” One of my favorite moments of any Springsteen show was next with “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” complete with tributes to Clarence and organist Danny Federici on the TV screens. Tears in my eyes man, tears. The final performance was Springsteen once again alone and acoustic for “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” If you weren’t moved by that performance, you’ve got something wrong with you.

And just like that, as ferociously as he’d come on stage, Bruce was gone. I stood in line and bought a T shirt. I had to have a tangible souvenir of the evening. Even the Rock Chick, who had had a bad experience at a Springsteen concert back in his “Reverend of Rock N Roll” shtick days, said to me, “Wow, that was an amazing performance.” Yes, it was dear, yes it was.

As I’ve said before in these pages, buy the ticket see the show. These legends of rock n roll aren’t going to be around forever. Time is fleeting. As Bruce said last night, enjoy right now, enjoy life, enjoy every moment. I can say that last night, I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with Bruce and his legendary E Street Band. Just an amazing, old school concert. Simply wonderful. Nobody plays rock n roll like that anymore… It was worth every penny. I’m even going to buy the CD of the performance – Bruce puts out every show now – when it’s available. It was that good.

Cheers!