Concert Review: No Stopping Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Gillette Stadium

FOXBOROUGH, MA — No, the Gillette Stadium crowd wasn’t saying boo all night long, they were saying Bruuuuuuuuuce and they certainly weren't sitting down.

It’s hard to think of many acts that can hold an audience’s attention for over four hours but Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, who made it look like a simple task, had a crowd of nearly 51,000 singing and dancing from start to finish for the River Tour's final show.

For a concert that is as long as it is, it's impressive that no moment was wasted and filler was kept to a minimum. From the first song, a somewhat mellow New York City Serenade to the rocking Bobby Jean finale, it was song after song with no elaborate stage production, save for some fireworks at the finale.

At 33 tracks, the show focused band’s work from the 70s, but even if you prefer his later hits, there was something for you, although it’s likely that some fans will go home disappointed that he didn't play Born in the USA or Glory Days. That disappointment is probably minor given the overall excitement inside the stadium. The constantly standing crowd took few breaks to sit, aside from a song or two, then it was back to dancing to the band on stage.

Early signs indicated an early 70s theme, with 10 of the first 11 songs coming from albums released in 1973. As can happen at Springsteen shows, the plan changed on the fly when the Boss grabbed multiple signs with song requests, along with a hand fan for 1984’s No Surrender.

Springsteen also ventured into songs he’s worked behind the scene on, blasting out Because the Night, co-written and originally performed by Patti Smith and Light of Day, written for Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox for the movie of the same name.

One of the few somber moment came before Long Walk Home was written in 2007 about life during the George W. Bush administration. Springsteen, who has supported Democrats in the past, thanked the crowd for coming out and briefly talked about what has been a vicious presidential campaign.

“Along with all of you I’ve had to live through the election campaign and I gotta say it’s been one of the ugliest I’ve seen in my entire life and there was just a lot of speaking to our worse angels. We let those things out of the bottle, the ugliness, the genie doesn't go back into the bottle,” he said.

The band also paid tribute to the late Clarence Clemons during Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out. Clemons was well known as the E Street Band’s saxophone player and was a staple of the band until his death in 2011. Playing sax on the tour was his nephew Jake Clemons.

Clocking in at about 4:02, the show was one of Springsteen’s longest and flew past the town’s extended curfew of 11:30 p.m., not that anyone in the crowd or the band seemed to mind. At one point during a rousing rendition of Shout, Springsteen told the crowd, obviously in jest, “I want you to go home and I want you to wake up the neighbors and I want you to tell them you experienced the heart-stopping, love making, booty shaking, famous E Street Band!”

One song later, it was all over. With the tour coming to an end in Foxborough, the longer-running shows became more common during the final stops. The Boss certainly isn’t lacking for content or quality and the crowd can go just as long, with everyone seemingly walking out with a smile and feeling like they got their money’s worth.

Click here to see the full track list from Wednesday night’s show.

Images Courtesy of Gillette Stadium /David Silverman