Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Hampden Park, Glasgow

Photo © Calum Gregge

14th July 2009

From the moment we stepped into Glasgow's famous Horshoe Bar you could feel the anticipation in the air. People from all walks of life and all ages, sporting Springsteen T Shirts spanning the decades. On the train to Mt Florida we encountered a fan dressed like Bruce in the "Born in the USA" days, complete with bandana and hairy chest! This was always going to be a special night. It's been 28 long years since Springsteen and the E Street Band have played in Scotland, this crowd was ready!

We queued from 4pm to get into the pit at the front of the stage, some people had queued overnight just to get closest to the stage, with the first 1000 in the queue getting priority access, such is the draw of the man. Even the pouring rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm, the sound of the soundcheck seemed to turn the atmosphere up another notch.

We got into the stadium around 1745 and got our wristbands for the front section, then retreated to the shelter of the West Stand to await a break in the weather and sample some of the overpriced beer that can be found at these stadium gigs. The weather thankfully did break and we took up our positions in front of the stage. Every move of the lighting technicians and roadies was cheered as they readied the stage for the main event.

Around 1955hrs, Nils Lofgren took to the stage with an accordian, playing Flower of Scotland, followed by the rest of the E Street Band and then Springsteen himself. The set exploded into life with Badlands, followed by Out In The Street, with Springsteen covering every inch of the huge stage. The only problem so far is the sound, stadium gigs are notoriously poor for sound, but I'm informed by someone who knows more about these things than me, that the poor sound is due to the stage being along the side of the pitch, meaning less distance for it to travel and rebound of the opposite stand.

It did improve though, and by the time he was asking "Can You Hear Me?" during Outlaw Pete, it was much better. The hits kept coming, each one greeted with a huge cheer. The seldom played Incident on 57th Street and Pink Cadillac were lapped up by the capacity crowd. There was an ahhh moment during Waitin' On A Sunny Day, when he went out to the crowd, found a young girl in her mothers arms, managed to hush the crowd and got her to sing the chorus, before planting a kiss on the little girls forehead, a moment I'm sure she'll never forget.

There were no signs of Springsteen letting up or showing signs of his years as the set continued, a great rendition of The River, the higher tempo Radio Nowhere and The Rising, before the biggest cheer of the night so far for Born To Run. Then on to the encore that included Thunder Road, Bobby Jean and Dancing In The Dark, not to mention Springsteen being joined by his 2 sons for American land, before the show finished, nearly 3 hours after it started, with a cover of The Beatles, Twist and Shout. There was some debate as to wither or not, with a back catalogue the size of
Springsteens and the ommission of hits like Glory Days, Born in the USA, Jungleland and Hungry Heart, playing covers was a good idea, that one will polarise opinion with the fans. Twist and Shout did seem to be enjoyed by all though!

There have been many glory days at Hampden, Caldwells goal against France and McFaddens against Holland spring immediately to mind, but for the Springsteen fans tonight, this 59 year old certainly turned in a performance for just under 3 hours that will take some beating!

Dave Taylor