Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – Wembley Stadium, London; July 25th, 2024

Seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Wembley Stadium in London was a wonderful experience. I met friends I had not seen in some time, we got a great setlist and some surprises too. What a fun night that was.

Originally I had only planned on seeing the Saturday show and only bought a ticket for tis one a few weeks before going to London. After both of the Milan shows had been postponed, I felt I needed one more this year and was happy to get a ticket, especially a front of stage one.

Arriving at the stadium around 3 pm, I didn’t spend all that much time queuing and could have gotten a spot about ten rows back from stage. However, I did not feel like being squeezed in and choose the back of the pit instead. Talked to a few people while I waited and finally spotted C., M. and S., who arrived long after I did. They joined me and we spent the time until the show start chatting. C. and S. talked about which songs they wanted to hear and I really didn’t care all that much, just wanted to be there.

It had been a short night for me, so I felt dead tired, but the moment the band stepped on stage at 7:15 all that tiredness left and I cheered with everyone else. They kicked off the show with ‘Lonesome Day’ and I immediately felt the rush I always feel when seeing Bruce, clapped and sang along. It was a perfect start. Next up was the first surprise with ‘Seeds’ and I could not remember when I had last heard it. Bruce got us all to clap along. So far it felt less like the shows he did the previous year, where he was telling a story, but we were only two songs in and I honestly didn’t remember all that many details.

A great ‘My love will not let you down’ followed, with Nils, Bruce and Steve coming to the front of the stage to play guitar together.  Then, with ‘No Surrender’ came he first time I cried. It was unexpected and the very moment I felt I had fully arrived. I danced, sang at the top of my lungs and had a big smile on my face throughout. This! This was it. C. had said that she wanted to hear more songs from ‘Letter to you’ and got her wish granted with ‘Ghosts’. It was fantastic. I love that album too and truly felt it when we sang “I’m alive…” Bruce ventured out on the runway in front of the stage, singing to the front row.  As he walked back he yelled “London!” and we replied “Bruuuce!”

Meanwhile, it had started to rain and we all just put our raincoats on and continued singing, clapping, dancing and watching the band perform. Jake joined Bruce at the mic, like Steve had before and I loved all of it. ‘Letter to you’ started with showing Charlie and Roy on the screens. The camera crew always took us to where the action was, not only following Bruce, but focussing on the band just when it was important. The song was just great.

For ‘The Promised land’, Bruce ventured out to the crowd again, stopping when he saw a sign “Boyfriend will propose if he can have your harmonica’. He finished the harmonica solo, took the sign, showed it to the camera, motioned for them to come closer and handed over the harmonica. We then witnessed the proposal right then and there. The next song was the only one I could have done without, ‘Hungry Heart’. Luckily it was over quickly.

“Can you feel the spirit” Bruce asked the crowd. Hell, yes! ‘Spirit in the Night’ was awesome and I loved it when Jake joined him and he let us sing the “We closed out eyes and said goodbye” line three times until he was satisfied. It is always fascinating to see how the audience answers to him every time. 🙂

When they started playing ‘Reason to Believe’ I had no idea what it was at first, but it rocked! “Say yeah!,” Bruce sang and we responded. Fantastic version of the song. ‘Atlantic City’ was awesome too, with great work from the horn section. Then we got a killer version of ‘Youngstown’ that made me so happy. I smiled especially much when I watched Nils work the guitar and shed a tera or a few as well – it has always been one of my favorites. <3

“This is a prayer for my country,” Bruce announced and the launched into ‘Long walk home’. What a wonderful treat. C. was especially happy, not sure she’d ever heard that song live. It had been a long time for sure and was really powerful too. 🙂 ‘The E Street Shuffle’ still comes as a surprise to me, even though it has been a setlist regular since the previous tour. Still a great song and the start was so much fun, because Bruce directed the horn section and for a moment they sounded like a circus band. It ended it an impressive drum duel between Max Weinberg and percussionist Anthony Almonte.

I admit that I was not much impressed with the ‘Only the strong survive’ album, but I really have come to enjoy ‘Nightshift’. With the amazing E Street choir it very much feels like a mass at the church of Bruce. After that came the biggest surprise of the night. Roy started playing ‘Racing in the Street’ and it made me so happy. Everyone held up their phone lights and the stadium looked like it was filled with stars. I wasn’t the only one who got emotional singing along, the tears just kept streaming down my face, I couldn’t help it. Such a beautiful performance.

The stage turned dark with only one light focussing on Bruce. He told us about George Theiss knocking on his door when he was a teenager and looking for a guitar player for their first band. Now, many years later, Bruce is the ‘Last Man standing’ from that band. The song always gets to me and Barry Danielian on the trumpet only makes it better. It continued into ‘Backstreets’ where Bruce speaks about all the memorabilia he has left and how he carries the memories in his heart. “Right here,” as he says, when he puts his hand on his chest. This time he really felt it and we all saw the tears in his eyes.

We got an amazing version of ‘Because the Night’ straight into ‘She’s he one’ and I loved ‘Wrecking ball’ too. ‘The Rising’ brought a great sing-along and it wasn’t the only one. As always, so many people sang along to all the words of all the songs. <3 From time to time I saw familiar faces on the screens, when I wan’t busy dancing or jumping, like I was for ‘Badlands’. It still is one of those songs I can never get enough of. The main set ended with ‘Thunder Road’ and Bruce really tested if we knew all the words. Of course e did. <3

When the band returned almost immediately for the encores, I saw there were a lot of people on the stage, watching from there. They had not been there before and I wondered briefly who they were and where they came from until I got caught up in the music again. ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ was beautiful and I recalled first hearing it back in 1999, when I could not believe I was finally seeing the E Street Band on stage. Now, 25 years later, they are still going strong.

At some point, when Bruce was out, close to the crowd the screen showed a woman holding a sign that read “80shows, time for a hug” and he obliged. It was lovely. ‘Born to run’ was a big party and I spotted a few Italian flags with “Our love is real” written on them, one quite close to us. ‘Bobby Jean’ was another song I didn’t need, but the awesome ‘Dancing in the Dark’ immediately made it better. Bruce introduced the band and we cheered for each one of them.

As always, ’10th Avenue freeze-out’ brought images of Clarance and Danny and so many memories. The real surprise was ‘Twist and Shout’ though. What? I loved it, despite being slightly rushed, because the show had a curfew. We all sang along, jumped and partied for the last time, before the band left the stage and Bruce said goodbye to each one of them. Then he stood alone and gave us a beautiful goodbye with ‘I’ll see you in my dreams’. The show was perfect.

We stood around for a while, talked about how great it had been and I did not want to leave. It had been such a fantastic night and I loved seeing a show with friends. Finally we said goodbye outside and I left with a happy sigh.

Setlist

Lonesome Day
Seeds
My Love Will Not Let You Down
No Surrender
Ghosts
Letter to You
The Promised Land (a couple proposed in the front row)
Hungry Heart
Spirit in the Night
Reason to Believe
Atlantic City
Youngstown
Long Walk Home (introduced as a “prayer for my country”)
The E Street Shuffle
Nightshift (Commodores cover)
Racing in the Street
Last Man Standing (acoustic; with Barry Danielian on trumpet)
Backstreets
Because the Night
She’s the One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Thunder Road

Encore:
Land of Hope and Dreams (with The Impressions “People Get Ready” outro) –
Born to Run
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark (followed by band introductions)
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (pictures of Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici on screen)
Twist and Shout

Encore 2:
I’ll See You in My Dreams (Solo acoustic)