Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Ullevi, Göteborg; July 27th, 2012

Night one at the legendary Ullevi brought high expectations, a great concert with a somewhat uneven setlist and the feeling Bruce and the band might be saving the best for night two. As first concerts in the same place often go, this one was fun, but somehow something seemed to be missing. Don’t get me wrong though, it was be all means an enjoyable show and lots better than Milan or Cologne in my opinion, but the song selection didn’t include so many of my favorites so overall I was just a little bit underwhelmed. The later on a tour I see a show, the harder the artist has to work to impress me, because there are already so many others to compare…

When I arrived at the stadium I met some of my tour family for the first time this year – fun! Unfortunately they had gotten there earlier so we ended up in different spots in the line later on. For now though, we could chat a bit and I was especially happy to see my friend H. again – it’s been too long mate! Getting in worked well. With sheer luck I ended up in second row on the right side with a nice view of the stage. Considering I had been planning for the back of the pit, this was much better than I’d hoped for.

The show was off to a good start with ‘The Promised Land’ and ‘Prove it all Night’. I had not heard ‘Cover me’, ‘Something in the Night’ or ‘My Love will not let you down’ on this tour yet so I enjoyed them, but neither of these songs is high on my list of the ones I absolutely wanted to hear. They were good, but they did not blow me off my feet as others might have.

I liked ‘Spirit in the Night’ a lot this time, mostly due to Bruce joking around with Jake. ‘Girls in their summer clothes’ was a fitting tour premire for the nice weather, but again – not one of my favorites. Hearing ‘Youngstown’ again made up for that though. I really love this song. Another memorable moment was ‘Tenth Avenue freeze-out’, because Bruce bowed together with everyone in the pit as a tribute to Danny and Clarence.

Seeing Bruce up close was great too and when he walked by us, I reached out like everyone else and got to touch his hand. Boy does that man sweat. He was dripping! It got pretty crowded where we were at that time, but luckily people moved back after he was gone. At one point Bruce was lying on his back and turning around. That sure was fun to watch.

I enjoyed the show, but was a bit detached somehow for parts of it. When tehy played ‘Drive all Night’ everyone freaked out and I knew this was something special, but I didn’t feel it. A great rendition for sure, but the song has never meant anything to me so it left me cold. Watching the reactions of the people around me was good though. They loved it.

The encores were great fun, mostly fast paced with ‘7 Nights to rock’ and ‘Rosalita’ making an appearance. During ‘Dancing in the Dark’ Bruce picked a girl just a little to my left to dance with him. She was over the moon.

The concert ended with dancing to ‘Twist and Shout’ and left me in a good mood. A solid first show in Sweden that made me look forward to the one to come.

5 concerts down, 2 to go. Next stop: Gothenburg

Setlist

Morricone Intro
Promised Land (full band)
Prove It All Night
Cover Me
Something in the Night
My Love will not let you down
We take care of our own
Wrecking Ball
Death to my Hometown
My City of Ruins
Spirit in the Night
GIRLS IN THEIR SUMMER CLOTHES
Jack of all Trades
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
Johnny 99
Working on the Highway
Darlington County
Shackled and Drawn
Waiting on a Sunny Day
DRIVE ALL NIGHT
The Rising
Radio Nowhere
Badlands

Encore
We are alive
Born in the USA
Born to run
Rosalita
7 nights to rock
Dancing in the dark
10th Avenue Freeze Out
Twist & Shout