Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Newark homecoming show was worth the wait
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Meet Bruce Springsteen — a local hero.
Springsteen and the E Street Band began their New Jersey homecoming show on Friday, April 14, at the Prudential Center in Newark with the rarely performed track “Local Hero.”
“Good evening, New Jersey!” said Springsteen during the song intro. “I'm so glad to be back in my home state with my people!”
“Local Hero,” from Springsteen's 1992 solo album “Lucky Town,” is a honky-tonk romp that lyrically delves into celebrity, temptation and redemption.
Springsteen, a Freehold native, quipped that it was a “true story.” The performance was a surprise to fans, and it served notice that there’s nothing like seeing Springsteen and the E Street Band in New Jersey.
The night in Newark had a rollicking, rolling and boisterous feel, full of rock 'n' roll glory delivered with guts. Springsteen kicked a fan's sign off a monitor during “The Promised Land,” and also downed what appeared to be a mini alcohol bottle given to him by a female fan later in the song.
He gave her a guitar pick for her contribution to the evening.
Later, the Boss tried to set a subdued tone during an interlude in “Mary's Place,” but fans started the famous “Brooooce!” chant instead.
“Don't Bruce me!” said Springsteen with a smile. “I'm working!”
Springsteen and the band have become even crisper over the last two and a half months since the tour started. The taut rocker “Candy's Room and jump blues “Kitty's Back” song pairing was, frankly, awesome — allowing many in the expanded 18-member E Street Band to shine. Springsteen stood center stage, pointed and the spotlight was shown on the soloing player in a lo-tech “Fantasia” style that was a blast.
The Boss had his own solo on “Kitty.” He popped a very long sustained note, with a sweet ring, at the beginning of his riffing. It was so long that he slicked back his hair and wiped his nose while holding it. The Boss is cool.
Bassist Garry Tallent is also cool, and his soulful hepcat power playing was the foundation of the two songs, and of for most of the night’s music. Here's to a Tallent solo, or a quick run, in the future.
The Newark set largely adhered to other shows on the tour, with the notable exceptions of “Local Hero” and “Jersey Girl” later in the show.
“Something special for New Jersey,” said Springsteen of the latter, a Tom Waits cover.
More: 'My Hometown': Tour the Jersey Shore spots that Bruce Springsteen made famous
The show started about 8:10 p.m., a bit later than others on the tour. There were delays getting the log-jammed audience into the area, which exasperated fans. Attendees were bunched up outside the Citizen’s tower entrance with no lines formed.
“There's no employees or security telling you what to do so there's going to be (blanked) off people,” said Chris Connolly of Colts Neck, who was there with wife Giselle Connolly. “Something must have went wrong.”
“It's kind of strange. We've been here for Devils playoff games and we didn't see this,” Giselle said.
A request for comment from the arena on the delay was not replied to as of press time.
More: Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band Newark homecoming: The 5 craziest to happen on tour
The Springsteen tribute B Street Band played in Championship Plaza, located in front of the Prudential Center, prior to the show, and area bars received the Springsteen fans in town. A black-and-white video of Springsteen and the E Street Band at the former Capitol Theatre in Passaic played on screens for a handful of fans at QXT's Goth club, a block away from the arena before the show.
“There were legendary, legendary shows at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic,” said Victor Guzman, aka DJ Victrola at the club. “If Bruce comes here, I just want to shake his hand and say thanks.”
Friday's show was the last of the North American arena leg of the band's current tour, which began Feb. 1 in Tampa. It was the band's first U.S. tour in seven years.
On Saturday, April 15, the inaugural American Music Honors event, presented by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, will take place in the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.
Honorees are Little Steven Van Zandt, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, Darlene Love and Steve Earle. Presenters include Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Tallent and Southside Johnny Lyon. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will be the house band.
After that, Springsteen and the E Street Band head to Europe to begin a stadium tour, which starts April 28 in Barcelona, Spain. They head back to North America for more stadium and arena shows, starting with Wrigley Field in Chicago on Aug. 9.
Springsteen and the E Street Band return to Jersey for three shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Aug. 30, Sept. 1 and 2.
Springsteen closed Friday's show with a request to donate to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, whose members were in the arena, and a message to Jersey fans.
“Thank you for this incredible reception tonight,” Springsteen said “We play all around the world, but there's nothing like being received well in your hometown.”
Springsteen Newark setlist
Local Hero
No Surrender
Ghosts
Prove It All Night
Letter to You
The Promised Land
Out in the Street
Candy's Room
Kitty's Back
Nightshift
Mary's Place
The E Street Shuffle
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because the Night
She's the One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Jersey Girl
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
I'll See You in My Dreams
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band tour review: Newark worth the wait
