2023-04-29 11:42:25
“Hello Barcelona, hello Catalonia”. The Olympic Stadium in the Catalan capital almost collapsed this Friday before the show of power that Bruce Springsteen gave to the almost 60,000 souls gathered to attend the start of his European tour. There was no shortage of familiar faces among the attendees, such as director Steven Spielberg or former President Barack Obama, who came accompanied by his wife Michelle.
The expectation was total before the first chords with which ‘The Boss’ greeted a devoted audience that enjoyed three hours of uninterrupted music. Some had already queued since Thursday. With tickets sold out just a few hours after his departure, Spingsteen decided to add another date in Barcelona to his European calendar. The artist’s second date with the Spanish public will also be this Sunday at the Stadi Olímpic. The bad news for those latecomers is that there are no tickets left either.
It had been seven years since ‘The Boss’ had visited the Catalan capital – the last time was in 2016 at the Camp Nou – and this Friday the energy of his music vibrated completely from its appearance. The artist delighted the public with the first notes of ‘No surrender’ in the form of an initial greeting, reciprocated with cheers and applause. The recital started with Ghosts, followed by ‘Letter to you’ and ‘Prove it all night’.
The hits ‘The promised land’ and ‘Out in the street’ were not lacking; ‘Kitty’s back’ and a version of ‘Nightshift’ by The Commodores, in which he momentarily put down his guitar to go down to dance with the front rows of the audience. ‘The Boss’ was also encouraged to share a few words in Catalan with the attendees who responded enthusiastically to his «Catalonia, Barcelona! We esteem, we esteem, we esteem! (We love you, we love you, we love you!)».
Accompanied by his band -guitars and vocals by Stevie Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren and Patti Scialfa, Springsteen’s wife; Roy Bittan on piano and synthesizer; Charlie Giordano on keyboards; bassist Garry Tallent; drummer Max Weinberg; saxophonist Jake Clemons and Soozie Tyrell on violin, guitar and vocal accompaniment- he continued to review his career until he reached the great and long-awaited classics.
Before closing their first concert in Europe, the audience indulged in ‘Glory days’ and ‘Dancing in the dark’ before melting into a party that Springsteen and his band brought along with ‘Tenth Avenue freeze-out’ and with an acoustic version of ‘I’ll see you in my dreams’ as the final touch. ‘The Boss’ claimed the E Street Band as “legendary” before leaving the stage. This Sunday, the Stadi Olímpi will once again gather a significant volume of attendees.
#Springsteen #concert #Barcelona