Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen, 2/3/23, State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA

My first concert in more than 3 years is getting to see my favorite musician of all-time, and he did not disappoint.

On Friday, February 3rd, I got to do what I’d been waiting more than six years to do—I got to see Bruce Springsteen again live in concert. Even before the COVID pandemic of 2020, I was already looking forward to getting to see the Boss in concert. It was certainly worth the wait and the cost of the ticket as the Boss gave his audience everything they could have wanted. It was my first concert since 2019 and it was the perfect one to make my return to attending live music.

Perhaps the most notable thing was how much Springsteen soloed on the guitar. As musicians get older, specifically ones like Springsteen who play an instrument and also sing/lead the band, you expect them to move away from the real virtuoso playing stuff. I think, for example, about how Bob Dylan has changed as a live performer in terms of how and what instruments he plays (this won’t be the first time I bring up Dylan in conjunction with Springsteen at this point). But Bruce was there shredding on guitar like he’s still a young, solo-mad musician. “Prove It All Night,” “Because the Night” and “Badlands” all featured blistering lead work from the Boss.

Whenever a “legacy” act like Springsteen goes out on tour but has new material to play/promote, which Springsteen did in the form of Letter to You and Only the Strong Survive, there’s a lot of consternation about how many new songs they will play. I remember seeing on Twitter during the run-up to Only the Strong Survive say that they would be really upset if the band played any of those songs in concert. I couldn’t help but laugh because I thought if those songs were pretty good with the session band, imagine how great it will sound with the E Street guys playing it.

That was very much the case as both “Night Shift” and “Don’t Play That Song” sounded great live. I was happy they elected to go with “Don’t Play That Song” because it’s one of my favorite songs both on Only the Strong Survive and in general. I knew they’d play “Night Shift” (which, as someone who liked Bruce’s version of that track, I was not mad about at all) but that other choice from Only the Strong Survive was in flux. I also really enjoyed was that it was a chance for the backing vocalists (also known as the E Street Choir) and the other horn and percussion players. It also really solidified in my mind something I brought up on my Only the Strong Survive review, which is that this album really does feel like the Boss’ answer to Dylan’s “Sinatra” records.

There were 5 songs on the setlist from Letter to You, the latest album with the E Street Band. While I won’t pretend they were my favorite songs of the night, I didn’t mind their presence. “House of a Thousand Guitars” was my favorite track on that album so I was glad to hear it. “Ghosts” and “Letter to You” were plenty anthemic, “Last Man Standing” was certainly poignant and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” certainly worked as a concert closer in kind of the same mold as “If I Should Fall Behind.”

One song that I didn’t expect to be a part of Springsteen’s setlist for this tour was “Johnny 99,” the song off Nebraska that the Boss assumed Ronald Reagan hadn’t listened to in 1984 when the president was trying to claim “Born in the U.S.A.” as some kind of totem to patriotism. What was particularly interesting about all this is that they took this dark acoustic song and turned it into a kind of murder… rave-up (?) in that old country tradition. It made me think of something like “El Paso” by Marty Robbins or any number of Merle Haggard songs.

Photo Credit: https://cdn-p.smehost.net/sites/e8622626f9584d40b1a8fce8dfa6f567/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SNY6931_20230203.jpg

The last two times I’ve seen Springsteen live were the first tours with Jake Clemons filling in for the departed Big Man, Clarence Clemons. He was certainly up to the task from a music perspective (he is an outstanding saxophonist in his own rite), but he has come into his own this tour as a personality and a fun foil to the Boss onstage (helping carry the load with Steven Van Zandt). I really noticed during “Rosalita” but Jake seemed much more comfortable up on stage. Both he and Van Zandt (and even Nils Lofgren in places) did great providing the Boss with foils to play off of, creating that fun energy indicative of a Springsteen show.

There were also a couple set list choices drawing on the early days of the Boss’ career. “Kitty’s Back” allowed for some great soloing from, well, just about everyone on stage, with Springsteen giving everyone their moment to shine. “The E Street Shuffle” also featured a nice little drum solo back-and-forth between E Street Band stalwart Max Weinberg and percussionist Anthony Almonte. It made me think of the “Drums” section of a Grateful Dead set.

Having seen that Bruce hadn’t played “Thunder Road” during the tour opener in Tampa, Florida, I wasn’t expecting to hear it at our show. Yet he decided to add that one to the setlist and it was one of the best contemporary (post-2009 or so) versions of the song that I’ve heard.

I also thought that “Promised Land,” one of my favorite Springsteen songs, sounded great and was filled with an energy that isn’t always there in the more contemporary/recent performances. It had some of that 1978/1980 energy to it. “No Surrender” was an inspired choice to open the show and the big guns like “Dancing in the Dark” and “Born to Run” pack the punch they always do (to the point where there’s not much you can say about them).

I also discovered that I still feel a twinge of sadness during “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” when Bruce sings the famous lines, “When the change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band. From the coastline to the city, all the little pretties raise their hands.” There’s still that pain since the Big Man is not there, but it’s also this opportunity to celebrate and remember what he brought to the equation. You’ve got tears in your eyes but you feel like dancing and singing, which I feel like gets to the heart of the Springsteen experience. If you want to see the setlist for the entire show, you can click here.

Photo credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After the layoff of doing the Broadway shows and then the delays brought about by COVID-19, I was wondering how Springsteen would be on this tour. Would he be any different? Would the show still have that same magic? I need not have worried because he was still the Boss and that magic was there in abundance.

At that Atlanta show, I was really impressed on two accounts. The first is that energy, which seems like where it was at least 20+ years ago. There was no let-up, no rest during this concert. For a musician as relatively long in the tooth as Springsteen is, that’s really notable. Springsteen’s development as a kind of band leader was also really apparent. The way he was in control on stage, conducting and directing the other members of the E Street Band, was something to behold. I’ve heard Dylan referred to as being like a band leader now and Springsteen is that way now as well. It’s a testament to the greatness of the E Street Band that they can be so tight and focused (they will always be the greatest backing band in popular music in my mind) but it’s also a credit to Springsteen for getting them to maintain that focus and precision.

Bruce Springsteen’s February 3rd concert in Atlanta, Georgia was a transcendent, electrifying show. It was a great reminder about why he really is the Boss, and it makes me excited for what’s to come from him in the coming years.