NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MAN. Especially for a 60-year-old old man from New Jersey who looked as fit and fresh last night as the first time I saw him play the Spectrum almost 30 years ago. Bruce Springsteen is more than an American icon. He is a force of nature, a hurricaine of music and values and questions that pose themselves as statements: God have mercy on a man who doubts what he's sure of.
And if there is a sure thing in Philadelphia, it is that any Springsteen concert in th City of Brucerly Love will be sold out. Forty-seven sold out Spectrum concerts, said the banner bearing Springsteen's name hanging in the rafters of the Spectrum last night where Bruce proved that age has not dimmed his determinged spirit to put on the best rock and roll show anyone has ever seen each and every night he performs. No matter where. No matter how many are in the audience. The man is a promise kept everytime he steps on a stage.
Last night was no different. As much as I hesitate and rebel against using the word "best" in front of the words "Springsteen concert I've ever seen," I have to admit, this one was close. Bruce did it all. He was nonstop for an incredible three hours without break during a farewell Spectrum performance that left the eagar audience too exhausted to call for a single encore. Bruce doesn't play that beg-me-back-off-stage encore game anymore. He left his heart and soul on the stage. In between the opening number, Thunder Crack, and the last song, Rosalita, Bruce did what Bruce always does -- make you proud to be a fan.
Bruce trusts his fans with his life -- literally.To see this confident performer get passed around overhead from hand to hand by hundreds of adoring fans in front of the stage is to see a man at peace inside his own skin. Bruce has arrived at the age of 60 looking like 40, acting like 20 and shouting out around the world that he's still racin' in the street.
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