Springsteen Delivers A Solid Hit At The Super Bowl
Bruce Springsteen is known for a lot of things, but brevity
isn't one of them. Given his reputation for delivering marathon concerts of
wide emotional range, it was interesting to see the Boss try to fit his shtick
into the 12 or so minutes he was allotted during yesterday's Super Bowl
halftime show. Knowing that New
Jersey's finest is a perfectionist and planner of
OCD-like levels, it's no surprise that he managed to put in an entertaining, if
not transcendent, performance.
But even the most devoted Springsteen fan had to question opening with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." The song, from 1975's Born To Run is a fan favorite and a longtime staple of Springsteen set lists, but not the kind of thing a casual listener would recognize, and when the audience is a billion people, casual listeners are going to make up the majority. It might have been pandering, but how awesome would it have been if Springsteen busted out "Born In The U.S.A."?
If "Freeze-Out" didn't work as an immediate
attention-grabber, the soul-influenced number, which provides plenty of room
for vamping, at least provided the opportunity for some showmanship. Before the
song was over, Springsteen, dressed all in black, had looked directly into the
camera and exhorted the fans at home to put down their chicken wings and
guacamole, executed a surprisingly spry power slide, and hopped on top of a
piano.
Then came "Born To Run." There's not much to say about that one. Like it has the other million times he's played it, the song rocked. Hell, Springsteen could play that song while wearing a smock and dancing the softshoe and it'd still be inspiring. This was easily the highlight of the set.
Following that classic, the new "Working On A Dream" was always
going to suffer by comparison. Springsteen probably knew it too, and it's easy
to read his bringing on a gospel choir to help out with the chorus as an
attempt to add some pizzazz to a song that is A) not yet well known and B) sort
of bland. But I have a long-held belief that rock songs featuring gospel--or
gospel-type choirs make up one of the great underappreciated genres (see
Queen's "Somebody To Love," Primal Scream's "Come Together," Stephen Stills'
"Church"--I could go on), and the energetic backing singers gave "Dream" a
much-needed goose.
The set came to a close with "Glory Days." That song has always struck me as sort of generic bar-band rock. This time, though, Springsteen and the E Street Band radiated a real sense of joy as they plowed through the Chuck Berry-inspired riff. Springsteen even changed up the lyrics, swapping in a "Hail Mary" reference for the original's "speedball." Sure it was cheesy, as were some earlier antics involving a referee coming on stage and flagging the band for a delay of game penalty, but Springsteen and Co. give off such an inclusive, unabashed sense of wholesome fun, that it was hard not to get at least a little swept up in their enthusiasm. And really, that's what the performance boiled down to--middle-age dudes joyously rocking out. What could be more appropriate for the Super Bowl than that?
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He's an overhyped has-been who looks like he's in a permanent midlife crisis.
Love your blissful ignorance. I also love how his detractors can't even spell right (more than 5 typos, usually). If you want to be taken seriously, at least take time to type out your thoughts, eh?
All I will say is that though decidedly cheesy, it was great. It was FUN. And...isn't that what its SUPPOSED to be? Nice, semi-mindless fun. And Bruce delivered. Yes, the referee thing was silly. But at least it was FUN to watch.
And Bruce doesn't need a "Wardrobe Malfunction" to rock the stadium.
All I will say is that years from now Bruce will be more relevant than most of these "Modern" 'talents'. Hell, most people need to either lip-synch or PRO-TOOLS to even do crap, and idiotic young folk think they got 'talent'.
Give me a break. Relax. Enjoy the show. And stop living in a hole where all you know as good music is Katy Perry. HA!