Bruce Springsteen Leeds Direct Arena 24 July 20
Unbelievable show by Bruce last night in Leeds. Leeds First Direct Arena is a brand new purpose-buily 13,500 seater arena sited right in the centre of Leeds. Last night was the first concert at the venue, although the official opening night is reserved for Elton John in September (or the Kaiser Chiefs! There has been some controversy and bad feeling as to who the actual opener is). The venue has an intimate feel about it, and reminded me of a much larger version of the Odeon and other types of cinema that I went to when I was a kid. There was a lot of anticipation for this gig. Indoor arena shows are rare events for The Boos these days, so fans travelled from all over the work for this concert. 
Tickets sold out in a few minutes and were selling for around £500 each on secondary sites, although prices from the many touts outside the venue were reportedly around £150 a pop. Bruce certainly lived up to the hype. He came on stage shortly before 8pm and played until after 11pm. The show featured lots of requests, taken from the sign waving fans down in the pit, some of whom had been queueing outside the venue for several days to secure a place down the front. Bruce put his heart and soul into the performance, thanking the fans, and naming individuals in the pit who have attended throughout the European tour. At one point he crowd surfed across the hands of fans down the front and later in the show he pulled a whole family (mum, dad, and 5 or 6 daughters) up on to stage to dance with him. The set was a mix of Bruce favourites and some lesser known tracks, delving far back into this catalogue. He played a great version of Credence’s Bad Moon Rising. Another highlight for me was Because the Night. The sound was very clear and loud. He showed us last night just what a rock show can be like. Its going to be a long time before any future visitor to the new arena tops it. Just incredible. 
I was lucky enough to witness Bruce’s first UK show at Hammersmith in 1975, and saw him a couple of times after that, at Newcastle City Hall and St James Park Newcastle. I then lost interest in him, and didn’t pick up on him again until around 10 years ago. Since then I’ve seen him at London O2, Dublin Point, Hampden Park, and Sunderland Stadium of Light. Last night was the best I’ve seen him since those early shows at Hammersmith and the City Hall, and I’m hooked again. Setlist: Roulette; My Love Will Not Let You Down; No Surrender; Something in the Night; American Skin (41 Shots); The Promised Land; Hungry Heart; Local Hero; Gotta Get That Feeling; Bad Moon Rising; Thundercrack; Wrecking Ball; Death to My Hometown; This Depression; Because the Night; Darlington County; Shackled and Drawn; Waitin’ on a Sunny Day; The Rising; Land of Hope and Dreams. Encore: Secret Garden; Atlantic City; Badlands; Born to Run; Dancing in the Dark; Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out; Shout. Encore 2: If I Should Fall Behind; Thunder Road.
25 Jul
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