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A Reluctant Ranking of My Favorite Bruce Springsteen Concerts
This was not easy
Since I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live last weekend, I have been pondering where that show ranks among the five concerts of his I have seen over the past 39 years. I’ve said before that there is no such thing as a bad E Street Band show, only ones that are marginally better than others, and I stand by that. However, now that some of the magic of the night has faded I can say with no regrets that the 2023 show was not nearly as good as at least two of the previous ones I’ve been to.
It physically pained me to type that last sentence, especially since he played five songs from the Born to Run album (“She’s the One,” “Backstreets,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Thunder Road,” and “Born to Run”); the fact remains that the lowest-ranking Springsteen show I’ve seen is light years ahead of any other artist I’ve seen live (even Tom Petty). Still, I think I have finally settled on where each of the five Bruce shows fall. Here they are, in reverse order.
5. American Airlines Center, Dallas (February 10, 2023). I hate having to put this most recent show last among the five, but viewed honestly this is where it belongs. I reviewed the show here, and in that review I said that Father Time clearly had not caught the septuagenarians that make up the band…
