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Rate-A-Concert: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live in Dallas
A twist on Rate-A-Record
To paraphrase Somerset Maugham at the beginning of The Razor’s Edge, I have never gone to a Bruce Springsteen concert with more misgivings. This was true in no small part because of how amazing the show was when I saw him during The River anniversary tour in 2016, as well as the fact that everyone in the band except Jake Clemons was born when Harry Truman was President. Time eventually catches even the greatest of us, and I wondered if the February 10th show in Dallas would finally be when Father Time caught Bruce and the E Streeters.
Let me be clear on one point first: there is no such thing as a bad Springsteen concert, only ones that were marginally better than others. He never mails in a performance, doing each show as if it were his last. And simply being in the same building with the man as he plays The Greatest Song Ever is worth the price of admission, whether $17 in 1984, $150 in 2016, or $0 in 2023 (these tickets were the best birthday gift ever).
With that little disclaimer out of the way, I am happy to report that Father Time doesn’t even seem to know Bruce and the Band exist, and I don’t just mean that musically. No 73-year-old man should be able to rip open his shirt onstage and put guys half his age to shame, but Bruce…
