Glory days haven’t passed him by The Boss delivers a commanding performance at Canada Life Centre By: Eva Wasney Posted: 11:16 PM CST Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024 Last Modified: 11:11 AM CST Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/11/2024 (346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He was born in the U.S.A.

And — more than 50 years into an illustrious, globetrotting rock ‘n’ roll career — he finally made it to Winnipeg.

Bruce Springsteen’s highly-anticipated, once-postponed local debut was worth the wait.

On Wednesday night, in front of a sold-out crowd of enthusiastic revellers at Canada Life Centre, Springsteen and his E Street bandmates played for three hours straight, delivering deep cuts and beloved hits alongside some much-delayed gratification for fans who have spent decades lobbying for the artist’s arrival.

The lights dimmed, excited whoops and chants of “Bruuuuuce” swept around the dark arena. Suddenly, there he was.

“Winnipeg, it’s about time,” Springsteen said, standing at the front of the stage in backlit relief.

He wasted no time getting into the material; opening with Lonesome Day and performing song-after-song with barely a breath between tracks.

After more than two years on the road and with only a handful of shows left on this leg of his world tour, Springsteen didn’t appear to be running on empty. Not even close.

Wearing his signature black jeans and vest, the 75-year-old rock icon never once left the spotlight. They don’t call him The Boss for nothing.

The arena was packed from the pit to the nosebleeds, with 360 degree seating around a simple stage of tiered risers and shifting lighting. A trio of screens provided close-ups of the action. With more than a dozen musicians in the ensemble, there’s not much room, nor need, for flashy set dressing.

The core E Street Band is made up of Roy Bittan, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa (who wasn’t in attendance), Garry Tallent, Stevie Van Zandt and Max Weinberg; supported by an array of talented vocalists, horn players and percussionists.

Save for some fun solos and a lively drum duel, the rest of the band seemed fairly subdued compared to the frontman.

Springsteen — whose voice is a little raspier than it used to be, but no less impassioned — spent the night hammering on a guitar or blasting away on a harmonica.

He strutted between bandmates and engaged the crowd from platforms jutting out from the stage — at one point, accepting a swig from a tiny bottle of Crown Royal smuggled in by a fan on the floor.

During musical interludes he played crowd conductor, pointing to sections beside and behind the stage and causing audience members to leap to their feet if they weren’t already standing.

Springsteen has released 21 studio albums, but live performance has always been the focal point of his career. He’s a showman through and through.

While there wasn’t much for localized banter, the crowd audibly swooned everytime he called the city out by name.

The tone of the show swung between jammy jubilance and contemplative reflection.

Upbeat and triumphant earlier songs, like Hungry Heart and Wrecking Ball, were paired with newer material from Letter to You, a 2020 release that finds the artist grappling with mortality and the passing of time.

Although Springsteen — who endorsed Kamala Harris in the recent presidential election — didn’t talk politics directly, he nodded to the current climate south of the border with Long Walk Home, which he described as a “prayer for my country.”

After a faux ending, Springsteen and the band turned around and played a multi-song encore, which included mandatory hits Born to Run and Dancing in the Dark — ironically performed with the house lights on full blast.

The Boss then traipsed out to perform on a narrow centre stage, shaking hands and high-fiving fans along the way; after which things took an oddly festive turn with a cover of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, complete with red and white Santa hats.

After an extended jam, the band took a bow and left the stage. But it wasn’t over yet.

Springsteen returned for one last goodbye, closing with I’ll See You in My Dreams from Letter to You.

It’s hard to say if the show met the outsized expectations and long, winding narrative that preceded it.

More than a concert, the evening was confirmation that, despite a proclivity for self-deprecation, Winnipeg isn’t less than. That our entertainment venues are capable of hosting superstars and that local audiences deserve to dream big.

We didn’t need The Boss to tell us all that. But his presence in the city is a reminder that anything is possible.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @evawasney