Springsteen & the E Street Band: Asbury Park, September 15, 2024

Imagine the scene: Barefoot on the beach, a perfect cool breeze coming in off the water, and there in front of tens of thousands of celebrants, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. That was last night, for a unique performance to conclude the 2024 Sea Hear Now Music Festival. The festival was spearheaded by rock photographer Danny Clinch in 2018; this was the first performance of the E Street Band.

In order to be able to see Bruce and the band without the aid of giant video monitors, there were two basic options: either procure very limited and pricey "VIP" and "Platinum" tickets, or arrive many hours early to the 7th Avenue Beach where the Surf Stage was located. I arrived at the Surf Stage around 1:15pm; many had lined up before sunrise and no doubt would have done so earlier had it been permitted by event staff. Getting to the stage early also meant catching three preliminary acts: Joy Oladokun, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Kool & the Gang, and Trey Anastasio Band. The vast majority of the audiences for those 3 sets were there for Bruce; nonetheless all of the performers performed solid and well-received one hour sets. Anastasio, after gushing about having first seen Bruce at Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium as a teenage in 1978, brought Bruce on stage for a performance of "Kitty's Back," the first of many Springsteen highlights of the day. Bruce also made a guest appearance with The Gaslight Anthem on a different stage; those of us with GA tickets missed it.

As for Bruce's set: It was an ultimate fan service to the long time hard core fans, and also a general statement: "this is where I'm from." After all, the town name was in the title of his first LP. Just by the numbers, the set featured five tour premieres, all of which were from 1975 or earlier. 20 of the set's 30 songs were originally recorded in the 1970s or earlier, including, at one point, 9 consecutive. The more recent albums had the night off; while 4 of the first 6 songs were from "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ," there were no songs at all from any of Bruce's 4 most recent studio albums. Of course, Bruce didn't get to every song that featured Asbury Park or the shore, there are simply too many of those. On the lead-ins to several songs, Bruce shared memories of his own experiences in Asbury Park, and his happiness at the town's revitalization and the festival scene on the beach. On this night, at least, nothing was forgotten and everything was forgiven.

Highlights, at least among the songs that hadn't been played two nights prior in Baltimore: "Blinded by the Light," which was rehearsed just enough to be pulled through. "Growin' Up," with a sweet little Asbury Park story introduced, of course, by Bruce saying, "There I was..." Howling at the moon over the water during the introduction to "Spirit in the Night." Bruce explaining the origins of "Thundercrack" and then giving its first performance since 2016. "4th of July, Asbury Park," the most expected one-off of the evening, played as a dedication to the memory of Danny Federici and with Roy Bittan taking the accordion part; Bruce cracking up at the mention of Madame Marie later during the same song. "Tougher than the Rest," in a very tender performance featuring Patti Scialfa. The audience reaction to the opening of "Racing In the Street," and then the sounds of the ocean waves being plainly audible over Roy's piano as Bruce sang "Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea and wash these sins off our hands" -- is there a more perfect shore moment than that? "Meeting Across the River," with Curt Ramm playing up the trumpet part. And the show closer of "Jersey Girl," this time with Charlie Giordano on accordion.

The one very noticeable lowlight was that the overhead video screens were disconnected early during the show, and were not restored until the middle of "Thundercrack." For anyone not close enough to see the stage directly, that meant getting the show audio only.

Another fun highlight was the sign language presentation off to stage left. I've never seen sign language at a rock show before, and now I'm glad I have seen it.

The most recent tour has had strong themes of the impact of mortality. Last night, that was mostly gone. This show was a celebration. Age be damned, at least, Bruce's age be damned. "I feel fucking old tonight, in a good way," he said. My age, not so much! When it was all over, besides feeling the salt from the water on my lips, I noticed that I had become so stiff from standing on the sand all that time that I was no longer capable of bending over nor sitting down to put my sandals back on; I needed help. But I left feeling old in a good way, too.