Mrs. Fritz and I bought tickets to the Bruce Spreengsteen concert last evening at Wrigley Field in Chicago. She bought the tickets as a wedding anniversary gift in celebration of 28 years of marriage. (Bless her). Needless to say, the concert was an amazing performance and I’m glad that we went. I’d never seen Springsteen live in concert.
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| Me and the adorable Mrs. Fritz at Wrigley Field. |
I had some initial concerns about actually getting to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Traffic from the suburbs into the city is usually horrendous, but even more so on a Friday night during rush hour. We decided to take public transportation in the form of the commuter train network that has a stop at Addison street, across the street from Wrigley! Good decision on our part.
We arrived at the park with 90 minutes to spare so we ate some awful stadium food and then walked around historic Wrigley Field. Our seats were on the field level. How cool is that to be standing in center field on the pitch! Here are some pictures of Wrigley Field taken from my perspective of standing on the field in center field.
The concert started only 15 minutes late at 7:45PM with each member of the band walking on stage one by one so that they could bask in their own applause. Steve van Zandt was second to last and then Springsteen, The Boss jogged onstage and the crowd went wild. After about 20-30 seconds Bruce shouted the familiar “1, 2, 3” and the band wasted no time pitching into their first number. Here is the concert set list, all 26 songs.
One of the things that really struck me was how the band would finish a song and then a mere seconds later it was “1,2,3” and immediately into the next song in the set. Usually a band takes a little longer to let the cheers linger and the performers can take a quick sip of water or wipe the sweat from the brow. But not Bruce, he’s all business and there is no rest between songs. I was impressed by Bruce’s stamina on stage.. in fact, everyone in the band has to be in great physical shape to perform in the manner that they do.
I’ve never been a huge Springsteen fan so I don’t know the words to most of his songs, but the audience sure did. Of course I’m familiar with some of Springsteen’ s biggest hits ( which were mostly played in the encore of 5-6 songs) so I was seeing everything with a fresh eye leading to a wonderful concert experience.
All in all, if you have the opportunity to see Springsteen in concert then absolutely do so. It’s worth it.
Excellent!
ReplyDeleteSounds an excellent evening and congratulations too. My daughter and her partner saw him in Scotland recently and really enjoyed the concert very much indeed. I wish I had gone with them in hindsight but not as much as I do regardless The Killers.
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
I've glad you enjoyed it. I've seen Springsteen live on several occasions and he always gives a great show.
ReplyDeleteDecades ago my wife and her brother went to see The Boss here in Coventry, England. She is still complaining because she was only moderately keen but he performed for about four hours non-stop! Bruce sure works for his money.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding!
ReplyDeleteSeats Jim? At a Springsteen concert, surely not. I was lucky enough to see him three times on his latest tour and also get him to sign my wife's arm for our 47th wedding anniversary. Its now a lovely tattoo. You really should come across to the UK to experience the full worship effect at a Boss concert, its wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWe didn’t do a whole lot of sitting in our seats as we stood through most of the concert. I sat down during some of the slower songs to rest my legs.
DeleteI saw Bruce and the E Street band for the first time in Edinburgh in May this year - they were superb musicians. Glad you enjoyed it too!
ReplyDeleteI saw him and the band at Wembley Stadium in the 1980s and it was incredible. I've long been a fan. Hope you listen to more of songs, he covers an enormous range.
ReplyDelete