Live Review: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, Jet

A 6pm kick-off time for the support band is rough. Not everyone's allowed to leave work early and there are a lot of empty green seats at this time. Jet have used more product in their hair tonight than they did for their warm-up show at The Gasometer Hotel the other night. Nic Cester demonstrates dedication to the rock'n'roll uniform by donning a leather jacket in the direct sunlight (he's sweating up a storm before long, but the jacket stays on). Such shiny guitars! Are they brand new? The setlist pretty much mirrors that of Tuesday night's show: Get What You Need, She's A Genius, Rollover DJ and then Seventeen, which is an absolute belter. Cester points out that a lot of these songs were written in this city, including Look What You've Done, which follows. Dad plus one reckons Bring It On Back channels John Lennon. The band's muscle memories have definitely kicked in and Cold Hard Bitch is delivered with gusto, even though they look clench-jawed on the giant screens — nerves, perhaps? Cester opportunistically leaves out a couple of lines at the start of Are You Gonna Be My Girl hoping that the audience will screech along and fill in the gaps, but it kinda falls flat, despite the fact that he points skyward, signalling for us to increase the volume. Rip It Up closes and we're glad we got here early (but are also super stoked that we managed to catch their electric warm-up show two nights ago).     

Close to 7.30pm, a cheer goes up as soon as members of the crowd spy the first glimpse of a member of Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band. Whoever's filming the content for the giant screens does a bang-up job, because we see Springsteen emerge from the first possible moment — top of his head, beaming smile, red check shirt then ridiculously tight rig. There's an Australian and Aboriginal flag above the stage-right screen, and an American flag above the stage-left screen. "We stand before you, embarrassed Americans, tonight," Springsteen says. "We're gonna use this to send a letter back home." He then sings a version of Don't Hang Up by The Orlons, obviously referring to Trump allegedly hanging up on Malcolm Turnbull when pressed about whether the US would honour an Obama-era agreement to accept 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention facility.

Soozie Tyrell's violin playing elevates American Land while Springsteen's vigorous strumming on battered guitar would act as a workout for most. You simply can't imagine Springsteen ever reclining in a La-Z-Boy munching on a bag of chips with a tinnie in one hand. Sax player Jake Clemons is a lively constant throughout the show, but there are definitely no passengers coasting along in The E Street Band — they leave everything they've got up there on that stage. Watching Springsteen share a mic with Steven Van Zandt during No Surrender just warms the cockles. To close Two Hearts, Van Zandt nuzzles The Boss' neck. Roy Bittan's piano lifts satisfyingly out of the mix during The Promised Land. One of the many signs in the front section reads, "I skipped the first day of school to see The Boss." During early standout track Glory Days, Springsteen faces his band and incorporates some booty shaking to show off his famous derriere while Van Zandt attempts to do the same.

Springsteen: "Are the people with us?" Us: YEEEEAAAH!" Van Zandt: "Oh, yeah!" The Boss holds his mic out so that the crowd can start the Hungry Heart singing off then takes over as he traipses through the crowd pressing the flesh —

 he would never struggle to achieve his recommended daily 10,000 steps. As punters' faces flash up on the screens, they all look so incredibly joyous. Everyone is so bloody happy, on stage and off, for the entire song's lengthy duration. Bittan's piano intro for New York City Serenade silences the crowd and a thrilled-looking, beaming string section raise it to celestial heights. There's so much spirit in Springsteen's songs. The Boss shakes hands with every single member of this string section as they leave the stage. Johnny 99 scales back to just cowbell with Springsteen in storytelling mode.

At dusk when the stage lights fire up, Death To My Hometown radiates in all of its tin whistle glory. The pared-back opening for The River is poignant beyond belief. For some reason all in the bleachers remain seated. The Boss sure loves a "one, two, three, four" song count-in. "I need a house party!" Springsteen exclaims. "I've been so depressed, man. Shit is fucked up." Mary's Place takes us there ("Your favourite record's on the turntable/I drop the needle and pray"). "Can you feel my spirit?" Springsteen hollers. Fuck, yeah!    

I'm On Fire into Patti Smith Group's Because The Night makes us peak. A jaw-dropping guitar solo by Nils Lofgren sees him simultaneously hopping around in circles on the spot. "Melbourne, let me see those hands!" The Boss instructs, before telling us there's "folk from 22 countries in the pit tonight". "This is a song for the Bush administration that I guess still applies," is how he introduces an acoustic version of Long Walk Home. Born To Run finally gets the bleachers on their feet: "'Cause tramps like us/Baby we were born to ruuuuuun." That sax solo, though! Someone hands Springsteen a fluffy koala with a bandana 'round its forehead. The house lights are up by now as Springsteen peruses the handmade signs during Dancing In The Dark to select some candidates to grace his stage. There's a life-size cardboard cut-out of Springsteen down in the front section and some of the successful signage that grants onstage access includes: "Can I Teach The Professor To Dance?"; "Arizona Girl Would Like To Get Her Thrills With Nils"; and "Dance With This Nasty Woman", which particularly delights Springsteen. Said "Nasty Woman" sports a "Say I Do Down Under" T-shirt and is handed one of The Boss' guitars, which she immediately straps on, leaning into Springsteen in a perfect Van Zandt impersonation. The Isley Brothers' Shout turns the arena into a loose dance party. 

Springsteen introduces each musician and then enters into a long spiel to describe his band that hilariously concludes with "love-making, Viagra-taking E-Street Band". "I can't go on!" The Boss dramatically claims before Van Zandt arranges a black cape that reads "The Boss" around Springsteen's shoulders. More applause resuscitates The Boss and we score Twist & Shout. Watching punters recognise and point at themselves on the giant screens before dancing vigorously just never gets old. There are actual fireworks. "Tell your friends we'll be back on Saturday night for another extravaganza," The Boss concludes. See ya there.