by Julian Spivey Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band brought the greatest show in rock ‘n’ roll to the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Saturday, February 18 for nearly three hours’ worth of musical bliss. Kansas City was the eighth stop on the Rock Hall of Fame group’s 2023 tour, which has found itself rocking audiences throughout the southern states while dealing with COVID-19 working its way through the band. The full band hasn’t performed since the February 7 show in Hollywood, Fla. with guitarist Steven Van Zandt, multi-instrumentalist Soozie Tyrell, guitarist Nils Lofgren and saxophonist Jake Clemons all missing shows. Patti Scialfa, guitarist and Springsteen’s wife, hasn’t performed with the band since the Hollywood show and kind of feels like a part-time member of the E Street Band right now. Clemons was out for the Kansas City show, his second show missed due to COVID-19. Springsteen joked that he was back at the hotel “eating cheeseburgers and watching pornographic films” before leading the packed crowd in a “Fuck COVID” chant mimicking the old Country Joe McDonald and The Fish “FUCK” chant from Woodstock. Eddie “Kingfish” Manion, usually a member of the band’s horn section, stepped in admirably to fill Clemons’ shoes at the saxophone. Springsteen told the crowd that Manion had been in the backline of the stage for 40 years with the band before now getting his chance to shine. Shine he did indeed. Saxophone is such an integral part of the E Street Sound, thanks to the legend that was Clarence Clemons (Jake’s uncle), and Manion killed it all night long. The band kicked off the evening with a terrific performance of “No Surrender,” from 1984’s Born in the U.S.A., which includes one of many favorite Springsteen lyrics: “Well, we busted out of class/Had to get away from those fools/We learned more from a three-minute record, baby/Than we ever learned in school.” I know there are times I feel like I’ve learned more from three-minute records than I ever did in school. Saturday night was one of those nights. Next up the band would play “Ghosts,” one of four tracks they would play during the night off their latest album 2020’s Letter to You. Technically, the entire band would play two songs off that record while Springsteen would perform the other two solo acoustically – one of which was “Last Man Standing,” with a touching story before it about how it was inspired by him being the final living member of his very first band The Castiles in the ‘60s. The great thing about a Springsteen & the E Street Band show is they’re going to spread classics from most of their biggest records throughout their show. On Saturday night this included memorable performances of “Out in the Street” from The River (notably the only song off that double album probably because their previous tour in 2016 featured it in its entirety), “Wrecking Ball” from the album of the same name and “The Rising” from the album of the same name. Springsteen and the band would also perform a jazzy, electric version of “Johnny 99” from Nebraska. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s first two albums – Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & The E Street Shuffle. Because of this, it’s somewhat surprising and disappointing the group didn’t perform a single track from ‘Greetings’ (they haven’t all tour), despite it celebrating its 50th anniversary in January. The group did, however, perform three tracks off ‘E Street Shuffle’ including fantastic versions of “Kitty’s Back” and “The E Street Shuffle.” In late 2021, Springsteen released Only the Strong Survive, a solo effort that sees him covering his favorite R&B and Soul tracks (the second covers album of his career after 2006’s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions). On Saturday night, the band played my personal favorite track from that album “Nightshift,” a Commodores song from 1985 paying tribute to legends Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson. Among my favorite performances of the main set included “The Promised Land,” off 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town,” which includes another of my favorite Springsteen lyrics: “The dogs on Main Street howl/’Cause they understand/If I could take one moment into my hands/Mister, I ain’t a boy, no, I’m a man/And I believe in a promised land.” I also loved “Because the Night” with Lofgren absolutely shredding on guitar complete with his patented spins. A special moment for me, personally, was the performance of “Backstreets,” from Born to Run, a song I hadn’t seen in either of the two previous times I’d seen Springsteen & the E Street Band – Kansas City in 2012 and Oklahoma City in 2016 and holds nostalgic feelings for me. The opening piano solo on “Backstreets” is probably my favorite Roy Bittan moment in the entire E Street Band repertoire. It’s absolutely cinematic. Springsteen would end the main set with “Badlands,” off Darkness on the Edge of Town, which would kick off the absolute greatest four-song run of any live show I’ve ever attended, and I don’t think it could possibly ever be beaten. It’s so much fun screaming lyrics like “Poor man wanna be rich/Rich man wanna be kind/and a king ain’t satisfied ‘till he rules everything” in unison with Springsteen and an entire arena filled with people experiencing the same euphoria. The encore began with my all-time favorite song (not just my favorite Springsteen song, but any song ever recorded), “Thunder Road,” which is the opening track to Springsteen & the E Street Band’s magnum opus Born to Run from 1975. The harmonica opening, the sax solo at the end performed perfectly by Manion, maybe my all-time favorite lyric: “it’s a town full of losers and we’re pulling out of here to win.” It was epic. Maybe my all-time favorite concert moment, but then again that could also be the first time I ever heard the band perform it in 2016. Following “Thunder Road,” Springsteen went directly into “Born to Run,” my second favorite song of his – and probably his most famous and beloved track. It was a moment of bliss for the entire audience, which you could see rocking their butts off because the great thing about an E Street Band encore is the entire arena’s lights come on letting us all see our brethren sharing moments of ecstasy together. After “Born to Run,” was the seven-minute epic “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, which about near killed me. I’m only 35, but at this point in the greatest four-song grouping of any concert I’ve ever attended, I had almost rocked myself to death. Springsteen is 73 years old, and all of his long-time bandmates are in their 70s and they looked like they could’ve gone on all night. It’s truly amazing, almost unfathomable how this group can wring this much energy out of their shows at their age – and they’ve been playing three shows at almost three hours weekly. This was only the halfway point of the encore – a Springsteen encore is basically another entire hour of music, not a piddly one-song or two-to-three-song encore done by most bands. The band continued on with “Glory Days” and “Dancing in the Dark,” from Born in the U.S.A. I noticed this was the first time I’ve seen Springsteen in which he didn’t pull a woman out from the crowd to dance with during “Dancing in the Dark.” I wonder if that’s a casualty of post-pandemic (but disease still swirling) life? As has become custom at Springsteen shows, the penultimate song of the night – the final one with the E Street Band – was “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” which has basically become the E Street theme as it tells the origin story if you will of the group and features a moment of tribute to fallen band members Clarence Clemons (who died in 2011) and Danny Federici (who died in 2008). It's time to shout out the “heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making, legendary E Street Band,” as Springsteen likes to introduce them. Van Zandt (72) and Lofgren (71) on guitar, along with Springsteen, is a three-headed monster that really propels the entire show. Max Weinberg (71) on drums keeps the beat going all night long with such rapidity that it’s amazing his arms haven’t yet fallen off. Bittan, who is lovingly referred to as “The Professor,” brings beauty and grace to the group on keys. Garry Tallent (73) on bass is the coolest cat of the entire outfit equipped with his dark glasses and stoic stance that looks statuesque amidst the chaos surrounding him. Such a bassist move. Tyrell, the newest full-time member of the group and the youngster at just 65 years old, is a terrific multi-instrumentalist who adds a fourth (rhythm) guitar to the stage for much of the show while occasionally showing off on violin. These are the best in the business and on this night joined by Manion on sax they were perfect. Saturday night was more than just a rock show for me – like every Springsteen & the E Street Band show it was damn near a spiritual moment. And it was a moment I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to experience again making it so much sweeter. The band hadn’t toured together since 2016 due to Springsteen embarking on his award-winning and highly successful one-man Broadway show and then the obvious pandemic that shut down live music for close to two years for most acts. Plus, with artists in their 70s and aging, you never know when the last time is going to be. Saturday night might be the last time. This might be their last tour (something I don’t think Springsteen would ever announce). If it was the last time for me personally I’m eternally grateful for everything this band has given me and will continue to give me with their 50-plus years now of life-changing music. Springsteen finished his K.C. show with a solo acoustic performance of “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” the final track on Letter to You. Performed in a slow, almost spoken-sung manner you could tell Springsteen got as much from us in the audience as we were getting from him – everything. It was his letter to us. An “I hope to catch you again down the line, but if not … I’ll see you in my dreams” moment. It was beautiful.
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