Monday 10 February 2014

Perth 3 in photos: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band


Returned from Perth yesterday after seeing shows 2 & 3 of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's first-ever performances in what he repeatedly called 'the remotest city of Earth'. Lucky doesn't begin to describe my opportunity to stay with friends met in Brisbane at the opening night of the 2013 Aussie tour. UK-born, 6-year Perth residents Heather and Peter not only opened their house but took me on a tour of Perth and Fremantle that included a stop at Little Creatures brewery (my favourite Aussie beer) and door-to-door service to Perth Arena from their home in the Perth hills. I'll post photos of Western Australia's beauty shortly.

For those interested in full-blown reports on nights 2 & 3 in Perth, check out my reviews on Backstreets. Editor Chris Phillips asked if I'd split concert reports with him, and I gladly agreed. I'll be covering Springsteen's two Auckland shows when he and the band conclude this Aussie tour at the beginning of March.

Here's photos taken from my spot in Front GA Saturday night.You'll find a few of the photos I took at show #2 on Backstreets.

AC/DC's Bon Scott is a hometown hero. Opening the final show in Perth with 'Highway to Hell' was a stroke of fist-pumping genius.

Bruce and Steven share a front stage mic during 'Badlands'.

Three in a row from Darkness -- 'Adam Raised a Cain', 'Streets of Fire' & 'Candy's Room' -- meant a lot of Bruce guitar face.

Tom Morello upsets his dentist during 'High Hopes'.

Jake and Springsteen share a quiet moment together amongst 15,000 fans during 'Spirit in the Night'.

Off he goes.

So. Many. Guitars.

Horn section comes down for a blistering 'Open All Night'.

Lovely Cindy Mizelle before her 'Shackled and Drawn' vocal solo.

"Look in my eyes ma you'll see .... ME."

Jake Clemons was massive all night, especially here during 'Land of Hope and Dreams'.

Your E Street Band.

Bruce at Roy's piano performing 'The Promise' by himself.

Roy gets his revenge for being booted from his piano by playing it with Bruce's head.

Jake and Steven watch a 'Dancing in the Dark' contestant maul their honeypot.

Tell me the look on Steven's face isn't priceless. Also note the strange woman who wanted to 'dance' with a drummer.

Watching Steven shoo people off the stage at the conclusion of 'Dancing in the Dark' is worth the price of admission. This shot is blurry, but captures his glee.

After guitar tech Kevin Buell helped Bruce peel his buttoned shirt off, Springsteen hopped on Roy's piano for the usual 'Tenth Avenue' intro.

Never to be forgotten.

'American Land' brings the keyboardists to centre stage.

Max gets well-deserved love. He was superhuman all night, most notably during 'Born in the USA' and 'Radio Nowhere'.

As previously noted, Jake brought maximum swagger all night long.

Bruce waves goodbye to Perth after a tear-jerking 'Terry's Song' and 'Thunder Road' on acoustic guitar.

Nice touch by the folks at Perth Arena.

2 comments:

Big Papi Lindsay said...

Thank you for this blog post. It means a lot to me as I am in the middle of Canada, the temperature is forty below, and I have never seen Springsteen live. Great, great photos. Thanks for capturing what it is like to see the band live.

The Rhyme Animal said...

Been following the shows via the connection established in the vehicle known as the "tool Shed", somewhere lost on Dayton Road.

Flash forward to a time in the future, we are yet still alive and somehow, Charlie Cross lives via your keyboard and lens.

You know I am watching via your remote eyes, yet longing for a time of remoteness long ago, before everything became complicated and such.

Keep on dreaming, dream baby dream, the songs remain the same, the memories continue to thrive.