«hello Rome», the greeting of Bruce Springsteen, shirt and dark jeans, arrives on time just before sunset. She answers him the scream of sixty thousand that crowd the Circus Maximus (sold out). And we start immediately with the boost of My love will not let you down e Death To My Hometownangry anti-war song, opened on Sunday, the second concert Boss’s Italian.
On stage with him, the horsemen of the musical apocalypse that form the E Street Band: Roy Bittan piano and synthesizers, Nils Lofgren guitar and vocals, Patti Scialfa guitar and vocals, Garry Tallent bass, Stevie Van Zandt guitar and vocals, Max Weinberg drums, Soozie Tyrell violin, guitar and vocals, Jake Clemons saxophone and Charlie Giordano keyboards.
On the sides of the stage the flags Italian and American. The two giant screens send back the images of Springsteen and the band who play one song after another for three hours without stopping. The spectators who allow themselves to be enveloped by the irresistible energy that chains from the stage are also filmed. Among the audience, the greats of rock: Sting, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Nick Mason e Nick Cave. There are also the actor Woody Harrelson, Thomas of Måneskin, Chris Rock, Edoardo Leo, Luca Marinelli and Giuseppe Battiston.
Indomitable Bruce. His 73 years old they leave marks on the face but do not affect the passion and strength that Springsteen dispenses throughout the concert. On stage he is the first to have fun dragging the band along with him who he guides with his gaze and spares no “incursions” into the crowd, along the side walkways and the central one that wedges into the area close to the stage. After The Promised Land comes the launch ofharmonicathis time the lucky winner is a dad with a little boy in his arms who grabs the unexpected gift and gives it to his son.
The concert does not live only on rock’n’roll. Openings blues, jazz and finally with Nightshift of the Commodores (from the last cover album) also soul. “Shhh,” Bruce tells the crowd placing a finger to his lips. It’s the signal to attack Mary’s Place in a crescendo of piano, bass guitars and drums.
Without ever separating from the guitar he talks about his first band in 1965 (“I stayed there for three years, for a boy it’s a whole life”) and talks about George Theiss, his first mentor, who passed away in 2018: «He died shortly after writing this song». It’s time for the yearning Last Man Standing. Because The Nightwritten for Patti Smithlives again with the guitar virtuosity of Lofgren While Weinberg hits the battery hard. No time to breathe coming, punctuated by the clapping of the crowd, She’s The One. Springsteen “leads” the chorus of spectators on Thunder Road the last song before the encores sung by the sixty thousand: the timeless Born In The Usa, Born To Run, Glory Days (“Roma, are you sure you don’t want to go home?”) e Dancing In The Dark.