Bruce Springsteen, 73 and Sunny, Defied Father Time at 2023 Tour Kickoff in Tampa: Review and Photos

The post Bruce Springsteen, 73 and Sunny, Defied Father Time at 2023 Tour Kickoff in Tampa: Review and Photos appeared first on Consequence.

Tan and muscled, 73 in the books but 53 in the looks, Bruce Springsteen sauntered onstage Wednesday night (February 1st) with nothing to prove and all the determination to prove it anyway.

The Garden State Bard and his E Street brethren opened their much-anticipated 2023 tour (grab tickets here) at Tampa’s sold-out Amalie Arena with a show high on highs and prove-it-all-night uplift.

This was a grinning Bruce for the masses, a carefully curated retrospective for all, from young TikTok-ers who just discovered “Dancing in the Dark” to the obsessives trading dorky high-fives during a stompy jazz mash of “Candy’s Room” and “Kitty’s Back.”

Will diehard Backstreeters grumble that the Boss was stingy with the rarities? Maybe. Probably. There was nothing from Greetings From Asbury Park, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in January 2023. That said, his ferocious reclaiming of pop classic “Because the Night” is the sort of life-affirming moment for which you will gladly pay too much money.

But hold on, wait a second, we’re burying the lede: 2:42.

That’s how long the Boss and Nils and Little Steven (combined age: bicentennial-ish) played on opening night. 2 hours and 42 minutes. From 8:00 p.m. sharp to a 10:42 close. Twenty-eight songs total, starting with a bombastic “No Surrender” and ending with the somber solo acoustic “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Rob DeMartin

Bruce doesn’t sprint around like he used to. Not at 73. He doesn’t chat us up like he used to, either, proselytizing like a fallen Freehold street preacher. But his singing voice, his breath, his strength never faltered, and neither did his earnest connection with the 20,000 strong. And the dude looks GOOD.

Yes, there were overt nods to his age, his refusal to unplug and unwind, the most resounding being a thunderous, crescendoing “Wrecking Ball” that absolutely haymakered Father Time (“C’mon and take your best shot/ Let me see what you got”). The song shifts wild gears, drummer Mighty Max Weinberg still a sturdy timekeeper. If a lot of fans thought this was a chance to take a breather, they changed their mind by the end, pumping those fists.

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images

There were a few beautifully, painfully, pensive moments, too. In his longest chat with the audience, he said: “At 73, there are a lot of yesterdays, a lot of goodbyes, that’s why you have to make the most out of right now.” He then played the poignant “Last Man Standing,” which revealed he’s the sole surviving member of his very first band.

But for the most part, this was a party, a defiant way of saying let’s not plan the eulogy just yet. (Funny how, earlier in the day, Tom Brady retired, but Bruuuuuce, 30 years older than the QB, has miles of tour dates to go before he rests.)

Almost the entire opening-night setlist was built to get you out of your chair, even those soul covers from latest album Even the Strong Survive. Okay, okay, Bruce warbling the Commodores’ “Nightshift” was a little out of place, the night’s rare tepid moment, but it means a great deal to him. Bruce has earned the right to praise Marvin and Jackie.

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Rob DeMartin

And soon enough, he summoned saxophonist Jake Clemons (the late Big Man’s nephew) and the rest of the 5-piece horn section to surround him at the front of the stage for a raucous take on “Johnny 99,” reinvented to such sexy, blaring heights, it’s unrecognizable from its Nebraska beginnings. Springsteen, still working and reworking, conjuring something new.

Such was the cadence all night, something fresh (the storming “Ghosts” from 2020’s Letter to You, considered by many fans to be a modern classic), then something older (“Brilliant Disguise,” in which he and wife Patti Scialfa curled around the microphone for bittersweet harmony). The only truly glaring omission? No “Thunder Road.”

Some of the night’s most charming moments involved Bruce, ever the conductor, keenly aware of every single moment of the show, helping his 18 bandmates get through first-night uncertainty, pointing at spots on the floor where they should be standing, should be playing.

And truth be told, when the house lights kicked on for the seven-song encore, which commenced with the live debut of “Burnin’ Train,” it signaled an even looser, grittier performance, a whole lot of fun, but a little barroom sloppy, too. “Professor” Roy Bittan is a brilliant pianist to be sure, but wow, signals were crossed on “Dancing in the Dark.”

Still, Bruce and his kin just laughed it off, so obviously delighted to be back in their native habitat. Springsteen’s more recent work and interviews, including his epic chat with Howard Stern, have leaned toward the wistful, the dark — a little unnerving to be sure.

But on opening night in the Sunshine State, there was no looming shadow of this being the last go-round, a goodbye and adios and all that. If anything, “Born to Run” and “Rosalita” and “Glory Days” still run hot on full tanks of Jersey fuel.

And when he introduced his band with typical gusto just before “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” it sure didn’t sound like a final bow, a thank-you note to them and us. Instead, it was boastful braggadocio, the guy with the best band on the planet. Bring on your wrecking ball indeed. In fact, you better bring two.

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images

Springsteen next plays at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, February 3rd. Tickets for that date, and for the rest of the tour, are available here.

Setlist:

No Surrender
Ghosts
Prove It All Night
Letter To You
Promised Land
Out In The Street
Candy’s Room
Kitty’s Back
Brilliant Disguise
Nightshift (Commodores cover)
Don’t Play That Song (Ben E. King cover)
E Street Shuffle
Johnny 99
Last Man Standing
House Of A Thousand Guitars
Backstreets
Because The Night (Patti Smith Group cover)
She’s The One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands

Encore:

Burning Train
Born To Run
Rosalita
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
I’ll See You In My Dreams

Bruce Springsteen 2023 Tour Gallery:

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Rob DeMartin

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Rob DeMartin

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Rob DeMartin

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Rob DeMartin

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images

Bruce Springsteen, photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images

Bruce Springsteen, 73 and Sunny, Defied Father Time at 2023 Tour Kickoff in Tampa: Review and Photos
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