What makes a concert more than just good — but even great, or phenomenal? It’s hard to put into words sometimes. Often you know just by the feeling created by an amazing musical performance — an indescribable mix of joy and excitement. There’s an electricity in the air — and a collective feeling that something transcendent is happening.
Oftentimes, the verdict on a concert’s merit is subjective. A show that is great for one person can be boring or disappointing for another. People rarely agree.
Monday night’s concert by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at MVP Arena in Albany felt extraordinary from the start. The man and his 17- or 18-piece band (depending on whether Springsteen’s wife Patti Scialfa makes the show) always set a high bar. Performances stretch for hours, and the consummate E Street Band pros show up night after night to give it their all.
But something about this show felt special. And nearly everyone there — that I’ve talked to, anyway — seemed to agree. This was one of Springsteen’s best shows ever in the Capital Region. One for the ages. A barn burner. A jolt of much needed electricity. And healing.
It started when the stage lights dimmed just after 7:30 p.m., and the chants of “Bruuuuce” from the sold-out crowd kicked in. Springsteen launched into “Candy’s Room” and then “Adam Raised a Cain” — both classics from 1978’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town” album being played for the first time on this tour.
It was a thrilling start, and probably the best one-two opening segment of any show he’s played in a while. It felt like we were in for something exceptional, and we were.
You could say that Albany deserved this show, after two prior cancellations from the E Street Band for health reasons. First, in March 2023, Springsteen’s Albany gig was one of a handful postponed due to an unspecified band member illness just a month into Springsteen’s first major tour in six years.
Rescheduled for September of 2023, the second Albany show was then put on hold again when the Boss announced that he was recuperating from peptic ulcers. In some ways, we may be lucky that Springsteen postponed the 2023 shows, because at the time he was doing something rare for him: playing static set lists that changed little from night to night.
On Monday night, we got the opposite: a fluid, transcendent 165-minute set that hit so many high notes.
The heart-opener “Promised Land” led straight into “Atlantic City.” “Spirit in the Night,” where Springsteen and saxman Jake Clemons stood out in the crowd and directed the audience in a rousing call-and response, segued straight into “Hungry Heart.”
A propulsive “Because the Night,” with guitarist Nils Lofgren twirling in circles on stage, was followed by the visceral “Downbound Train,” played for the first time on this tour. The rousing 9-11 anthem “The Rising” led to the stirring “Badlands” and onto the moving “Thunder Road.”
Some of the best moments came when Springsteen enlisted the voices of the crowd as another band member, conducting them like a preacher leading a 10,000-voice choir in euphoric sing-alongs on so many songs, from “Backstreets” to “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.”
“Albany, can you feel the spirit now?” the Boss asked at one point. Yes, we could.
Although rumors abound that this could be the last tour from the 74-year-old Springsteen, he looked sharp, fit and healthy. Although he no longer takes running leaps onto Roy Bittan’s Yamaha grand piano, or executes knee-slides across the stage, that wasn’t missed.
What is mostly left is his heart, and we got it. He’s like an emissary from another planet on a mission to Earth to uplift the citizens.
Even in grief. Now that Bruce is older, he’s outlived a number of contemporaries – from his longtime sax player Clarence Clemons to E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici. He’s a survivor, so his shows now find him processing grief, but in a life-affirming way.
He played “Ghosts,” a more recent song about losing Clemons, Federici and George Theiss, Springsteen’s departed bandmate from his New Jersey teenage band the Castiles. But the song is far from a weeper. The music reached a thrilling crescendo as Springsteen sang, “I’m alive. And I’m out here on my own.”
Bruce Springsteen setlist from April 15 concert at MVP Arena in Albany
“Last Man Standing” was another beautiful tune about loss and being one of the last of his generation to be alive and playing music.
After the show, a throng of fans left the arena and walked down Pearl Street. “That was one of the best Springsteen shows I’ve seen in a hundred shows. And I’ve seen 100 shows,” said a fan who had driven up from New Jersey.
Amen.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Take Back the Night, a worldwide movement against sexual violence, takes over Albany’s Washington Park today with a rally featuring live performances from local singer-songwriters Erin Harkes and Carolyn Shapiro as well as survivors sharing their personal stories. 5 p.m.
Roots music scholar and Capital Region folk musician Michael Eck celebrates a new album and his 60th birthday at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs on Friday with an all-star ensemble including Rosanne Raneri, Kevin Maul, Sten Isachsen and Bob Buckley. 8 p.m.
April 20, aka 4/20, is on Saturday, and three local bands plan to celebrate at No Fun in Troy with “Weedstock,” a one-day festival featuring Schenectady party band the Sugar Hold, Saratoga Springs Safety Meeting and Schuylerville pop-rock group ShortWave RadioBand. 8 p.m.
Clad in their trademark Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling masks, Los Straitjackets celebrate 30 years perfecting the lost art of the guitar instrumental at the Hangar on the Hudson in Troy on Sunday. 8 p.m.
The sixth annual Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards return to the MainStage at Proctors on Sunday to honor over 200 finalists in 34 music-related categories for their work during 2023. Ruth Pelham, Cassandra Kubinski, the Sugar Hold, Hold on Honeys, Jocelyn and Chris and Ethan Crowley will perform. 6 p.m.
Erin Harkes’ showcase of emerging and established songwriters continues at Caffe Lena on Wednesday before breaking for the summer. This month’s musicians, who take turns playing their songs and telling stories in the round, are Natalie Santini, Sydney Worthley and Roseanne Ranieri. 7:30 p.m.
