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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
10:30 PM 26th May 2016
arts

Bruce Springsteen In Manchester

 
It might have been the end of May but with the rain teaming down and the temperature around 11c it could be March, but this did not stop the 50,000 fans present tonight from having a great night.

As always with Bruce Springsteen you know you are going to have a good time, with his set lasting over 3 hours he certainly knows how to put on a show: there were no gimmicks, just the man and the E Street band. The set list varies each night so if you see him more than once on the tour you will hear a different show each night.

Covering the length of his career the set list went right from the beginning to his more recent work. Dressed in black, as was the rest of the band, Springsteen frequently went down into the crowd. Opening up with Atlantic City, the energy never dropped.

A fan is dressed up as Santa Claus which captures Springsteen's eye so he invites said fan up onto the stage. The fan had a banner which read "Santa is coming to Manchester" so the band then sing Santa Claus is Coming To Town, quite apt with the weather feeling more like winter than late spring!

As the band launch into The River the audience take over the singing which was so loud you could probably hear them in the middle of Manchester. "Thanks for coming out on a rainy night" he says to the fans; the gig was so good that most of them were probably oblivious to the wet conditions.

A stroke of genius was turning on the stadium lights as Springsteen and the band deliver an encore that was like a greatest hits set: Born To Run, Glory Days and Dancing In the Dark follow each other back to back. With no fillers and no waffle it was a delight to see such a tight bond between the man they call "The Boss" and the E Street band which was equally present between the band and the fans.

A simple acoustic version of This Hard Land closed a fantastic concert. Even the rain had turned to drizzle as a way of appreciation. With his energy and enthusiasm even at 66 years of age, he is still The Boss.