New York — As another sign of a resurgence of live entertainment, Bruce Springsteen returned to Broadway this weekend, playing guitar and reviving the show for spectators, including members of the E Street Band and the governor of their hometown.
Springsteen finished his resident in December 2018 after 236 performances, but was persuaded to return to the summer encore prior to most Broadway shows returning in September.
The tough rock’n’roller was clearly emotional. He wiped away the tears towards the end of the show. It mixes his singing performance with personal memory. He said summer replies, figuratively, allow him to spend more time with his deceased father and other deceased relatives.
Each week, after a 15-month suspension of COVID-19, entertainment provides fresh evidence that life will resume. Festivals and concert tours have been booked and Springsteen will take his band to the streets next year. Foo Fighters reopened Madison Square Garden in New York for music at the Catharsis Concert on June 20th.
The fans came back and were excited and cheered on Springsteen’s words, so he had to profanely tell them to calm down so that the show wouldn’t take place all night. His longtime guitarist Stephen Van Zandt received a standing ovation when he sat in the audience. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and US Secretary of Transportation Pete Butigeg were also there on Saturday night.
“It’s nice to see everyone here tonight unmasked and sitting next to each other,” Springsteen said. “Several years. I’m 71 years old on this planet, but I’ve never seen anything like that.”
To enter the St. James Theater, the audience had to show evidence of vaccination. It attracted a handful of noisy anti-vaccination demonstrators who gathered at the entrance and complained that Springsteen was promoting racism.
Inside, one of the audience, Gina Zabinski, in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, said she found it wonderful to see the music play live again. “I’m about to cry,” she said.
“I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I did,” said Zabinski, who brought his son Zack, a student of the University of Miami musical drama. “We always go to shows, so I think I took it for granted.”
Another fan, Benjamin Smith of Philadelphia, said, “I can’t think of anyone better than helping us get back to normal.”
Springsteen said he and his family were lucky during the pandemic and were able to stay healthy and busy.
“I did a podcast with the President of the United States (Barack Obama),” he said. “I was handcuffed and put in jail.”
The latter referred to his November 14, 2020 arrest for drunk and reckless driving in New Jersey. He had blood alcohol levels below the state’s statutory limits, so these accusations were later dismissed and fined for shooting down two tequila shots in areas where alcohol was not allowed. ..
“New Jersey,” he said. “They love me there.”
The incident provided him with fresh feed for jokes, but the structure and story of Springsteen’s show, albeit a little streamlined, was similar to the way he first came to Broadway.
He removed the iconic closer “Born to Run” from the 2020 album and replaced the theme with a sharper “I’ll See You in My Dreams”. The two duet with his wife Patty Siafa featured a smoldering version of his song “Fire,” which became a hit by The Pointer Sisters in 1978.
Clearly referring to George Floyd’s murder, Springsteen played his own song, “American Skin (41 Shots),” about police shootings standing on stage in a bright red spotlight.
Springsteen said he had never seen American democracy threatened as much as it does today, which scared him.
“I’m still stubborn,” he said. “We believe we will achieve that.”
