Time is a difficult concept to apprehend. We understand the basics. Living things are born, they get older and they die. Seasons change, night changes into day. Time is synnonomous with change and for the individual, this is usually for the worse, i.e: grey hair, melty looking faces, old man jackets etc. Indeed, it may be argued that the term “timeless” is a meaningless one, surely, rationality tells us that everything is affected by time.
May 25th 2008 shattered my preconceived notions on the nature of time. An artist who played his first gigs in 1969 cannot sound this good. Clearly rationality must be dismissed as an illusion as Bruce Springsteen launches into “No Surrender” with as much energy defiance and sheer unadulterated power as when i first heard it on Born in the USA. Springsteen is providing the audiences sensory perception with undeniable proof he has defied time.
Timelessness becomes the key word for understanding the simply unbelievable phenomena manifolding on the stage of the RDS. Radio Nowhere sounds as damn good as anything from Springteens hey-day, we think. By the time we’ve heard “Livin’ in the Future”, “Atlantic City”, “spirit in the night” and “The Rising”, a set spanning decades, the need to reevaluate becomes clear. The Boss has not had a heyday. Or more accurately, if he has its lasted a good thirty years. The explosive energy of the man himself is met and raised by that of the leviathan which is the E-Street band, and with this combination we get the feeling if it fell into the wrong hands could be very very dangerous.
The final date of Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street bands tenure at Dublin’s RDS incorporated as mentioned a set list spanning the entirety of Springsteen’s career. “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” sounded as vital and emotive as ever, Patti Smith collaborated anthem “Because the Night” floored the RDS, and clearly hearing “Dancing in the Dark”, “Glory Days” and “Born to Run” direct from Springsteen’s trademark Telecaster are experiences which defy description.
Immersing himself in the audience, sliding on his knees across the stage, numerous sprints and erm, crotch presentations to the crowd are not typical of your average 58 man. But we will not waste time remarking on this, clearly age is never something which has or will apply to Springsteen, what is amazing is how much the man appears to be enjoying himself. Wry smiles, jokes about his teenage children selling his clothes on E-bay and banter with Stevie Von Zandt all appear so naturally warm and endearing, his enthusiasm and enjoyment are impossible to resist.
By the end of the night we finally understand. Everything changes, that’s a fact. But maybe we need something constant, something eternal to give us all something to hold on to. This is Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. As vibrant as ever, the songs as timelessly epic as ever old and new, we realise there are somethings time doesn’t touch. And for that, it ain’t no sin to be glad we’re alive.
