Barcelona 28.04.2023 #SpringsteenTour2023

We arrived in Barcelona on Friday April 28, the day of the first show, at around 1pm. After leaving our bags in the hotel, we had some slices of pizza and a beer before heading to Stadio Olímpico. The venue was situated on a hill and it took about 20 minutes by foot (using stairs and escalators), and passing Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, to get there from Plaça d’Espanya, where our hotel was located.

We stopped by the pit queue to say hello to some people we knew as they were getting ready to enter the stadium. Around 1000 numbers had been handed out. We hadn’t planned to stand in line and do the roll calls this time. With front of stage tickets (“Pista delantera”) you are guaranteed a spot in the pit and we had no ambition to stand in the front line, so we felt relaxed. However, we saw another line that was growing rapidly. This line was the ONE line for all other general admission.

To make a long story short: We saw the line grow longer and longer and we were playing it cool, but when it was 7:45 pm and we still couldn’t see the end of it, we decided to get start queuing. About an hour later and what felt like a least a kilometer we were in the pit (in the back, far left) with 10 minutes to spare. Later we heard that people had missed the start of the show due to that horrible admission routine.

The show, the first of the European leg, and our fourth, was very good. The Spanish crowd was energetic and sang along to almost every song. One thing that I’ve never seen before was that they had subtitles displayed on the screen for some songs and also when Springsteen told the story about George Theiss before Last Man Standing.

The setlist was set up almost the same as the first leg in the States, i.e. pretty static with only a few slots open for some variation. We got Human Touch, which was a tour premiere. Pay Me My Money Down was back in the setlist and Rosalita (come out tonight) was exchanged for Born In the USA (which I find a bit boring). There were some request signs to be seen in the audience but none of them were picked up.

Suddenly, during Glory Days, three ladies entered the stage. It was Patti Scialfa in company of Michelle Obama and Kate Capshaw (the wife of Steven Spielberg). They were having a really good time, as did we.

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Next show: 30.04.2023 Barcelona

Setlist:

1. “No Surrender”
2. “Ghosts”
3. “Prove It all Night”
4. “Letter to You”
5. “The Promised Land”
6. “Out in the Street”
7. “Candy’s Room”
8. “Kitty’s Back”
9. “Nightshift”
10. “HUMAN TOUCH”
11. “Mary’s Place”
12. “The E Street Shuffle”
13. “Pay Me My Money Down”
14. “Last Man Standing”
15. “Backstreets”
16. “Because the Night”
17. “She’s the One”
18. “Wrecking Ball”
19. “The Rising”
20. “Badlands”
21. “Thunder Road”
    ‐—————
22. “Born in the USA”
23. “Born to Run”
24. “Glory Days” (with Michelle Obama, Patti Scialfa and Kate Capshaw as background singers.)
25. “Bobby Jean”
26. “Dancing in the Dark”
27. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
28. “I’ll See You in My Dreams”