Gothenburg 28.06.2023 #SpringsteenTour2023

Let’s start on the evening before the third show. A couple of us were hanging out in the Brewers Beer Bar on the back of the “Bruce hotel” in Gothenburg in hopes of meeting some members of the band, but also yap and exchange tour stories over a beer and a pizza. It turned out to be a really fun evening and we also managed to get pictures of some band members, who didn’t seem to mind at all to meet their fans and have their pictures taken as I was afraid they would.

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Showday: So, the third consecutive show in Gothenburg. The show that everyone had been talking about and been looking forward to. I’ve never experienced expectations so blown out of proportions before. How on earth would Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live up to that?

When we arrived to the Front of Stage area, some fans had already saved a “German corner” in the back and were welcome to join them. The pit was packed and, even though we were so far back, there were hardly any room to dance. In fact, people were a bit agitated at times because of the crowding.

The setlist: Night as an opener was a welcome surprise. I also enjoyed that Darkness on the Edge of Town was back in the setlist. Trapped followed by Johnny 99 and The E Street Shuffle was a nice segment of the show.

The farther we came towards the end the set, the more my hopes of hearing Jungleland faded, but I still had some expectations for a “loud” finish. Almost everyone knows the story of Springsteen wrecking the stadium during the Born in the USA tour in 1985, and since then there is a tradition for him to play Twist and Shout, “the Stadium Breaker” on at least one of the shows. Sure enough, during Glory Days Bruce picked up a sign that said “It’s time to break the stadium” and then continued playing Dancing in the Dark and Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out before jumping into Twist and Shout (yay!). The audience was ecstatic and as I was watching the crowd during the song it was like watching waves rolling in a sea of people – fantastic! I’ll See You in My Dreams and beautiful sing-along ended the set. Bruce then said, in Swedish, “we love you” and then, the magic words: “We’ll be back” (!)

Was it a good show? Yes! Did the show live up to the high expectations that I was talking about before? No, not quite, but I was still happy and content and I think a lot of people had loads of fun.

To summarise this week in Gothenburg: I thought, since it’s my hometown, that it would be more relaxed. I had planned to do some grocery shopping, go to the gym and get some washing done. None of that happened. I’ve been busier than ever. There were so many people to see and so much to do (so many roll calls to attend). I think I need a vacation now. I want to sleep in a hotel bed, eat some lovely hotel breakfast and explore another city. Where to go? Well, Oslo of course! That’s where the next show is. See ya! 😅

Setlist:

1. “Night”
2. “No Surrender”
3. “Ghosts”
4. “Prove It All Night”
5. “Darkness on the Edge of Town”
6. “The Promised Land”
7. “Out in the Street”
8. “Kitty’s Back”
9. “Nightshift”
10. “Trapped”
11. “Johnny 99”
12. “The E Street Shuffle”
13. “The River”
14. “Last Man Standing”
15. “Backstreets”
16. “Because the Night”
17. “She’s the One”
18. “Wrecking Ball”
19. “The Rising”
20. “Badlands”
21. “Born in the U.S.A.”
22. “Born to Run”
23. “Bobby Jean”
24. “Glory Days”
25. “Dancing in the Dark”
26. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
27. “TWIST AND SHOUT”
28. “I’ll See You in My Dreams”

📸: @ bildade_berta