For the second concert in Oslo I had absolutely no expectations. The ones of you who have read my last post, know that I was a bit disappointed with the first show- not because of the show itself, but how the audience acted. Sadly Oliver had to travel home, but my good friend Ann-Sofie came from Gothenburg to join me.
The weather forecast had predicted rain during the day, so we decided to stay in the city centre, sit the rain out in some café and arrive to the venue around the time when the doors opened. We left Oslo city centre and arrived to the stadium just in time to watch the roll callers being let in their holding area. That is when it started raining again. Luckily we had our rain gear and the opportunity to stand in a tent protected us from from becoming too wet.
After about one hour of queueing we found ourselves a really good spot in the fourth row on the right side of the left podium. We stood on the plastic floor well away from the muddy grass and we talked to some friendly Norwegian fans around us.
The concert started with My Love Will Not Let You Down followed by Death To My Hometown. To our surprise he skipped No Surrender (for the first time this tour, I think) and went straight into Ghosts. The segment Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Downbound Train (tour debut) and I’m on Fire was just excellent and so were the encores, which always is the part of the show where the casual fans wake up and the real party starts. There is nothing like some greatest hits to bring a stadium into a kind of euphoria.
Bruce was in a good mood and interacted a lot with the audience. There was a sign that asked if he would come back, on which he ticked “yes” with a sharpie. He also gave a lot of attention to two children who stood up front and gave some guitar picks to other young people.
During Mary’s Place he picked up a big sign (it was written on the back of an Only the Strong Survive poster) that said: “Hi Bruce, my boyfriend says: if I get the harmonica he will consider proposing to me this summer”. Bruce answer was “Consider!? Consider!? If I give the harmonica that fucker IS proposing!” Then he called for Kevin to give him a harmonica, dragged the couple on stage and made the guy stand up to his words.
All in all, it was a very fun show. There were lots of songs from Born in the USA and a good atmosphere up front. In my perception there was less drinking in the audience perhaps because it was a Sunday show (?) or because I was standing much closer to the stage. I was also able to take some nice photos.
I’m glad I got a good second show and that the Norwegian audience kind of redeemed themselves after the first one. Now I’m going back to Gothenburg to rest, get rid of my annoying cough and gather new energy.
Next stop: Copenhagen.
Setlist:
- My Love Will Not You Down
- Death To My Hometown
- Ghosts
- Letter To You
- Prove It All Night
- The Promised Land
- Out In The Street
- Darlington County
- Working On The Highway
- DOWNBOUND TRAIN
- I’m On Fire
- Kitty’s Back
- Nightshift
- Mary’s Place
- Last Man Standing
- Backstreets
- Because The Night
- She’s The One
- Wrecking Ball
- The Rising
- Badlands
- Born In The USA
- Born To Run
- Bobby Jean
- Glory Days
- Dancing In The Dark
- Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
- I’ll See You In My Dreams
Stray Bullet 
Hi Anna: Sorry 4 your pesky cough. Be sure to test yourself 4 COVID, even tho it probably isn’t. I wanted to thank u very much for the video clip u put in this post too! So thrilling to get a gift harmonica, a hug by the Bruce AND a proposal up there on stage! What a life moment! I was reveling in it. A girl can have but such joy only once in lifetime! Wow. Great set list too. A summer of nonstop Bruce and E Street is doing 2023 proud.
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Thanks Marsha! My doctor gave me some medicine. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a couple of days.
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