Due to the 2024 Football European Championship, only one (!) Springsteen show is scheduled in Germany this year. As a consequence it was also the hardest ticket the get your hands on. However, when it was settled that Germany would play the quarter-final against Spain, in said championship, on the exact same day as the Springsteen show more tickets suddenly started to show up.
As we were walking around the Heinz von Heiden Arena in Hannover to get to the southern entrance, the soundcheck started. It was a song that we didn’t recognise at first. Then Oliver said, “Isn’t it Into the Fire?” and he was correct. They were rehearsing parts of the song over and over again for almost 15 minutes and then we heard a real rarity: Janey Needs a Shooter (which has never been played live) and lastly, The E Street Shuffle. Our hopes for a show with a unique setlist were growing for every minute.
At the merch stand I spotted a t-shirt that I hadn’t seen before. It was black and apart from the normal generic orange tour print it also said “Hanover, Germany” in white. I thought it looked cool (and I do like black t-shirts), so I just had to buy it.
The show started at 19:45 and at first it seemed like the crowd in the stands needed some warming up. It is hard to tell whether it was because they had the sun in their eyes or if it was the current score of the football quarter-final that distracted them. My guess is that it was the football. In fact, I saw quite a few people in the pit with one eye on their phones too.
Anyway, the show was off to a good start with some of my favourites such as Candy’s Room, Adam Raised a Cain and My Love Will Not Let You Down. And then came the rare appearance of Into the Fire (tour premiere) and, in the ninth slot, Janey Needs a Shooter for the first time ever live. What a treat!
As always, the second half of the show with the biggest staples: The River, Because The Night, Badlands, Born To Run, Dancing In The Dark and, of course, Born In The USA got the biggest roar and appreciation from the largest part of the audience and there is no denying I like them too although I really appreciate a bit of variety and some rarities like tonight.
On the whole, it was a very good concert. Hopefully the black square in the middle of the back screen (see the photo of Max) is repaired before it’s used again.
After the show we had a beer in a small restaurant close to our hotel and we spoke to a gentleman who also had been to the concert. He told us that, although he had enjoyed the show, he was disappointed that it had been so hard to get hold of a ticket. Apparently he had ended up with a platinum ticket and had paid over 400 Euro for a seat. He also told us that he had chosen to watch the end of the football game before he entered the arena. He had arrived just in time for Working on the Highway. We didn’t have the heart to tell him that he probably could have got a cheaper ticket had he only waited and that he, according to us, had missed the best part of the show.
Next concert: Odense
📸 : pita_oli and annalind1
1. Lonesome Day
2. Candy’s Room
3. Adam Raised A Cain
4. My Love Will Not Let You Down
5. Prove It All Night
6. E Street Shuffle
7. Into The Fire * Tour Premiere *
8. The Promised Land
9. Janey Needs A Shooter *WORLD PREMIERE *
10. Darlington County
11. Workin’ On the Highway
12. Spirit In The Night
13. My Hometown
14. The River
15. Nightshift
16. Last Man Standing
17. Backstreets
18. Because The Night
19. She’s The One
20. Wrecking Ball
21. The Rising
22. Badlands
23. Thunder Road
24. Born In The USA
25. Born To Run
26. Bobby Jean
27. Dancing In The Dark
28. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
29. Twist and Shout
30. I’ll See You In My Dreams
Stray Bullet 