It was finally time for our long awaited trip to Canada! Routinely when we travel our points of depature differ, but luckily we always and eventually arrive to the same destination. This time I had a morning flight to Amsterdam, where I changed to an Edmonton bound carrier. Oliver first flew to Munich, where he had a long layover, then he had a flight to Vancouver before entering the delayed flight to Edmonton. Consequently, I arrived first and it was still light out as my plane approached Edmonton International Airport (YEG). I was lucky to catch a glimpse of the landscape through the aircraft window. It had a pale brown/beige tone, some powder snow and it looked cold. When the plane made a turn I could see the city of Edmonton in the distance.
When we woke up the next morning we decided to have a look around. First we located the arena, Rogers Place, and noticed that it was only about 10 minutes from our hotel. In the lobby of the arena we met a small group of Springsteen fans, who were involved in organising the roll calls. It was still two days to the show and besides that, we had seats for the concert, so we left them to it. Our first focus was in fact the upcoming Zach Bryan concert that was going to take place the next day in the same arena. The coincidental placement of the Zach Bryan concerts a day and two ahead of Springsteen’s in both Edmonton and Vancouver had brought us on this trip in the first place. We already had tickets for the concert in Vancouver but were still desperately looking for Edmonton tickets although we knew it was going to be hard. I say desperately but we weren’t really desperate. We had our price limit and if we wouldn’t find any at the right price, so be it.
It was still before lunch when we made our way to the Walterdale Bridge, which is a beautiful bridge over the North Saskatchewan River with two prominent white steel arches rising over the deck. Crossing it gave us a striking view of the city skyline. It was a really cold day, but the sun broke through the clouds and made it a bit warmer. On the south bank we walked through Queen Elisabeth Park and back to the north side over another bridge, the Dudley B. Menzies Bridge. In the evening we met up for dinner and beer with our friend Andreas who had arrived with bus from Calgary.
The next day it was even colder, so we decided to take an Uber to West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America (and the sixth biggest mall in the world). West Edmonton Mall contains over 800 stores and restaurants, 12 world-class attractions, and 2 hotels. We spent hours walking around the mall, but ended up empty handed. The only purchase we did was coffee and cookies for a well deserved fika-break.
In the afternoon we went to Rogers Place to see if we could get any tickets for the Zach Bryan concert. The place was filling up and we noticed many of the stereotypical Zach Bryan fans that we had observed already in New York for the last show. Customary, women often dress in short denim skirts and cowboy boots. The men are sporting a neat moustache (eine Rotzbremse) underneath a cap. They often wear jeans, flannel shirts, denim jackets, and boots. Some fans even incorporate cowboy hats. I wonder how a neutral person would describe a stereotypical Springsteen fan. I actually asked an AI and the answer was: “Springsteen fans are generally men and women aged 35 to 60, many of whom have followed Springsteen’s career since the 1980s. They are known for their willingness to travel extensively to attend multiple concerts, often spending significant amounts of money to do so. Fans often connect through online forums and social media, sharing experiences and discussing setlists in real-time during concerts. He/She is often wearing a vintage or current tour shirt, often with a band logo or a classic Springsteen album cover like Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, or Nebraska. The jeans are comfortable and stylish, perfect for standing and dancing.” Anyone recognising themselves? 😅
Back in Edmonton we had no luck finding Zach Bryan tickets and as the concert started we gave up, found a pub and had a couple of beers before going to bed.
Fast forward to the day of the concert:
20 November, 7:44 pm- lights out and then movement on stage. From our seats, in the stands on the right side of the stage, we couldn’t see exactly but we knew that the stage was slowly filled with people. In the darkness I saw the contour of Max climbing up to his drumset and Roy finding his place at the piano and synthesizer. Second to last Stevie van Zandt came and I vaguely recognised him waving his hat, then I heard a massive roar from the audience “Bruuuuuuuce!”. For someone who have never been to a Springsteen show the characteristic holler might be perceived as an exensive boo, but it wasn’t. It was the sound of 20,000 hopeful and excited spectators on a Bruce Springsteen concert in Rogers Place, Edmonton, Canada. Then he was finally there, standing at the microphone bathing in the limelight, Bruce Springsteen!
“Can you feel the spirit? Can you feel the spiiiriiit?” he started singing. Oliver and I looked at each other with surprised looks “Spirit in the Night“? That’s an unusual opener. Bruce made the audience sing “Yeah, yeah!” repetedly and the atmosphere rose as he moved along the stage towards us. He stopped at the end of the extended stage right in front of us, pointed and forced us to sing along. For me our seats (seats? who can sit during a Springsteen concert?) were just great. We didn’t have anybody in front of us and we were slightly elevated which gave us a unique perspective and a panoramic view of the stage.
The Promised Land, Hungry Heart and Prove it all Night followed, an intense start of the concert. Darkness on the Edge of Town brought the tempo down a little and a quite standard setlist followed. At the end of the show Springsteen surprisingly picked up a beautifully decorated sign that said: “Devil with a Blue Dress” and they started playing Detroit Medley, which made me happy, even though it’s not a personal favourite, since it was the first time I heard it live. Another personal premiere this night was Santa Claus is Coming to Town. The show closed routinely with I’ll See You in My Dreams after about 3 hours with a setlist of 30 songs- a solid show with a few surprises.
Oliver and I, and the two rookies next to us stood up the whole concert but hardly anyone else in our section did the same. We can be spotted in one of the photos I found on Instagram below. The atmosphere was quite good, but it wasn’t until the end, in time for the “hit parade”, the whole arena were on its feet, dancing and waving. The pit was relatively small and not packed and it gave people room to dance. It was especially one man that caught our attention. He was dancing all over in the back of the pit- lovely to see! From our spot we also had an overview of the video mixer board, which was fascinating and a bit distracting.
Next show: Vancouver
📸: @pita_oli and myself + @davidevanjed
Setlist:
1. Spirit in The Night
2. The Promised Land
3. Hungry Heart
4. Prove It All Night
5. Darkness On The Edge of Town
6. Workin’ on the Highway
7. Letter To You
8. Reason to Believe
9. Atlantic City
10. Youngstown
11. Long Walk Home
12. E Street Shuffle
13. Nightshift
14. My Hometown
15. The River
16. Last Man Standing
17. Backstreets
18. Because the Night
19. Wrecking Ball
20. The Rising
21. Badlands
22. Thunder Road
23. Land of Hope and Dreams
24. Born To Run
25. Glory Days
26. Dancin’ In The Dark
27. Tenth Ave Freeze Out
28. Santa Claus is Coming To Town
29. Detroit Medley ** Sign Request **
30. I’ll See You In My Dreams
Stray Bullet 
And he was wearing a white dress shirt: wow! So atypical of Bruce to do that! I’m used to his exclusively black garb. But glad u had yet another dip in the life that is Bruce, which is transcendent and worth every penny, as it’s a piece of Heaven on Earth. Enjoy this life, Anna: I know u do!
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If I remember correctly that has been his ”uniform” the whole year. He looks smart and the vest stops him from tearing the shirt off like he did last year and I’m grateful for that 😀.
Thanks for reading. Marsha!
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