By Christopher David<\/p>\n
The Boss and his mighty ensemble arrived in Chicago again on Sunday as their tour commemorating landmark album The River<\/em> winds to a close, and the band blazed through a three and a half hour set visiting every corner of their catalog.<\/p>\n Part of what makes Springsteen\u2019s live show and story-songs so universal and relevant is his ability to connect with his audience on so many different levels.\u00a0\u00a0 River<\/em> deep-cuts \u201cI\u2019m A Rocker\u201d and \u201cCadillac Ranch\u201d are pure, fun, party rock, \u201cRosalita\u201d and \u201cTenth Avenue Freeze Out\u201d give the band a chance to show off their chops even more than usual, and tracks like \u201cJack of All Trades\u201d and \u201cDeath to My Hometown\u201d offer catharsis through Springsteen\u2019s well-documented worldview of the Everyman, the hard-working American who watches\u2014often helplessly\u2014as the political and social tides of his country ebb and flow. This was perhaps more relevant here in Chicago than anywhere else on the tour as the band downshifted into a wrenching rendition of \u201cAmerican Skin,\u201d a song about the 1999 wrongful shooting death of Amadou Diallo by NYC police, followed by \u201cMurder, Incorporated,\u201d one of Springsteen\u2019s most unsung rockers. Given the recent clashes between citizens and cops in our fair city, the context wasn\u2019t lost on the sold-out crowd.<\/p>\n Springsteen\u2019s penchant for storytelling is what he\u2019s probably best known for, and that was on full display as the band threw down some of the strongest tales in their canon: opener \u201cNew York City Serenade\u201d complete with a string section, \u201cThe River,\u201d Born in the U.S.A.<\/em> outtake and fan favorite \u201cNone But the Brave,\u201d and the epic \u201cBackstreets\u201d were all spot-on reminders of how deftly the man can set a scene.<\/p>\n And of course, the band. The E-Street Band is untouchable.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s just get that out of the way. I don\u2019t say it just to grab attention, be dramatic, anything like that. As rock n\u2019 roll bands go as of this moment in time, there is no band on earth that can match their level of precision, showmanship, swagger, or road-tested perfection. Try to find one. Actually, no, you know what? Don\u2019t waste your time.<\/p>\n Truly, what more can be said, at this point in history, about the E-Street Band?\u00a0\u00a0 Rising from the streets of New Jersey in the mid-70s to take over the world, guitarists Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren, pianist Roy Bittan, drummer Max Weinberg, and bassist Garry W. Tallent (along with guitarist\/violinist Soozie Tyrell, keyboardist Charlie Giordano, and Jake Clemons\u2014nephew to the late Clarence Clemons\u2014on sax) are such a tight unit that it\u2019s almost impossible to measure, and Springsteen\u2019s talent as a bandleader always gets a chance to come to the fore, particularly when the \u2018sign request\u2019 portion of the show comes along, with the Boss often coming out into the crowd to retrieve signs requesting everything from the most beloved to the most obscure tunes in their canon.<\/p>\n Thanks to fan requests, the United Center received a rarely played \u201cMary\u2019s Place\u201d from 2002\u2019s post-9\/11 retort The Rising, the aforementioned \u201cNone But the Brave\u201d (perhaps my favorite Springsteen song of all time, dating back to the early bootlegging days!), and a version of \u201cWaitin\u2019 On A Sunny Day\u201d that was made all the more fun by the little girl who requested it\u2014the second Springsteen pulled her up on stage to sing a chorus, she grabbed the mic and commanded the 50,000+ crowd like she\u2019d been doing it for years. I don\u2019t know who she was, but she\u2019s a rock star in the making.<\/p>\n Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band are wholly unique in the world of music \u2013 a band that exemplifies the best qualities of half a dozen genres, a band that can emotionally connect with a massive crowd at an effortless level, and, perhaps most importantly, a band that still, after over forty years, clearly loves playing together.\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope they\u2019re also a band that doesn\u2019t intend to stop touring any time soon.<\/p>\n