Bruce Springsteen - Live In Barcelona (DVD)

...Charby, and I’m obsessed with Bruce Springsteen.

There I said it.

It’s my parents’ fault really. There’s always a Bruce album in the CD player, and even when the music isn’t on, someone in the house will be singing one of his songs. Now that I’m away from home at University I listen to his albums on iTunes while I go to sleep at night as well as half of the time that I’m awake. My parents met my boyfriend’s family for the ...
...what to get her: something Bruce related. Since my parents have most of the albums, however, me and my dad ended up getting her the DVDs of three live shows so my mam could have the Springsteen gig atmosphere in our living room. When I came home for a couple of days recently my mam insisted on having these DVDs on almost constantly, especially his Live in Barcelona DVD, which I m reviewing for you now.

The live show contained on this ... more

Hi. My name is Charby, and I’m obsessed with Bruce Springsteen.

There I said it.

It’s my parents’ fault really. There’s always a Bruce album in the CD player, and even when the music isn’t on, someone in the house will be singing one of his songs. Now that I’m away from home at University I listen to his albums on iTunes while I go to sleep at night as well as half of the time that I’m awake. My parents met my boyfriend’s family for the first time in July so that we could all go to see the Boss in Glasgow together, and since then my family and I have been even more obsessed. When it came to my mother’s birthday in September, it was therefore simple to decide what to get her: something Bruce related. Since my parents have most of the albums, however, me and my dad ended up getting her the DVDs of three live shows so my mam could have the Springsteen gig atmosphere in our living room. When I came home for a couple of days recently my mam insisted on having these DVDs on almost constantly, especially his Live in Barcelona DVD, which I m reviewing for you now.

The live show contained on this DVD was filmed on the 16th of October 2002, two months into the E Street Band’s world tour following the release of The Rising album a mere three months earlier. Since The Rising is probably my favourite album of Bruce’s whole back catalogue, I love this DVD for the number of Rising songs featured in this show. My favourites include... well, ALL of this album to be honest, but the best performed song from The Rising on this DVD has to be Mary’s Place, in my opinion. The happiness and power that comes out of the band while playing this song is phenomenal, and since Bruce introduces the E Street Band to the audience during this song, it lasts for a fantastic ten minutes or so. It’s also easy to see the emotion and sadness that Bruce feels for New York City and his country when he sings ‘You’re Missing’, ‘Into the Fire’ and ‘My City of Ruins’, which captured the feeling of the United States at the time, being written and recorded in the year following 9/11.

For those of you who don’t know (probably most of you, I would imagine), Bruce wrote ‘The Rising’ in the aftermath of the terror attacks on New York City, and most of the tracks contained on it express different feelings about the event. Some songs, such as Mary’s Place and Waitin’ On a Sunny Day (performed on this DVD) are more happy and uplifting, yet others such as ‘Empty Sky’ and ‘My City of Ruins’ are very sad and honestly emotional. I’m aware that I’m reviewing the DVD and not The Rising album, but I thought that a bit of background information on the album that launched the tour would be interesting for this review.

The songs from The Rising sang in the live show recorded on this DVD are performed very well, but that isn’t to say that there aren’t some older great songs here too. Many of you will know ‘Born To Run’, ‘Born in the USA’ and ‘Thunder Road’ even if you aren’t great Springsteen fans, and these songs all receive a great reaction from the audience. The highlight of the whole show for me, however, would have to be ‘Ramrod’, in which the whole atmosphere changes and Bruce and Steve from the band have a great time singing and dancing together. Watch out for Bruce hanging drunkenly on the microphone stand and Steve’s excellently creepy facial expressions!

I’m usually not a fan of watching DVD versions of concerts and gigs, as I find that the best part of a gig is being there in the atmosphere with thousands of fans who are as enthusiastic as you, and that sitting in your living room doesn’t really compare. Although seeing Bruce and Co live was definitely better, Bruce Springsteen Live in Barcelona is the best gig recording that I have ever seen. The reason for this is that Bruce and the E Street Band all seem to be having an amazing time and you get to see some great things that they do on stage, many of which would have been missed by the audience there in Barcelona that night. As well as hearing the amazing songs, the viewer can enjoy watching Springsteen having the time of his life while his wife Patti rolls her eyes, and Clarence dancing and having a laugh when he’s not playing impossibly good saxophone music. Watching this DVD makes you appreciate Bruce as a showman as well as a singer and songwriter, and you can see how important the E Street Band are to him and to the performance, which you don’t really think about when listening to the albums. The fact that Bruce took the time to learn some Catalan phrases to say to the audience made me love him even more, as with this and with his enthusiasm during the whole gig, it’s clear that he’s doing this tour for the love of it, and not just for the money.

In conclusion, this is an excellent DVD of a live show, and is one that I would recommend to anyone. If you love the Boss, you’ll love this DVD, and if you hate him, then let me know and I’ll buy you a ticket to a euthanasia clinic, because life without Bruce isn’t really life at all. Seriously though, this DVD is really excellent, and will make you love Springsteen and the E Street Band even more. There is some limited bonus footage, which is enjoyable, but is not something that I will be watching often. The two-disc DVD is available for around £8, which is a bloody bargain if you ask me. I give this DVD 5 stars, and all the love in my heart.
 

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