There’s a unique kind of intimacy to sitting in a theater with 974 other people in total silence, no one so much as checking the time on their phones for fear of being kicked out of the venue. That’s the aura inside New York’s Walter Kerr Theater when attending a Springsteen On Broadway performance, a fact I am lucky enough to be able to present here. Other artists have instituted anti-phone policies at their shows, often as a precautionary measure to keep new material from being leaked out into the world, but with Bruce Springsteen, this practice was in service of something else. Sitting in the dark, Springsteen ambled onto stage, guitar in hand, then immediately subverted expectations by simply not playing a song. Instead, he jumped into an origin story, allowing it to stretch out for a few minutes as people hung on his every word. There was no vamping, no raucous “One! Two! Three! Four!,” no extended band intros, no spectacle. There’s just a man, one often viewed as a great American myth, showing you, once and for all, that he’s human.
Translating the energy in that room was always going to be the biggest challenge for Netflix in bringing Springsteen On Broadway to the service. Springsteen is a natural performer, and the rave reviews for the residency ensured that the material wasn’t a concern, but how does one bring cameras into such a space and not feel like they’re imposing? The hushed, churchlike reverence inside Walter Kerr is what made the show a destination event for fans from across the globe, and while having it easily accessible on Netflix is much more convenient, is it possible to translate the performance’s true power? Perhaps more importantly, is it in service of what Springsteen has spent the bulk of this decade trying to express?
Springsteen has always had a deep vault of unreleased material, and when he released The Promise in 2010, effectively shining light on the tortured process of making 1978’s Darkness On The Edge Of Town, it started to feel like he was beginning to tie up loose ends. From there, his classic albums began getting reissues, more unreleased material came spilling out, and he began doing full-album tours. Then, of course, came his memoir, Born To Run. In a few short years, the legendary musician, the one who had spent years self-mythologizing, was now opening up. All of those pursuits have shown a part of Springsteen that he’s long kept hidden, and with Springsteen On Broadway, he effectively removes all the remaining barriers.
In the middle of a stage, in plain, black clothes, Springsteen lays himself bare. The show opens with what is basically a 10-minute version of “Growing Up,” as he extends the bridge to bring out more of his story, weaving it into the song and stopping dead to talk frankly with his audience. This sets the stage for what’s to come, as Springsteen slowly begins to dismantle his own legend. And while he’s still very much performing up on that stage, there appears to be a genuine desire to rectify who he is with how his audience has viewed him.
In the early going of Springsteen On Broadway, he makes reference to his “magic trick,” something that he’s used time and again over the course of his 40-year career. And fittingly, he exposes it here, calling bullshit on every single fabrication that people have taken as gospel. As he puts it, “Mr. Born To Run” still lives a 10-minute drive from his hometown, he couldn’t drive when he wrote “Racing In The Street,” and perhaps most importantly, he never worked nine-to-five in his life. To some, this could read like the admission from a life-long grifter, a ploy to rid his conscience of all that nagging guilt before it’s too late. But in reality, it shows Springsteen as an artist, one capable of taking the stories of his family, friends, or neighbors and injecting them with the rich, lived-in details that would make his songs resonate so deeply with his audience.
The camera work in this early going is a bit manic, cutting between shots in a way that feels more like a comedy special than a modern take on VH1 Storytellers. But slowly, the pace settles, allowing for Springsteen to lock eyes with the camera and talk directly to the people on the other side. The joy of Springsteen On Broadway, both live and taped, is that it feels like a long, unbroken take. Unlike his arena-sized rock shows, here Springsteen allows viewers to see the seams in his work, even if it manifests in such minor actions as him switching guitars or walking over to the piano. One of the hardest things to bring into this taped version is how Springsteen wanders around the stage, often talking away from the microphone and letting his voice carry through the small theater unaided. While it creates a handful of dips in the audio, it aids the special in that it demands full attention. At any second, Springsteen may stop a song, drop a joke, or go off on a tangent, yet each detour ends up feeling essential to the show’s personal touch.
At two and a half hours, Springsteen On Broadway is no casual undertaking. While it could be viewed as a fans-only affair, there are moments so evocative that they could make even life-long detractors give his work a second look. His performance of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” the joyous Born To Run track that serves as the E Street Band’s origin story, breaks down into a touching tribute to the late Clarence “Big Man” Clemons. By now, a few E Street members have died, and the effect it has had on Springsteen is palpable. When he’s discussing the people he’s lost—be it Clemons or his father—the subtext running under all of it is that he’s been forced to face his own mortality, and this show is a part of that process.
As a result, Springsteen On Broadway doesn’t feel like cheap wish fulfillment for fans, but instead acknowledgment of the symbiotic relationship between performer and audience. Like many of the all-time great concert films, Springsteen On Broadway is no substitute for being in the room, but it’s power transcends any perceived limitations. Springsteen On Broadway sets a standard for all musicians entering their twilight years, as the man up on stage offers his most moving work in a catalog full of them.
36 Comments
I’ve seen him a bunch over the years,and this sounds like my absolute nightmare Bruce show. Solo,acoustic with EXTRA fucking stories? No thank you.
You seem like a really bad listener.
I’ve seen him probably thirty times since 1981, and the Broadway show was an emotional, throughly enthralling experience. Good thing you won’t be watching. Nobody shouts for “Rosalita” at the end.
Well, that’s why I’m a casual fan and you’re evidently a super fan. I mean, I’m not reading his book and rarely listen to anything after ‘78 anymore either.
But here you are reading a review of the show. Uh huh…
Alright. Miss out on “Tougher Than The Rest” and “Brilliant Disguise” then, my dude. It’s your decision.
Yeah, if I never heard a another note from Tunnel of Love,Lucky Town or Human Touch it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest.
This sounds a bit strange to me. It took me 30 years to appreciate Bruce. 34 now, I didn’t really go into the deeper end of the pool until seeing him at Gillette and reading the book two months later. Yet solo, acoustic, and stories have me more excited than anything to watch.
Absolutely. I was only able to go because my Mom passed away and so I had a small legacy. I took another broke, ill friend who couldn’t afford tickets either. I couldn’t ever get the $75 dollar seats. I spent about 5 grand for 3rd row Center Orchestra, on Nov 15 2018. It was worth every single penny. A show that will go down in the annals of Broadway and musical history. We were the lucky ones, even though my tickets came from sadness. But my Mom gave money to people, and animal rights; she’d be proud to know I shared her generous heart.
You sir, are a philistine. And likely a Trump voter too, which is geometrically worse.
Dead wrong. I’m a fan for 40 years, been in the fabulous Pit several times and only because my Mom passed was I able to get tickets. I bitched about the “normal” $850 price tag for 1 seat. I took another broke friend. Spent 5 grand for 2 tickets, 3rd row center Orchestra. It. Was. Worth. Every. Penny. If this show sounds boring you have no idea what you’re talking about and no fan.
I mean, I wouldn’t spend 5 grand to see The Beatles brought back from the grave and playing in my backyard, but I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I’ve heard Bruce tell plenty of stories, and it’s just not that enthralling,sorry.
I’m a Springsteen fanatic, and I have far, far better things to do with five grand. Holy shit.
He paid a million bucks for a horse for a daughter.
Mormon… some perspective is in order…when you make $50 million a year the $1 million horse is a thousand or two to folks like you and me…a very sane amount, no? Also worth noting,,, his daughter competes on an Olympic level.. not too shabby or senseless, now is it?
Yeah, it is still pretty shabby. Just as weird, no matter what percentage of your income goes towards hollow expenditures. It’s kind of like how there’s always one local band in town that had the best equipment and pressed their own records and yet they really sucked. Or maybe it’s like a big EDM DJ whose dad owns a chain of Japanese barbecue restaurants. On the other hand, he’s got another kid who’s a firefighter.
you’re one of the dumbest people I’ve ever seen on these boards
I enjoyed the show. But it’s hard to overstate how much this is just as it is billed. It’s “Broadway.” It’s a scripted, rehearsed, meticulously planned theatrical piece. Springsteen is an actor on stage playing a character. Which is more or less what he has been doing for decades on concert stages and in his carefully massaged media forays. He’s no more that “Jersey guy” than George Reeves was Superman, but that doesn’t diminish this moving, engaging work.
I’ve just always felt Bruce was a pretty boring guy. “Hey,I’m a fairly straight laced workaholic that loves to work”. Now, Keith Richards or Elton John? Elton probably has more drama before 8 am on a Tuesday than Springsteen has had since he started banging the backup singer,which is I think the only remotely bad thing that guy has ever done .
Nah. I was barely born for his ass shaking jumping around. Dude never could sing well live. Bruce on Broadway was a dumb vanity piece. He spends his real time with David Geffen, the Obamas and the biggest international arms dealers on the best yachts. What the fuck does he remember bout his “old man” or da Jersey Shore? Nothing enthralling there. He’s a good youtube watch but you have to search hard for a good vocal. What the fuck did he do on Broadway? I’ll watch him on Netflix with copious amounts of weed but I know like Obama, Bruce is going to go all proletariat with too many dropped “g’s.”Mary Queen of Arkansas would be nice though. Please no stories about your dad, dad. Maintain some mystery, like you do with your hair plugs Bruce.
What, did YouTube delete all recordings on “I’m on Fire” overnight, or something?
Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce does put on a great show. Does it make me a bad Springsteen fan if I didn’t really find his autobiography all that interesting though?
I haven’t read Bruce’s book, but I think he should have done what Bob Dylan did with his memoir “Chronicles”: Write something highly entertaining and don’t sweat whether it all actually happened or not. I suspect maybe half of Dylan’s book is true, at most, but it is a great read.
I’ve been a fan since 1980 (former Philly gf turned me on to him), but I could not imagine going to NY (from L.A. area) AND paying that much for a ticket. Especially if I guessed (correctly) that I could eventually see it for nothing extra on my home screen. I also did not bother to see his latest River Tour at $150/ticket. Sorry, Bruce, you priced me out.My wife insisted on going, though, so she went by herself.And yes, the autobiography was not all that great. We have two copies of that, one signed by Bruce (wife waited two days for that), and one for reading.
I saw him back in October, and kind of wished I hadn’t read Born to Run beforehand, as I already knew all the stories. But the renditions of “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Ghost of Tom Joad” are fucking fantastic.
I totally agree.. I wish I had not yet read the book as it diminished the impact of the play. and I am a mega fan with nearly 200 ESB concerts under my belt.
This guy again?
This guy, always.
it also set the record for most white men over 40 cumming at the same time
A new standard? Implying “The Last Waltz” no longer meets the standard?
A new standard for this type of concert film.Stop Making Sense and Woodstock are better than The Last Waltz, anyway.
I agree with Stop Making Sense. The split screen nonsense with Woodstock is so fucking annoying I want to pull my eyes out.
On the other hand, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is so great I’ll forgive rhe rest of the film.
Springsteen on Broadway, wow, this sounds really very important. It should definitely be taken very seriously.
The.Boss..