Saturday night. Madrid. Judie’s Birthday. The Bruce Springsteen concert. The stadium was too far to walk, so we had to figure out how to get there on the Metro. Finding the route was easy and the trains were nice and well mapped (although not in English at all) and the only real trouble we had was working the ticket machines. (Getting back at nearly 1:00 AM was a snap and the streets were crowded along the Grand Via as we walked back to our hotel. Much more so than London, which shuts down the Underground by that time.)

The stadium itself was pretty enormous. It is where Real Madrid plays and is comparable to a football stadium in the US. The security was significant. First we had to go through one long line in order to get on another long line for our gate. The throng was pretty huge but organized and patient. I wonder if this is the same routine that they follow for big football matches there. We noticed that a fair number of people bought beers before getting on  line. It took 10-15 minutes to reach the front, where there were big recycling bins to throw the beer cans. So maybe that is what fans in the know do.

Once inside, we noticed a few things. The directional signs said “vomitorio” with a section number and we found ourselves wondering whether this had something to do with over-drinking footie fans. It turned out that vomitorio refers to the way for fans to spew out of the stadium. Cigarette smoking was permitted in the stadium, something that has been banned in the States or restricted to some special area for years. And beer is sold by vendors withe small kegs attached to their backs.

  

Bruce: We were wondering what sort of concert this would be. Would the Spanish fans know the words to the songs? Would they be into it? As it turned out, they knew the words and how to participate in the various Springsteen singalong moments and when to wave their hands or turn on their cell phone lights. The concert began at a little after its announced starting time of 9:00 (everything starts later in Spain, I guess), with Bruce opening with “Badlands”. It was still light and it was impressive to see the entire stadium floor bouncing with people. We had pretty good seats really, but recently we’ve seen Bruce from the floor or from fairly low down in an arena, so it was different being slightly more of an observer than a participant. Being on the floor is a more overwhelming experience, particularly when the crowd is all singing and rocking away.

This was “The River” tour, so they played a lot of songs off that album, including things like “Sherry Darling”, which we hadn’t seen him do for a long time. Bruce also covered the Patti Smith song “Because the Night”, which we’d never seen him do, although it is a natural fit. He and the E Street Band play continuously for three and half hours, playing a lot of the big hits (although not “Rosalita”). The stage was set up so that Bruce (and sometimes other band members) could get out into the crowd. They did all of the usual Bruce things, like the “Hungry Heart” singalong and getting a woman out of the crowd to dance with Bruce (and have now added having  a guy picked out of the crowd to dance with Patti.

   

All in all, it was a classic Springsteen concert. High energy, entertaining, good-natured. The energy level remains astonishing. The E Street Band is still incredible, despite the loss of Clarence. Bruce tried to speak to the crown in  Spanish once in a while although you could tell he was reading it off papers taped to the floor. The crowd didn’t care. They at it up.  For anyone really into Bruce and the E Street Band, her is a link for the setlist for the concert. (I thought initially that it also included links to You Tube videos from the concert, but they are from other concerts. Of course, there are videos on You Tube if you search. Here’s a link to the acoustic version of “Thunder Road” that ended the concert.)

Happy Birthday Judie.