AS I see it, only two things in life are certain. One is that no matter how many millions they spend on new players, Everton always end the season battling against relegation, and the other is that Bruce Springsteen never, ever, ever, ever plays a bad gig.
While the Goodison faithful await their fate, the word from Europe is that fans are in for an extra special treat when the Boss and The E Street Band swing by the RDS on May 25th.
Having warmed up with a couple of secret club shows in New York and Asbury Park, Brooooce and the boys kicked off their reunion tour proper at Barcelona s 20,000-seater Saint George Palace.
Egged on by a crowd that was every bit as boisterous as the one that packs into the neighbouring Nou Camp, the E Streeters belted out what was essentially a Greatest Hits package.
According to ABC s man at ringside, Jeff Schwagger, Barcelona was like a flashback to 1978, or perhaps 1981. Following the overwhelmingly propulsive My Love Will Not Let You Down , Springsteen went straight into Darkness Prove It All Night , The River s Two Hearts , and an amazing version of Darkness On The Edge Of Town . Everyone looked older especially sax player Clarence Clemons, who seems to have doubled his already considerable girth but if you closed your eyes, the band sounded as individually sharp and communally in-sync as they did in the early 80s. Especially stunning was the presence of Steve Van Zandt, Springsteen s guitar player and vocal foil, who left the band prior to 1984 s Born In The USA tour to pursue his own politically charged muse. Sharing the mic with Springsteen on Two Hearts and Out In The Street , he brought out the best in his old boss and lent the band a gritty edge that was missing from the Tunnel Of Love outing.
Other highlights included an electrified version of Tom Joad s Youngstown , inspirational renditions of The Promised Land and Thunder Road , and a lovely If I Should Fall Behind , on which Springsteen shared vocals with bandmates Van Zandt, Clemons, Nils Lofgren and Patti Scialfa. The show ended with the evening s lone new song, Land Of Hope And Dreams , an optimistic, inclusive train song that recalled the Curtis Mayfield classic People Get Ready .
Which is all a very long way of saying that Bruce & Co. were the dog s proverbials. In case you think we ve given away the end of the thriller, by the time they reached Vienna three days later, the encore had switched to another newie, Card Of Hope .
Indeed, in time-honoured Boss tradition, no two set-lists have been the same, with judicious shuffling of the 150 songs they rehearsed back in Noo Joisey.
After all that time not playing together, to come back like this is a good thing, Springsteen enthuses. Everybody s playing better than when they left. Everybody did different things during that time, and people came with broader perspectives.
How many people knew the people they knew in their teens, and in their late 40s they re still sharing that closeness? Everyone wants to know how I feel about the band. Hell, I married one!
Bruce isn t the only one who s been having a ball scores of fans are following the band from gig to gig and posting increasingly rave reviews on to the net.
Here s what Samuli from Tampere in Finland had to say after his 1000 mile round-trip: Whew! Just got back from beautiful Vienna. I know it s been said before, but once again every good thing you ve heard re. the show is absolutely true. The band is tight, the guys play better than ever and are clearly having fun whilst doing it. Bruce s voice simply kicks arse if and when it s needed and even the older and most played songs sounded fresh and are played like never before. Setlist-wise, one shouldn t utter a word about the fucking show without actually experiencing it personally.
A fortnight in and the tour has already produced two bits of rock n roll folklore Jon Bon Jovi lending a hand on Hungry Heart in Lyons, and Little Steven and Nils Lofgren stealing off to jam with Bob Dylan in Zurich.
Whatever about Everton slipping down to the Nationwide, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band remain Premiership material. n
Bruce and The E Street Band play the RDS Showgrounds on 25th May