At the age of 76, at an unbearable 36 degrees, for three full hours, The Boss drove his people to the last atom of strength. As always, he gave the audience everything - liters of sweat, 28 songs, several important messages, encouragement, encouragement and an evening to remember.
Concerts in Milan, Bruce Springsteen completed the tour planned for 2025, which consisted of 16 performances in six countries of Western Europe, and was actually a continuation of last year's tour that was interrupted due to the poor health of the boss from New Jersey.
As someone who went from a quiet admirer to a huge fan of the famous American singer-songwriter, I decided to attend for the second time - after Vienna in 2023 - the spectacle that Bruce and the legendary "I Street Band" unfailingly put on every time they take the stage.
Many fans from the former country had the same desire, so people who loved him while Bruce was on the rise in strength and power, and Yugoslavia was harmonious and undivided, made extra noise on the highway ("the highway's jammed...") and at the pumps along the E70.
And while Yugoslavia failed to stand the test of time and the appearance of bad people, Bruce Springsteen did. With almost 76 years of age and a musical career spanning six decades, the popular The Boss from the town of Freehold in the state of New Jersey, held the attention of almost 52 thousand people for two hours and 80 minutes at the famous stadium "San Siro" - or "Giuseppe Meazza", depending on whose fans you ask - in Milan.
Once upon a time, in the mid-'70s, influential music journalist and critic John Landau wrote, after seeing him live for the first time, that Bruce Springsteen was "the future of rock and roll." Half a century later, the average age of the Bruce Springsteen concert audience clearly suggests that the self-taught grandmaster from New Jersey is a symbol of a beautiful period that belongs to the past, but his appearance, attitude, energy and skill refuse to surrender, succeeding in the intention that Bruce Springsteen and the "I Street Band" still sound authentic, current and timeless.
Land of hope and dreams
The name of the just ended tour is also the title of one of the performed songs: The Land of Hope and Dreams, which sounds equally beautiful in Italian: Una Terra di Speranza e Sogni. Apart from the extraordinary musical prowess that was never questioned, the performances also had an undertone of Bruce's justification for the political situation in which his homeland is currently.
In several speeches during the concert, he warned that "strange and dangerous shit" was happening in America, "which he loves and about which he sang to us", apologized for "abandoning traditional allies and siding with dictators" and warned against the bad actions of "an unworthy president and a wrong government".
It is also the answer to the question why someone who sings about the "real America" - American workers and cities, their dreams and problems - is so popular, important and big throughout the (Western) world. The problems that Bruce Springsteen talks about and sings about have become universal problems, as current in Serbia, Italy and Germany as they are in the USA.
However, before and after everything, he gave the audience hope and faith that things will get better. The concert started with No Surrender and ended with Chimes of Freedom, sending a more than clear message - that his homeland will once again be a land of hope and dreams - but also encouragement to the people who came to pay their respects to him.
Lest anyone get the wrong impression that the performance was more propaganda than music - which couldn't be further from the truth when it comes to Bruce Springsteen's stadium concerts - it's time to mention other things that happened during the 28-song setlist.
According to the now standard procedure, the first part of the concert was marked by less popular, but by no means less quality songs from Bruce's oeuvre. Songs like Promised Land and Hungry Hearts lifted San Siro to its feet, while one of his stronger songs - The River - was included in the schedule.
Another feature of his performances are very modest and minimally decorated stages. Three huge screens showing Bruce and his comrades in moments of rapture and synergy with the audience. There is not too much room for distractions, the full focus is on the music - the sound quality, the playing technique, the chemistry between the musicians, and the energy and messages that Bruce's music carries.
Speaking of fellow players, his faithful friend and right-hand man Steven van Zant - better known as Little Steven - still performed in Milan, after spending some time in the hospital due to minor health problems. It was nice to see him and greet him, as well as the other members of the fantastic "I Street Band" that Bruce brought to the fore at appropriate moments.
For the second part of the performance, well-known hits such as Born in the USA, Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark or the extremely popular Badlands were reserved, while Wrecking Ball sounded especially powerful. The performance of this track carried a weight that perhaps even Springsteen himself is not aware of - it was inspired by the demolition of his favorite "Giants Stadium", and the other night it was played at San Siro, which is also threatened with demolition in the future, after which the plan is to build a new and more modern stadium.
Therefore, the question is how Springsteen would feel if one day - and we hope he will - perform in Milan again, but at something other than San Siro, where he had legendary performances back in the 80s of the last century. Would he, just like the protagonist from the song Long Walk Home who returns to his hometown that he no longer recognizes, be overwhelmed by a sense of melancholy?
My City of Ruins
However, those were not the only parallels that ran through my head during the concert, but also in the days that followed. We left for the capital of Lombardy on Vidovdan, June 28, when a new large protest was held in Belgrade, while news of blockades, arrests and police brutality followed us during our trip to Italy.
Upon returning to Belgrade - after a few days of listening to songs like Death To My Hometown and My City of Ruins - we were met with crowds, blockades and civil disobedience. Belgrade is not my hometown, but it is a city that embraced me and that I fell in love with. Even after a long time, Belgrade seems to be waking up and like a city that Bruce Springsteen would be proud to sing about.
The last important message of Bruce from the concert - in the form of a quote from the American writer James Baldwin - was in a similar, optimistic tone: "There is not as much humanity in this world as we would like, but there is enough."
At the age of 76, at an unbearable 36 degrees, for three full hours, The Boss drove his people to the last atom of strength. As always, he gave the audience everything - liters of sweat, 28 songs, several important messages, encouragement, encouragement and an evening to remember.
He didn't say the usual "We'll be seeing you" at the end, but let's hope he thinks the fight isn't over.
No retreat, baby, no surrender!
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