8 Reasons Why Bruce Springsteen Should Be Your Musical Hero

1. Legendary Live Shows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AOH2x5Wpg8 Finally, the one thing that will convert you from casual fan to a complete Springsteen lunatic is seeing a show, any show the band does on tour. Each one is unique with around a third of the set changing night by night. The longer the tour gets, the more surprises occur. Songs that haven't been performed for decades, often refreshed and reworked (see Johnny 99 circa 2009) cover songs, special guests and plenty of hits for good measure. As he walks around the stage he doesn't talk to his audience, he preaches. The sense of timing he holds to construct setlists on the fly is astounding. Tender emotional moments give way to bombastic anthems, gospel or soul. Until he counts off the start of the song '1,2,3,4...' nobody watching can be quite sure what is coming next. Most shows have something unique to offer and all have a very healthy running time. there are no 90 minute sets here. In fact fans consider anything less that 2h 30mins to be a short set. For a long time the December 31st, 1980 show at Nassau Coliseum was the longest, clocking in at 3h 43mins. For years this stood as a benchmark for the legend of the live shows to grow and then, in Finland on July 31st 2012, it was beaten. For the first time Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band broke the 4 hour mark. Non stop. No breaks No intervals. The most infamous show of the current tour was the Hard Rock Calling show in Hyde park in July 2012. Headlining a lineup including friends John Fogerty and Tom Morello meant many expected guest appearances but nobody could guess that Sir Paul McCartney would show up for the encore. Or that he would start his set with a solo version of 'Thunder Road.' Or that the only request of the night (he takes requests from the crowd too!!) was 'Take 'Em As They Come', a rarity not played live for almost a decade. So why was it infamous? Oh yeah, they broke the curfew and the local council pulled the plug! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h_wPbk291mc#! One of the greatest parts about the legendary shows is that we can still experience them. The Springsteen fan community is large and features one of the most comprehensive bootleg archives available. Almost any famous performance is available to hear so get stuck in and see what you've been missing.