Spiringsteen

[amfy]

He wasn't crap. He was excellent.

He really enjoyed his set and I did up to a point, but for me it was just far far too long.

We lasted until about 2 hour 20mins I think before my feet gave up, and he'd still only done one song I knew. I was cold because of the gaps appearing in the crowd, and was dying for the loo! It all got a bit traumatic! I was worried Status Quo wouldn't be able to get on the next morning because he'd still be there! - I poked my head out of my tent at about 10am Sunday and asked "Has he gone yet?"!!!

I really appreciate his work ethic. He clearly thinks that if his fans can put in 8,10 or 12 hour days to buy his music and come to his concerts then the least he can do is put in a decent shift for them. Fair play to him.

For me unfortunately the man could play for far longer than I was able to listen, but that doesn't make him crap.

[ollyh]

Only 18, so have to admit, I wasn't really aware of much of his music at all apart from the obvious songs, and I have to say I loved his set! The atmosphere in the pyramid crowd was superb and Bruce never disappointed and was superb throughout, one of my highlights of the festival for sure!

[Boss84]

He was incredible!

[TokiDoki]

I'm not much of a Springsteen fan, only know a few of his songs. I went along but found it very hard to get into, and way too long. He played for about 2 hours 45 mins!

[TrevK]

OK so I'm a biased Springsteen fan but he was incredible on Saturday night.

Did he get the Glasto festival thing ? Yes - especially when he opened the set with a Joe Strummer song that I guarantee 99% of the people at the Pyramid had never heard of - how many other artists could have the balls to do that ?

I'm not sure what people want from a performer - did he preach ? No just made a statement of common fact about the economy as it is today but that wasn't the theme of the show.

Did people not notice the 110% effort he and the band put in ? They ALWAYS play every show as if it could be their last.

Really pleased to hear so many converts though - get yourselves to another Springsteen show asap !

[harper11]

OK so I'm a biased Springsteen fan but he was incredible on Saturday night.

Did he get the Glasto festival thing ? Yes - especially when he opened the set with a Joe Strummer song that I guarantee 99% of the people at the Pyramid had never heard of - how many other artists could have the balls to do that ?

I'm not sure what people want from a performer - did he preach ? No just made a statement of common fact about the economy as it is today but that wasn't the theme of the show.

Did people not notice the 110% effort he and the band put in ? They ALWAYS play every show as if it could be their last.

Really pleased to hear so many converts though - get yourselves to another Springsteen show asap !

[FakeEmpire]

I'm a Springsteen fan - so probably a little biased but I thought he was EXCELLENT. He seemed to be having a great time, as did most of the crowd from what I could see. Maybe he didn't play enough hits for a festival...but the people arguing that probably only know "Born in the USA", "Hungry Heart" and "Streets of Philadelphia" anyway...so would still have complained even had these three been included.

Fantastic set.

[micawber]

having the balls to open with a song no one has heard and then follow with another dozen could be seen as great by you but to alot of people without enormous patience a few of the big hits sprinkled in earlier would have kept the crowd on his side...it was silence after many tracks where i was, idle chatter and people leaving. and then every song that i hadnt heard seem to go on forever

as someone mentioned earlier most would have enjoyed this gig more if they missed the first 90 miniutes...well everything before the river

[chrisdebag]

Hey. We get the fact that it wasn't your cup of tea, but no need to make it a mission! Most people really enjoyed it. My lad asked what time is was at 23:30. He couldn't believe that he'd already done 90 minutes. He thought it was only 30 minutes into the set.

Like others here have commented, it just seems that some folks insisted on 'suffering' the performance just so that they could rant about it later. Just go elsewhere. You'd have to be a plonker to stand and watch something you didn't like for 2 hours and 35 minutes.

[Ashaz42]

I touched him. It was literally like touching god. He was phenomenal. Absolutely amazing. I'd spent 6 hours waiting for a good spot for him. I can barely stand up, but it was worth it.

[jesusofsuburbia]

having the balls to open with a song no one has heard and then follow with another dozen could be seen as great by you but to alot of people without enormous patience a few of the big hits

[MieleBee]

I thought he was amazing!

me, my hubby and my mate went down thinking it might be a bit of a laugh and we would leave half way. My friend thought it would be rubbish and was only going because we were going and didn'twant to go off on her own at night.

well...my friend was jumping around and dancing more than anyone within a couple of songs!. we have now vowed to go see him next time he plays in the UK and my friend is off to go his albums.

oh and an AMAZING opening track! One of my favourite songs and was so surprised at such a good cover for an opening song. He had clearly done his homework to play that song which I think was a really nice touch.

[MieleBee]

having the balls to open with a song no one has heard

[DeanoL]

I did think it dipped in the middle as I didn't know the songs, but at least the 'more obscure' tracks he did were fairly dancey upbeat numbers that you could get in to. Think he pegged it just right for a festival crowd.

[josephg]

The setlist from Saturday (singles highlighted in bold)

Coma Girl (by Joe Strummer)

Badlands

Prove It All Night

My Lucky Day

Outlaw Pete

Out In The Street

Working On A Dream

Seeds

Johnny 99

The Ghost Of Tom Joad

Raise Your Hand

Because The Night

No Surrender (with The Gaslight Anthem)

Waitin' On A Sunny Day

The Promised Land

The River

Radio Nowhere

Lonesome Day

The Rising

Born To Run

Hard Times

Thunder Road

Land Of Hope And Dreams

American Land

Glory Days

Dancing In The Dark

So out of the 26 songs he played, 14 were released as singles. Of the rest, Because The Night was a hit for Patti Smith, and Thunder Road is one of his absolute most famous songs, one which invariably gets included on his Greatests Hits albums. Three songs were cover versions or traditional songs, including the Joe Strummer tribute.

Hardly the self-indulgent album track fest that some people are on about is it?

[Red Day]

Gauging from overhearing passing comments from on-site, i'd say 9/10 thought he was a load of crap. Personally I was in the Avalon for Wonder Stuff, who were cracking and played what a crowd wanted to hear!

[strummer77]

Any idea where I could get a DVD of the performance from- bootleg obviously. I know BBC have some of it on website but its missing Coma Girl and one or two others and I loved Coma Girl etc.

For the record, I thought it was the best gig I've seen in the 3 years I've been to the festival.

[bombfrog]

I thought it was fairly dull to be honest.

Played absolutely loads of stuff that only his fans would know and absolutely no interaction with the crowd. He just got to the end of each song, shouted "1,2,3,4" and then launched straight into the next one.

[MJMilz14]

He was sublime as were all the pyramid headliners.

Fair play Mr Eavis. Stunning set of headliners.

[micawber]

To be fair to the critics, the reviews are all over the place. There were two in the Guardian - one a five star - and the other from a miserable hack (meaning a hack who was miserable!). Mojo and BBC loved it. NME said it was hard going. Real marmite stuff then.

[TrevK]

I thought it was fairly dull to be honest.

Played absolutely loads of stuff that only his fans would know and absolutely no interaction with the crowd. He just got to the end of each song, shouted "1,2,3,4" and then launched straight into the next one.

[spammachine]

8 from our group went to see him and on meeting them later their opinion was "he was sh**e". Although a huge fan from the camp next to us said he was amazing. So perhaps one for the Springsteen fans only?

At the time I was up at the park watching Bon Iver (who I thoroughly enjoyed )

Edited June 29, 2009 by spammachine

[chrisdebag]

No interaction with the crowd ??? Did you see the same set as everyone else ?? He spent a load of time with the people in the pit - why do you think they put the steps up and had the overturned flight cases by the barrier ?

And if he spent 2 or 3 minutes chatting about nothing between songs people would be moaning about that as well - how many songs exactly did he play ?

[Red Day]

a couple of things i have noticed

the people moaning didnt actually see him but seemed to be watching the wonder stuff

they are the same people who were moaning about bruce headlining to begin with

bruce interacted more with the crowd then anyone

he drew one of the biggest crowds ever seen at glastonbury and th vast majority loved it

[daveinafield]

coma girl was my best moment ever in 16 yrs of going to glasto, my 2 music icons merged (repeat from other thread)