Spiringsteen

[Iain333]

Well worthy of his headline slot. Was very very sceptical of him until tonight...........

[Happy Alien]

Well worthy of his headline slot. Was very very sceptical of him until tonight...........

[Billie Jean]

Thought it was a fantastic set - full of energy. He seemed to be having a right good time.

[Paadzer]

can't believe he is 60 in September, so much energy

[Bonedaddy]

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!

[TheNewUnion]

It was immense. Everyone in the field loved it, I am a convert

[Cardboard Box City]

My understanding is that the general view was that he was shite. I dont find that hard to believe from what I saw

[Walter Sobchak]

My understanding is that the general view was that he was shite. I dont find that hard to believe from what I saw

[firecracker]

unfortunately i was in the medic centre at the time for my ankle, not a pretty place but from what i saw on the way up he looked pretty good

[harper11]

he just didnt get the festival thing at all

sure a burce springsteen fan might want to sit through 90 minutes of album tracks theyve never heard and were played very well but still boring as hell

he was crap

[austrian_zeppelin]

absolutely awesome. he was good to go for another few hours but unfortunately festivals don't allow the usual bruce standard of 3-4 hours....absolutely awesome especially Johnny 99 was mindblowing.

[Bluearsedfly]

Thought he was excellent. Totally up for it, not a fan as a rule but particularly enjoyed the outlaw song.

Nice touch when he came on with Gaslight Anthem as well. Seems a top bloke.

[Binky]

Watching him on BBC I thought it looked like he was just having an amazing time - think he enjoyed himself more than the crowd

So gutted I missed it this year

[sufcmatt]

SPRINGSTEEN IS GOD.

[chrisdebag]

SPRINGSTEEN IS GOD.

[Abbathehorse]

We joined Sprinsteen half way through his set and I was also sceptical. But I thought he was fantastic. He (and his band) never stopped at all, I have also been converted.

That said, I did hear of other people who'd watched him from the start and left halfway through as he was too "dull and preachy". Maybe we were lucky to catch the second half? The end of his set was awesome however

[danilson]

This year was my first Glastonbury, but for what my opinion is worth I can see that gig being talked about for years to come. It was truly stunning. Looking at the section of the crowd I was in, very few really knew much of Bruce's music but were still having an awesome time.

[Toilet Duck]

To be honest...most of the people who are saying he was crap, generally weren't at the gig (they just "heard" he was crap, or they wandered by for a minute and then wandered off again)...He didn't play Born in the USA, big deal (personally I think the ghost of Tom Joad was the highlight, closely followed by no surrender with Brian Fallon)...but the crowd was huge and everybody anywhere near me was having a great time...I though he was phenomenal, as did everybody in our group and I'd say there really only 1 springsteen fan amonst us (and no, it's not me!)...

[Steve P]

Watching the gig on the telly, I can't begin to describe how much I'd have liked to have been there. I do find the "he didn't get the festival thing" "not enough hits" typed comments weird. How many of his songs did they know in the first place? He's been making albums for 40 years so has the most enormous back catalogue to pick from. Most of the songs he played were from multi-million selling albums. The fact that most younger festival attendees don't listen to his albums (more fool them IMO) isn't his fault. He was booked to play, did what he does, and I thought he was brilliant.

[Kazem]

I am probably biased as a long-time Sprinsteen fan, but didn`t get the festival spirit? Like when he was throwing himself into the crowd constantly, like playing a final hour that had the crowd bouncing along to Born to Run, Glory Days, Dancing in the Dark and American Land? Or when he had the crowd chanting `one more song` at the end? Without going into the politics of it, he rarely plays `Born in the USA` now, and usually as an acoustic blues as its original anthemic value detracted from its message (ask Ronald Reagan!). I am as big a Glastonbury fan as I am a Bruce fan, and I thought he did just fine!

[Shanndy]

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?

[guyfawkes]

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Edited June 29, 2009 by guyfawkes

[beodeejay]

he just didnt get the festival thing at all

sure a burce springsteen fan might want to sit through 90 minutes of album tracks theyve never heard and were played very well but still boring as hell

he was crap

[robith]

It was brilliant - my voice was hoarse as the next morning!

A lot of my friends didn't know his stuff but just fed off the energy they were bringing. Everyone was having a great time round me.

All the headliners this year were all monumental - total Glastonbury events. I loved every minute of all three of them, they all brought different things to the table, it was a great mix

[robith]

Crap ????

What would it take to impress you them - in terms of energy, committment, enthusiasm, album sales or whatever other "scorecard" you wish to use...

For what its worth, 2009 was my 14th year - I have seen and enjoyed hundreds of sets.

Whilst it was not my own highlight ( 3 Daft Monkeys/Steve Knightley/Neil Young get joint top for that, it was not crap.

Consider recent Pyramid headliners, who are (literally) half Springsteens age - or less.

Stereophonics, Artic Monkeys, Oasis, Manics, Verve, Razorlite etc etc - ( all of which I like - except the Stereophonics, obviously - and enjoyed ) .............BUT....... Neil Young and Springsteen gave these bands, and dozens of others like them, a slapping.

Songs that these pensioners will have played hundreds of times were given 110% - played like it was the last time. Not plodded through like it was all a bit beneath them - or just rooted to the spot trying hard not to mess it up

Springesteen was up for it - and so were 99% of the punters.

Crap it was not.