Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band: “Prove It All Night” Wrigley Field Chicago, Aug. 11, 2023

This was only my third Springsteen concert, and the span between them has been significant. The best concert I ever saw was The Boss in 1985, when he was 35 years old, in front of some 60,000 fans at Soldier field, a 4.5 hour marathon that he repeated at three more sold-out shows the next three nights. I was 15 and hooked forever.
Saw the band again around 2000 at The United Center and again here at Wrigley Field.
Different this time, for me anyway,
was Springsteen playing more guitar solos, fewer stories (but the ones he told were personal and touching as always), a killer 15 min. jazz jam where every backup singer and horn player got a chance to solo up front, and of course Jake Clemons played his dad’s notes with a heavy sax and a heavy heart (he is an amazing performer too, just like pops was). And now, more than ever, more cell cameras were in the way of my line of sight thanks to other people trying to do the same thing I was doing…”dog fines it people , get out of my way would ya? lol.
What was the same? It’s like seeing an group of old friends for the first time in a long time who you missed dearly. Everyone is older. They’re different in many ways, but the core element of who they are remains the same, and you remember why you love them so much.