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Bruce Springsteen swaggered from the main stage to a lower platform in front of the crowd, then grabbed handfuls of homemade signs asking him to play some of the best known or most obscure songs from a 30-year repertoire.
"Oh my god, we've created a monster!" he exclaimed, referring to a new wrinkle that lets his fans request songs in the middle of his marathon concerts.
The soul-patched 58-year-old rock star soaked it in with a large grin, holding up an empty beer box on which someone had written "Boom Boom" before launching into the bluesy house-party shaker. It was the first of four songs Springsteen and the E Street Band played that were picked by members of the crowd.
Springsteen and his eight-member band unleashed a three-hour, 28-song assault Tuesday on the sold-out Hersheypark Stadium, covering tunes ranging from his early days to his more recent work. It was his first appearance at the venue and his first concert in the region in more than 20 years.
The show was part of the yearlong "Magic" tour.
The crowd, easily topping 30,000, spread from the foot of the stage back through the football field and concrete stands. His fans gave as good as they got, pumping their fists and lifting their voices higher with each song.
"A Bruce show is more than a concert," said 40-year-old Pete Ferraro of Baltimore. "It's a sort of spiritual event. There's a camaraderie between Bruce and the fans."Springsteen gets as close to his fans during a concert as any rock star can. At one point, he jumped into the crowd. During "Darlington County," he lay singing on his back, feet dangling into the crowd as a stunned woman, who couldn't have been born much before the "Born in the USA" album was released in 1984, held on to his side, signifying that even at 58, Springsteen can still be a sex symbol. At various times, Springsteen held the microphone down into the crowd, letting some younger fans, barely in elementary school, sing the chorus on songs like "Out in the Street."
Not every part of the show was as well received. As he is known to do, Springsteen launched into a dissertation, offering his political views about wiretapping to a semi-receptive crowd.
"You may not think it has an immediate impact on you," Springsteen said as some in the stands began to sit down. "But it's an attack on our Constitution, which means it's an attack on our soul as Americans."
He then played "Living in the Future" from the "Magic" album. His comments drew tepid approval from some supporters, while a few jeered him from their seats. The moment, though, was short-lived, as he brought the energy back to a higher pitch with a performance of "Mary's Place" from the "The Rising" album.
Springsteen and the E Streeters took the stage underneath a peach-and-lavender sunset 30 minutes after the show was supposed to start. The opening three songs — "Summertime Blues," "Radio Nowhere" and "Out in the Street" — hit like a wrecking ball, bowling the crowd over with blistering drums, foot-tapping rhythms and anthemic rock.
While the first 21 songs never let go of the breakneck pace and ended with a climactic "Badlands" — with the people even at the far back of the stadium raising their arms and singing along — the seven-song encore brought just as much punch as the previous two hours, with classics like "Thunder Road," "Tenth Avenue Freezeout," "Born to Run" and "Gloria," the show's final song. The Boss was joined onstage by fellow rock legend Tommy James for "Gloria."
E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com
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