Springsteen at the Gelredome, Arnhem, Holland

The show is postponed till tomorrow, Bruce has a bad cold and can't sing today. He must have some dynamite medicine if he knows he'll be alright tomorrow.

However, this means that there is still time for people here to make contact. Anyone reading this and going tomorrow - I'd be happy to meet up.

I'll be expecting a report on that concert .......I read in the papers that The Boss blew evryone away at the Assago Forum gig he did some days ago in Milano, Italy (I'm working in Rome right now, but couldn't get up there to see him).

ok most people might not like this but here it goes bruce sucks , i have been to a few bruce shows and i have to say he plays for a long time 3 hour shows but he just sucks the band is good but bruce is so lame and for all of you that aren't from the east coast area jersey is the arm pit of america and the people there can't  drive lol..so don't  waste your time on bruce not worth the money unless your into 4 minute pop songs . save your money and go see more joe bonamassa shows atleast joe plays 10 minute shows and he jams some heavy blues. also on the acoustic  he is a true blues guitar player. bruce couldn't hold joe's jock strap on joe's worst day ......so that my 2 cents .joe

You're entitled to your opinion, joebeacon, even though I happen to think your opinion is without merit. And I thought we had such a good thing going with the Dead.

I saw Bruce at his first ever gig in London in 1975, at the Hammersmith Odeon. I've seen him another four or five times since, though the last time was in 1989. He has never disappointed and he has never played '4 minute pop songs' when I've seen him.

Whatever you may think, Bruce is without any doubt one of 'the' major American musical artists of the last century.

Where to begin?

My first Bruce concert in around 17 (my sixth in total) left me with mixed feelings. His energy level and his vocals were remarkable for a man of 58 who had been so affected by a 'cold' that he couldn't perform yesterday. Of course, it was wonderful to see one of my all-time favorites again, but the contrast between 'experiencing' a show with around 20,000 others in a football stadium with the roof closed, and watching Joe in the Paradiso with maybe 700 or so others, was immense. Making a musical comparison is pointless, but the kick I got from Joe in the Paradiso was much more intense.

Not only that, Bruce played very few of my personal favorites and (naturally) a lot of stuff from the newest cd, which I'm not entirely convinced about yet. The band were, not surprisingly, awesome. I suppose that's no more than one should expect from such superb musicians who have been together on and off for nearly 35 years!

They started with a medley of Radio Nowhere, No Surrender and Lonesome Day, followed by Gypsy Biker and Magic. A wonderful Reason to Believe moved straight into Candy's Room and She's the One. Next came Livin' in the Future, followed by a glorious medley of Promised Land and Darlington County that brought the house down.

Tunnel of Love was followed by possibly the most obscure song off Born to Run, Night. Then came Devil's Arcade, The Rising and Last to Die, before the final medley of Long Walk Home and Badlands.

They went off just long enough to have a quick drink and mop the sweat before returning for a lengthy encore that started with Girls in their Summer Clothes. Now I may just be getting old and grumpy, but I positively cringed when Bruce started talking about the Dutch tradition of celebrating 'Sinta Klaas' on Dec. 5 by giving young kids presents on that day rather than at Christmas. He then produced a Santa Claus hand puppet, waved it around for a bit, threw it away, and launched into his version of Santa Claus is coming....

Then, finally, we were offered a magnificent Born to Run followed by an equally awesome Dancing in the Dark, both of which had the house singing along. He closed with American Land and despite a reasonable effort by the audience, the house lights came up and that was it. He announced that he'd be playing Amsterdam next June. I honestly don't know if I'll go again.

(Incidentally, in my long concert-going career, I have only ever once experienced an audience making so much noise for so long that the house lights had to be turned down again once they'd gone on at the end, and the band come out for a third, unscheduled encore. That was when Little Feat opened for the Doobie Brothers at the Rainbow in London in 1975. That's a whole story on its own!)

Gotta disagree.  Love the Boss.  Guess if you're from the east coast you may have a different agenda.  The Seeger Sessions disk is one of my favorites in a LONG TIME.  He has passion, there's no getting around it.  I'm always down for a 4 minute pop song, if it's written well; and with him, they usually are IMO.

Could that possibly be because you wanted to get The Boss outta your neurones a bit??......only pulling your leg Amster!!! . Say, did Bruce do "Gypsy biker" at the concert?!

Rob