CRÒNICA DUN FAN EN BACKSTREETS

August 2 / Monte Del Gozo / Santiago, ESP

Notes: The European leg of the Working on a Dream tour ended in Santiago de Compostela on Sunday, the fifth of five in Spain, and a show that will be difficult to forget.

To begin with, arriving through a small road to the auditorium on top of the hill was a real adventure that took a long time. According to the press, the organization oversold by thousands of tickets, resulting in a real overbooking, with around a thousand people who couldn't physically enter the venue and had to stay outside. Meanwhile, there were around 40,000 fans crushed inside and packing the house. The people outside tore down some fences trying to get in, and by just a pure miracle there wasn't a riot where people could get hurt. A lot of people ended up seeing the show from the grass outside the venue, and 50 of them went to the police station to file a report.

A bit after 10 p.m., the best version of Bruce Springsteen came onstage to offer a vibrant performance, similar to the one in Bilbao just one week ago. Nils Lofgren played the very popular "A Rianxeira" on the accordion, and the E Street Band quickly kicked off the show with a rousing "Badlands." Bruce was completely "on," tonight, and the tension and excitement grew and grew song after song.

"Adam Raised a Cain" was the first highlight of the night, an audible that took the show to another dimension. Bruce sang and played with fury, and the song smoked. It was a tremendous electric storm that continued with a fabulous "Murder Incorporated," where the guitar trio shone, followed by "Johnny 99" and a really great performance of another classic: "Darkness on the Edge of Town."

Thanks to a big sign held by a group of Italian fans Bruce debuted a tremendous version of Elvis Presley's "Burning Love." A superb performance that was followed immediately by an exciting "Born to Be Wild" that segued into "My Love Will Not Let You Down." Max went crazy on this one, and his final drum fills received a huge roar from the audience.

This was Bruce Springsteen at his best. The excitement and energy level never went down. Another sign request brought a beautiful "This Life," right into an immense "Backstreets" that filled the auditorium with emotion. It was epic: Bruce sang with passion, and everyone on the green hill was in awe.

With such high adrenaline levels both on stage and in the audience, there was a long, eight-song encore that started with a rare acoustic version of "No Surrender." That was followed by "Land of Hope and Dreams" and "American Land," plus the crowd favorites "Glory Days" and "Dancing in the Dark." A rousing "Rockin' All Over the World" led into the classic "Twist and Shout."

The audience couldn't stop singing, dancing, and jumping all over, and there was no way this could end. A totally unexpected and powerful "Born in the U.S.A." sent everyone hope with the feeling that we had attended a very special show.

- Salvador Trepat reporting - photographs by René van Diemen (1, 2, 4, 5) and Andrea Valvassori (3)