variety.com
17.03.2023 / 20:45
Bruce Springsteen Resumes Tour With Rousing Philadelphia Concert, and No Mention of ‘Illness’
Michele Amabile Angermiller Mortality may be a central theme of Bruce Springsteen’s recent work, but at his concert with the E Street Band at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night: Despite several COVID-related bandmember absences and three recent show postponements for reasons unstated beyond the vague “illness,” the group isn’t going down without a fight. Indeed, Springsteen took the stage at 7:50 pm looking healthy, fit, and ready to rumble, greeting the crowd with a “Philly, my people!” — a nod to his and the band’s deep South Jersey roots — as the band roared into the opening song, “No Surrender.” At 73, Springsteen may not be a young many anymore but when he hits the stage, he still transforms into a rock and roll superhero, foisting his Fender like a sword and later ripping his shirt open, as if to quash any concerns about his health that arose with the vaguely explained postponements of the three shows before this one.