Saturday, May 30. I had been looking forward to this day from the moment it was clear The Boss was going to play Pinkpop.
Just to get this straight: the name "Pinkpop" has nothing to do with the color or gay pride, but all with the Dutch word for Pentecost - "Pinksteren". The 3-day festival is traditionally (2009 marked its 40th birthday) held over Pentecost weekend (including Monday).
UK band Noisettes kicked off the day, and they did sound like a party band with their upbeat songs. Other bands that played were King of the Day, Just Jack, Dr. Lektroluv, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (who also did some hilarious renditions of "Desperado" and John Denver's "Country roads"), Elbow (despite some really good songs, I got bored after about half an hour), Chris Cornell (his new stuff doesn't appeal to me at all - I'll remain a Soundgarden fan - but he still has one of the best voices in rock music. And the fact he's also good looking - mom noticed this too - is a bonus. I saw the drummer and one of the guitarists strolling the area afterwards, with security), and The Killers (mom and I watched them while we relaxed in the late afternoon sun).
The Boss started on time, with 60,000 people (most of them fans) eagerly waiting. He's clearly happy to be here, the weather's been wonderful the entire day (I returned home with a significantly darker skin), and he and the E Street Band launch into Badlands. I wondered who the young dude playing drums was; it certainly wasn't Max Weinberg. And the lady taking Patti Scialfa's place isn't his wife, but Sister Susan (with the E Street Band since the Seeger Sessions, if I recall correctly). His site posted the set list earlier today:
Badlands
Out In The Street
She's The One
Outlaw Pete
Radio Nowhere
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Raise Your Hand
From Small Things
Trapped
I'm On Fire
Thunder Road
Waiting On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Land Of Hope And Dreams
American Land
Glory Days
Dancin' In The Dark.
The Boss had his ceremonial speech during "Working on a dream" and treated the audience to a couple of sentences in Dutch (watch the video - it was aired on Dutch TV, as were "Badlands" and "Born to run"). "From Small Things", "Trapped", and "I'm on Fire" were all requests by the audience (like they've played The Clash's "London Calling" and "Mony mony" by Tommy James and the Shondells in the US). It turns out the young man with the pretty hair is Max's 19-year-old son Jay. Without being biased, I can say that even before The Boss introduced him to the audience I was impressed by his drumming skills; Jay is doing a really good job filling his dad's shoes. Lucky dude!
Brandon Flowers, The Killers's singer, got invited back to the stage to sing "Thunder Road". I don't think I've ever seen him that shy. A little girl got to sing the chorus to "Waiting on a sunny day", encouraged by The Boss. She got a huge cheer of the crowd at the and, and I'm sure she'll never forgot that moment. And a lady carrying a huge sign that said "Dutch Courtney Cox" got pulled on stage at the end of "Dancing in the dark" for a dance with The Boss :D Awesome, eh!
My mom recognized most of the songs and had a great time watching Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. She thought it was super cool to see a 59-year-old man entertain such a diverse crowd (I'm sure he won over new heart that night!). The younger crowd and non-fans were half expecting to hear "Born in the USA" but I knew better: The Boss was here to party. He was scheduled to play till 22:30 hrs, but I knew he wasn't going to stop then. I was right. The party went well into overtime and nobody seemed to mind (not even the organizer of this anual event; there's no denying it is special to have The Boss celebrate a festival's 40th birthday).
This time I didn't have goosebumps like the last time I saw them play (December 2007), but I had a lump in my throat making singing along a hard task. I certainly hope this wasn't my last Springsteen concert!
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