Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band Croke Park, Dublin ★★★★☆ Bruce Springsteen and Croke Park prove a match forged in stadium rock heaven as America’s blue-collar bard closes out his Irish tour with a blockbuster performance. Hurtling through a lifetime of hits, Springsteen turns the huge concrete bowl into a field of dreams while his audience repays his sweat and tears with an outpouring of love and devotion. Croker and Bruce bring out the best of each other.
One is an iconic structure that’s been around for decades, the other a sports complex on the north side of Dublin. But both loom over their immediate hinterland, the shadow cast by Springsteen seeming to grow longer and deeper as he proceeds through his 70s with a vigour that’s striking to witness up close. The singer is, at 74, shockingly sprightly throughout an emotion-filled evening.
Much has been written about his fitness routine: his one-meal-a-day regime, a strict rule against eating after 4pm. Whatever nutritional sorcery is at play, it works, and he leads the E Street Band through a full-throated and punchy show under blazing blue May skies. READ MORE Bruce Springsteen in Croke Park review: blockbuster performance closes Irish tour on an emotion-filled evening Brucewatch: Bruce Springsteen says ‘Dublin, we love you’ ahead of Croke Park concert Bruce Springsteen concert in Croke Park: Tell us your verdict ‘Dancing in the Páirc’: Bruce Springsteen brings fans ‘tears of joy and nosta.