Springsteen's 'London Calling' Hyde Park DVD

Last summer Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played two landmark back to back concerts in the UK - the Glastonbury Festival and Hard Rock Calling in London.  The latter is now out as a two-DVD set, also on Blu-ray as London Calling Live in Hyde Park.

It's been 9 years since the reunion tour DVD/CD of Live in New York City, 7 years since Springsteen's last contemporary concert offering on E Street, the post 9-11 Live in Barcelona. In-between he gave us a revealing VH-1 Storytellers solo set and also the playful, tradition-minded, yet truly Americana in scope Live in Dublin with the Sessions Band on DVD and CD. But there was little live audio or video (well, official, at least) from the 2007-2008 MagicTour (and magic it was). Now comes this release, shot during the latter part of the Working On a Dream Tour, which seemed to get more surprise-filled in shifting songs sets especially into the homestretch in the USA as Springsteen then played entire albums during a show, such as Born to Run and even, before a delirious New York audience, The River.

Springsteen and company are in fine form here for a bunch of self-effacing "old folks" in their '50s and '60s. They're rough-hewn, yet ever-tight when they need to be and more than rock the house of tens of thousands during a full-blown nearly two-and-half-hour show that was part of the 2009 London Calling festival in Hyde Park.  They'd just come off a victory at Glastonbury, which also deserves some DVD documentation, but more on that later.

The concert was filmed in HD, overseen by producer and editor Thom Zimny and director Chris Hilson, both with Springsteen for years now and the audio was mixed by the king of clarity - and his last name couldn't be truer - Bob Clearmountain. And the band? The earth-shaking, booty-shaking, viagra-taking E Street Band deliver: Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren on guitars, Clarence 'Big Man" Clemons on sax, Gary Tallent on bass, "Mighty Max" Weinberg on drums (how does he still hit so hard?), "Professor" Roy Bittan on piano, Charlie Giordano on keyboards, now settled in after the loss of Danny Federici in 2008, and sister Soozie Tyrell on violin. As Kid Leo of WMMS, Cleveland said on a radio broadcast 32 years ago, eventually bootlegged all over the world, "Round for round, pound for pound, there ain't no finer band around."

The band opens with The Clash's "London Calling" in tribute to the late Joe Strummer.  It's pounding, it's raw and Springsteen's best friend since they were teens, "Little Steven" Van Zandt, pushes him hard to drive forward. Then, the band slams into "Badlands," the first of numerous anthems. The crowd is already beyond charged as the group gives way to the racing "Night" and then, the Bo-Diddley-grounded beat of "She's the One," with harmonica, just like back at the The Hammersmith in 1975.

There's power, there's passion. To spare. There's a ton of sweat and you can see it (it looks even wetter on Blu-ray). As great as "Out in the Street" was a burst of joy and community on Live in New York City, it's perhaps more incredible here. The visions of hope and Bruce-at-the-pulpit breakdown of "Working on a Dream" shifts into the recession-fighting trio of the scorching and thunderous "Seeds," dustbowl rockabilly of "Johnny 99" and a fierce and haunting "Youngstown."

Out come the request signs as he gathers 'em up - now a show tradition though it started just a few years ago.  The band's goofy and giddy for a version of The Rascals "Good Lovin'," which it played several times before on the tour, then it's a achey "Bobby Jean" off Born in the USA, followed by the tension-and-release take on Jimmy Cliff's "Trapped," which the band first began covering back around 1981. Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem, one of Springsteen's favorite young bands (and from New Jersey, too) comes out for a duet of "No Surrender" and gives it his all (Springsteen had joined them earlier in the day, as he had at Glastonbury as well, for the group's "The '59 Sound." Yeah, he's a fan).

It's sing-along time for "Waiting On a Sunny Day," another anthem in "The Promised Land" to blow away those dreams that break your heart. An elegaic "Racing in the Streets" is the band at its orchestral best. Next, a run of songs to uplift, including "Radio Nowhere," "The Rising" and still power-driving -woah- "Born to Run." Is there any younger, yet big band really doing this on a stadium or even arena scale?  U2 isn't that much younger, so perhaps Muse? 

That all-time fan fave "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" puts in a dizzy appearance, ballanced by the folksy rendition of an all-too topical now Stephen Foster's "Hard Times (Come Again No More)." The epic "Jungleland" slams into the celtic rock of "American Land" and "Glory Days" is ever silly fun while "Dancing in the Dark" rocks, as it has in recent years, much more than it's synth-pulse hit beginnings back on MTV.  Another cover, Eddie Floyd's "Raise Your Hand," another band staple since the late '70s, plays over the credits.

The second disc adds a bit of bonus material with "The River" from Glastonbury, just a day before, along with  "Wrecking Ball," written for the group's dates to close down New Jersey's Giants Stadium as the last show or sporting event there. While Glastonbury featured a similar set list, another disc with that footage plus various cover songs from various tour stops in Europe and America would've been a real treat. But even as is, Live in Hyde Park is a gift and should be anything but a farewell for possibly the greatest live band in the history of rock'n'roll.  So, how about an audio version with some other bonus live tracks. A 3-CD set? Why not?  Or maybe downloads....

(concert photos by Jo Lopez)

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band

 London Calling Live in Hyde Park

Setlist:

DISC 1 

1. London Calling 2. Badlands 3. Night 4. She's The One 5. Outlaw Pete 6. Out In The Street 7. Working On A Dream 8. Seeds 9. Johnny 99 10. Youngstown 11. Good Lovin' 12. Bobby Jean 13. Trapped 14. No Surrender 15. Waitin' On A Sunny Day 16. The Promised Land 17. Racing In The Street 18. Radio Nowhere 19. Lonesome Day

DISC 2 

1. The Rising 2. Born To Run 3. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) 4. Hard Times (Come Again No More) 5. Jungleland 6. American Land 7. Glory Days 8. Dancing In The Dark 9. Credits (Raise Your Hand)Raise Your Hand (Instrumental) 10. The River (Glastonbury) 11. Wrecking Ball (Live at Giants Stadium)