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Bruce Springsteen mocks Trump-Turnbull call by playing Don't Hang Up at Melbourne gig

MUSIC
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ★★★★
AAMI Park, February 2

For openers, Bruce Springsteen traditionally likes to spotlight any elephants in the room. "War! What is it good for?" he bellowed across the Docklands back in 2003, the very day Dubya sent American troops into Iraq.

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At this diplomatic juncture, he found a comic keynote more in order. Few might have heard the hayseed novelty tune Don't Hang Up before, but we all knew what it meant in the shadow of phonegate, especially coming from a confessed "embarrassed American".

The Boss was going somewhere with this, of course. In a whooshing rush of lights, drums, fiddles and swashbuckling came the big picture: all proud immigrants together in the Celtic frenzy of American Land, The Ties That Bind extended the metaphor in a chiming fanfare of family forever.

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By anyone's count, the crowd on the white grass coverings of AAMI Park was historic enough to put each anthem into cunning political context: No Surrender, Two Hearts, The Promised Land.

That was just the opening gambit of what would – as virtually contracted these days – be a three-hour Springsteen set; one that was far more inclined to dance in the storm than brood over the dark days he described, uncharacteristically lost for words, as "f---ed up shit".

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One Trump-baiting placard earned a fan a turn with a prop guitar during Dancing In the Dark – a shtick tweaked these days to the more inclusive tune of half a dozen Courtney Coxes personally dragged on stage by his Bossness.

It was one of several all-grinning set pieces we know and love, whether from old videos or his two tours of recent years. The simply staggering guitar solo spot belonged to Nils Lofgren in the peak eruption of Because the Night, cunningly synchronised to the blackening of a mauve sunset.

The flawless harmonies of Lofgren and guitar lieutenant Stevie Van Zandt were a recurring feature. And while sax prince Jake Clemons can't help but remind us of his late uncle Clarence, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out smacked more of reclaimed joy than memorial this time.

Pianist Roy Bittan held the jingling keys to Hungry Heart and Badlands, but the E Street Band was, as ever, a single multi-headed animal, impossibly tight-knit and immense in sound and stature, even from what seemed a kilometre away up the concrete bowl of the stadium.

Befitting one of the most religious experiences in rock, the live video most of us were watching on the big screens was shot like some blockbuster triptych, the leading man hitting every mark in silhouette, fists curled or guitar raised against the sky.

Come Born To Run – still the greatest damn song by anyone, ever – the blinding ground lights were up. They stayed burning for a climactic vintage rock'n'roll double-feature of Shout and Twist and Shout and the Boss was gone, rudely soon somehow despite the late hour.

Maybe it was the long list of benched classics – no Thunder Road, no Rosalita, Blinded By the Light, Darkness On the Edge of Town or Born in the USA … but then, as his parting invitation seemed to coyly promise, maybe they're what Saturday's for.

Bruce Springsteen is back at AAMI Park on Saturday, February 4. His Hanging Rock concert on February 11 is sold out.

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