Fans were delayed but not denied their visit from The Boss Tuesday night (March 19) in Phoenix as Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band resumed their world tour after a six-month break.
Springsteen was originally slated to play the Arizona date on Nov. 30 last year, but it was one of 29 shows postponed after he came off the road in early September for treatment for peptic ulcer disease.
He made no reference to his health troubles (which were clearly in his past, given his extreme energy on stage) until the closing tune of the 29-song set, when he apologized for inconveniencing anyone by having to move the show, explaining, “I had a motherf**cker of a bellyache.”
The 2 hour 45 minute concert, which started right at 7:30pm, was a rollicking, high-energy affair. Gone are tour mainstays from the earlier leg, such as the funky “The E Street Shuffle” and the jazzy 7-minute “Kitty’s Back” (both from 1973’s The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle), and six songs from Springsteen’s last album of original material, 2020’s Letter to You (Tuesday’s show was down to four from that set), replaced with tunes that make for a fast-paced, non-stop thrill ride of a show.
Springsteen will spend the rest of the year on the road, with more than 50 dates on the 2024 docket, including a European leg that starts in Cardiff, Wales in May and includes multiple stadium shows in cities like Milan, Madrid and Barcelona, before he returns stateside in August for stadium shows.
Below is the setlist for Phoenix’s opening night of the new leg. The tour resumes Friday (March 22) night in Las Vegas.
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