Springsteen Wrecking Ball
springsteen wrecking ball video
Bruce Springsteen debuts new song, 'Wrecking Ball,' at Giants Stadium
by Simon Vozick-Levinson
Categories: Bruce Springsteen, Concert Reviews, New Stuff, News, Things That Are Awesome
There’s a certain magic in the night whenever Bruce Springsteen plays in his home state of New Jersey, but his concert with the E Street Band yesterday was bound to be extra special. The first of five Giants Stadium dates they booked for this week and the next — the final performances by anyone at the soon-to-be-demolished arena — would include a run through the entirety of 1975’s masterful Born to Run, as we learned earlier this week.
That’s not the only treat Springsteen gave me and tens of thousands of other fans last night (pictured), though. He opened the show with a brand-new song, “Wrecking Ball,” penned in tribute to Giants Stadium. “I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey, some misty years ago,” he began, eliciting loud cheers while strumming an electric guitar alone. As he reached the chorus, Springsteen seemed to be taunting the eroding force of time itself: “Bring on your wrecking ball/Come on, take your best shot/Let me see what you got/Bring on your wrecking ball.” (And was he really just talking about the stadium, or did I detect a more personal note of 60-year-old rock’n'roll defiance in there too?) When the full band kicked in a few moments later, Giants Stadium went wild for one of the last times ever. It was an inspiring start to another of the marathon three-hour shows Springsteen still manages to put on night after night.
The Boss’ camp tells me they have no information on whether “Wrecking Ball” will see a proper release, but it’s a pretty great song regardless. Check out NJ.com’s high-quality clip of the first part of “Wrecking Ball” after the jump (h/t), followed by grainy fan footage of the full song. Then speak up: Were you at Springsteen’s show last night, or are you heading to any of his other Giants Stadium dates? What do you think of “Wrecking Ball”?
