There’s a reason it’s called a “concert.” There’s a big difference between an artist performing for themselves and an artist interacting with–in concert with–an audience. A great crowd can rocket an ordinary setlist into the stratosphere; a dull crowd can suck the life out of the most unpredictable show.
For those who think I’m impossible to disappoint when it comes to Springsteen shows, here’s your evidence to the contrary: this show is at the bottom of my 64-show list, with no real competition, thanks to a crowd that was just… ugly (at least the part around me).
The tone was set early on for me before the show even started: I got to the stadium relatively late (about an hour before the show) but was quite content to hang out at the back of the pit (this was a stadium show, with pre-sold pit tickets that didn’t require a lottery or early arrival). My brother-in-law was at the show, too–he got there early and was up at the front. I wanted to say hi, since I live about 3,000 miles away from him and was only in town for the night, and ordinarily that would not have been a big deal–at every other show I’ve been to, people circulate around the floor but respect and honor the fact that people stake their claim to a spot. Everyone trusts, and that trust is rewarded.
But at Hershey, the crowd wasn’t trusting anyone, and certainly not me: anytime anyone tried to visit someone, the crowd linked arms and refused to let them pass. I explained my situation, but the crowd refused to let me pass, threatening me with physical force. I was too surprised and saddened to be angry–because it seemed like they were acting from lessons learned the hard way rather than spite. So I gave up, hung out at the back, and tried to enjoy the show. But the drunk quotient was higher than usual, the boor community was overly vocal during the slow songs, and I ended up leaving early during the encore–I just couldn’t get into the show that night.
Too bad, because the show was not without its moments: from an opening cover of The Clash’s “Clampdown…”
to a couple of classic River outtakes (“Be True” and “Roulette“)…
…a great rendition of “Lost in the Flood…”
…an delicate encore opener of “Surprise, Surprise…”
…and an absolutely stunning acoustic piano performance of “For You.” Sour crowd taste aside (who carries on a conversation during a moment like this? Many people around me, that’s who), that particular “For You” performance will rank among the top song performances I’ve ever seen for a long, long time to come.
Pennsylvania is still one of my favorite states to see a Springsteen show… but I’ll stick with Philly and Pittsburgh and give Hershey a pass from now on.
2 Replies to "Where the Band Was: Hershey, May 14, 2014"