Bruce Springsteen is still the only man on Earth who can make the whole world go away for 3 hours

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Thank you Bruce for making all this possible. Thank you Bruce for giving us a reason to believe. We’ll miss you, baby. Good luck, good bye, Bobby Jean! https://t.co/yqwBg7Fvv3

These 3 years have been an incredible ride where I have been glad to see many friends around the world that will remain lifelong friends. This is the best thing of all these shows and tors and I will keep it “right here… until the end”.

What’s ahead for Bruce and the band? Who knows. What I know is that the most successful formula is what we’ve seen in the past 3 years. I would personally love to see Bruce tour Western Stars or Tracks II albums, but I’m not sure this is what they’re interested in.

Don’t take me wrong. I enjoyed being at every show I have been to and there is no better place to be than a Bruce show, where the bands are. Thunder Road, Born to Run, Bobby Jean, 10th Avenue Freeze Out are moments that are worth reliving every single night of your life.

This is why I decided to limit my touring to 2 shows in 2025. It doesn’t look like we can expect Bruce and the band to perform at the legendary level they have in the past. They still deliver a great show, but for a certain audience that I don’t consider myself part of.

Bruce and the ESB shows were a rollercoaster of emotions, surprises and intensity across 3+ hours. They still are, but in a different way. Because nothing lasts forever, because we are not the same and Bruce isn’t either. And that’s life.

The highlights of 2025 were the heavy rain in San Sebastian, leading to setlist changes and a fully energized Bruce and audience, and the Paul McCartney cameo in Liverpool. See? Getting out of the choreographed and scripted show is what made it stand out.

The beginning of the show, which was hope for changes and new things, was now kidnapped by these and crowd engaging songs like “Hungry Heart” or “My Love Will Not Let You Down”. No sign of emotional masterpieces like “Backstreets”, “Racing in the Streets”, “If I Was the Priest”

2025 had very little of it and included questionable choices such as “Rainmaker”, “1000 guitars” or “Death to My Hometown”.

While I’ve mentioned that 2023 tour was repetitive and predictable, the quality of the setlist was, in my opinion, really high. A mix of his best songs with 70s gems like “Prove It”, “Trapped”, “She’s the One”, “Kitty’s Back”, etc.

In 2025, Bruce changed the story to reflect the tough times his country is going through with Donald Trump. This led to an even more static setlist, with songs in the set that no fan would ever really wish for: Rainmaker, 1000 guitars or Death to My Hometown

However, 2024 was full of bright spots, including memorable shows like Madrid 2 or Asbury Park. Bruce showed the world it was possible to change the setlist and tell a story at the same time. These 2 shows did that and are considered by many the best shows of the last 3 years.

2024 started on a different note. The first part of the show included a lot more variety and the feeling of “you don’t know what’s next” was back. Or, at least, until we would hit halfway through the show, where it would get to the predictable mix of classic hits.

All my thoughts on the 2023 tour are here. https://t.co/Oy5TGZpSNS

I personally disagree with that. Every Bruce tour I have been on had a story. Usually around the album that was being promoted on that tour, and yet it was possible to have a dynamic setlist with a mix of static songs (hits and album songs) and variety every night.

The reason for such static setlist was, according to the documentary “Road Diary”, the need to tell a story across the whole show. The story was around mortality, life and death, with personal stories around his old bandmate George Theiss or Clarence and Danny.