Boot Tracker, June 23rd 2008, Antwerp

While we're all eagerly awaiting a proper Milan or Göteborg night 2 recording there's the pleasant Antwerp to hold us over. It took a while to trickle in, but now it has it turns out to be a nice tape to spend my Sunday morning with. With Bruce blasting out my speakers, promising the Antwerp crowd "Transformation! Liberation! Sexification!," I do not need coffee to wake up. I must admit that the sound on this recording isn't amongst the best of the tour. It's a moderate arena recording. But a moderate arena recording is always leaps better than a bad Stadium recording. There's less mud and echo in those indoor venues, which makes almost every single arena tape listen-able at least. This recording gives you a very good sense of that hot night in Antwerp, though it isn't a recording that will find its way to your media player or hi-fi system very often. The band sounds a bit thin and Springsteen's vocals seem to be stuck in a pit. But as I said, this tape is great fun for a Sunday morning, with nothing much to do. The decent sound and the killer set makes the download well worth your while.

This show was moved indoors to Antwerp's Sport's Arena because for some reason the planned stadium in Brussels wouldn't sell out by a long shot. Springsteen seemed determined to prove all those who stayed home wrong with a, relatively short, but high energy set. It seems as though the Boss realized he was playing for the fanatic crowd here, as one curve ball after another flew through the arena. "So Young and in Love" proves to be a very effective opener once more and "Thundercrack" holds its own quite nicely sandwiched between "Prove it all Night" and "Because the Night". If that wasn't enough, Antwerp was treated to another hauntingly beautiful "Point Blank" and an increasingly rare "Magic". "Fire" almost had as much fire and sizzling sexuality as the classic versions, something doesn't happen much these days. The evening's biggest surprise however came with "I'm a Rocker," a River tour staple that rarely raised its head since the eighties. While everybody is getting exited over yesterday evening's "Drive All Night," I must confess, this raucous gem is really what gets my blood pumping. Let's be serious, how many of you have actually driven all night just to buy some shoes? Drive all night to get to a Springsteen show maybe, but shoes?!?

"I'm a Rocker"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3+ out of 5
Show: 4,5 out of 5
Artwork: none