Bruce Springsteen returned to the Sunshine State last week for a concert in Sunrise as part of his \u201cLand of Hope and Dreams\u201d tour.<\/p>\n
For nearly three hours, he performed many of his old hits as well as a new one protesting the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis. His stamina (a hallmark of his performances) was impressive for a 76-year-old who has been touring for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n
Springsteen\u2019s last appearance in Orlando was in 2023 at what\u2019s now known as Kia Center. A young 27-year-old Springsteen made his first tour stop in Orlando on March 5, 1977, still riding a wave of enthusiasm for his album, \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d which was released in 1975.<\/p>\n
He performed at the old Orlando-Seminole Jai-Alai Fronton in Casselberry to a sell-out crowd of 3,500.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s staff writer Harry Wessell\u2019s 1977 review of Springsteen\u2019s Orlando show, which appeared in the Sentinel Star a few days later:<\/p>\n
Bruce Springsteen brought his E Street Band \u201cfrom Asbury Park, N.J., to Orlando, Fla.\u201d Saturday night and gave the standing-room only Jai-Alai Fronton crowd as good a hard rock performance as they are likely to attend.<\/p>\n
With the brilliant saxophonist Clarence Clemmons leading the five-member E Street Band (plus a four-man horn section), Springsteen belted out each high energy song in his distinctively raw and powerful voice.<\/p>\n
Despite the complex, stream-of-consciousness lyrics, hundreds of mouths could be seen contorting word-for-word with Springsteen\u2019s, giving the show an intimate, local bar atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery once in a while something happens, things click,\u201d said Springsteen after the concert to Randy Molnar, a WORJ-FM staffer. The concert was produced by the rock station, along with Orlando promoter Joe Lambusta. Springsteen called it the best show of his current tour, according to Molnar.<\/p>\n
One had to marvel at Springsteen\u2019s stamina. He romped and danced non stop for the entire two hours he was on stage. Like the the singer he often mimicked\/parodied \u2013 James Brown \u2013 the clean-shaven, street-tough Springsteen made every song sound as though it were the last he would ever sing.<\/p>\n
As a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Brown, Springsteen interrupted his second of three encores by dramatically collapsing onto a stretcher borne by two stage hands who carried him off. He then rushed back to the microphone, laughing, \u201cIt\u2019s a miracle, I\u2019ve recovered,\u201d to scream out the song\u2019s last bars.<\/p>\n
The volume was loud \u2013 at least one listener\u2019s ears were ringing four hours after the concert ended \u2013 but Springsteen\u2019s is one of the few rock acts whose music literally demands such auditory excess (most groups use volume to mask mediocrity). When Springsteen\u2019s and 3,500 other voices shouted, \u201cTramps like us, baby we were born to run,\u201d there was no room for moderation.<\/p>\n
Springsteen\u2019s roots as an Asbury Park, N.J., street punk are authentic, a fact that gives emotion and power to his often autobiographical songs. But if his audience can identify with his wrong-side-of-the-tracks background, they can also revel in his triumph.<\/p>\n