Star rocks ‘City of Ruins’
CHRISTCHURCH: Bruce Springsteen paid tribute last night to the city of Christchurch after the recent earthquakes and last week’s fires.
When he came on stage at AMI Stadium, The Boss opened the concert with a greeting of ‘‘Finally, Christchurch . . .’’.
The rock star said he had been contacted to say Christchurch had suffered an earthquake and locals wanted him to perform.
‘‘It took a while, but we got here.’’
Yesterday, he drove around and looked at the city, he said.
He dedicated the song, My City of Ruins to those who suffered the quakes, along with emergency services personnel fighting the Port Hills fires, which he could see as he looked out to from the stage.
The star of Born in the USA and Born to Run also grabbed a cardboard sign from a fan which read, ‘‘We Love Christchurch’’, which got a huge cheer when he held it up to the capacity 30,000 crowd.
Springsteen opened with No Surrender, the first time he has played the song on his Summer ’17 tour.
The second song was inspired by a crowd sign request —Sherry Darling — and it felt like a night for the people.
Clearly Springsteen had decided Christchurch was a party town so he played the classic Saint in the City — again as a result of a crowd sign request.
Earlier, thousands of fans flocked to the stadium hours early to get a good position for the muchanticipated concert.
Hats, sunblock, umbrellas and fans were the order of the day, along with double denim and checked shirts, as the mercury soared to 29degC in a pictureperfect day in the fireravaged Garden City. — NZME