On Thursday, April 4, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band delivered its first of two headlining shows at Los Angeles’ The Forum — and it was a rousing, and lengthy, experience.
The trek, which kicked off mid-March in Phoenix (after being rescheduled from 2023 due to Springsteen’s peptic ulcer disease) has already produced headline-worthy highs, from the legendary rocker appearing on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm to crack jokes with Larry David about the delayed outing to signing a student’s absent note from school during his San Francisco show.
And that’s not all The Boss has been up to. At the end of March — amidst his own World Tour — Springsteen appeared as a guest performer during Zach Bryan’s headlining show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center alongside Maggie Rogers.
But tonight, the focus was all Springsteen from beginning to end — as both the opening and closing song featured the legend standing alone under a single spotlight. There were no special guests (other than his wife Patti Scialfa) and no major surprises (other than a few setlist additions of songs making their tour debut), but there was one key identifier of tonight’s show: its length.
As any fan should know, attending a Springsteen show is not only a sonic journey but a test of physical endurance. And for his first L.A. show, Springsteen came out swinging. The setlist included 32 songs and spanned three-and-a-half hours; judging by his wide smile and general exuberance throughout, it appeared as if he could have gone even longer.
“It’s like he doesn’t want to stop,” observed one fan. But all good things do indeed come to an end — and eventually, Springsteen walked off stage for good, for now.
Below are the seven most impressive takeaways from Springsteen’s L.A. show — including, of course, that infamous nonstop drive.