The Boss returns to roots

FOXBORO — Expectations were high going into the Bruce Springsteen concert Wednesday at Gillette Stadium.

It was the last U.S. date of “The River Tour 2016.” It was nine days before The Boss turns 67. And it was less than two weeks before his new autobiography, “Born to Run,” hits the shelves and his mini-book tour starts. ("Breather" isn't in Springsteen's vocabulary.)

And, it was a week since Springsteen broke his record for longest U.S. concert — four hours and four minutes in Philly, which broke the four-hour and one-minute record set Aug. 30 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. With the Foxboro curfew being pushed back 15 minutes to 11:30 p.m., one eye was on the set-list choices and other was on the clock.

Sadly, Bruce didn’t break the record, but he did break the four-hour mark and went 25 minutes past curfew. And, the kicker is, if he allowed E Streeter Charlie Giordano to play his accordion part on “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” Springsteen would have easily tied and likely broken the record. From my calculations, Springsteen was one minute shy of tying, two minutes shy of breaking the record.

The tireless, seemingly ageless Springsteen was in fine voice and fine spirits for the the night. In addition to singing and telling stories, Springsteen showed who’s boss when it came to the three guitarists on stage (Bruce, childhood pal Little Stevie Van Zandt and virtuoso guitarist Nils Lofgren), unleashing blistering solo after blistering solo.

More impressive than Springsteen's stamina was his song selection. The 33-song show was not for the casual Bruce fan but for the Springsteen diehard. Springsteen dug deep. And when you thought he was all done digging deep, he dug deeper.

Ten of the first 11 songs performed were released in 1973, including six from Springsteen’s debut, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” and four from his follow-up released in the same year, “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.”

Once again proving that he’s the most underrated (and quite possibly the best) piano players in rock ‘n’ roll today, “Professor” Roy Bittan dazzled the crowd with extended piano intros and outros on early Springsteen classics. Bittan was the first musician to make an impression with his masterful blend of classical and jazz on the epic set-opener, “New York Serenade,” complete with a lavish string section wearing black tie and evening gowns.

Springsteen captured the youthful exuberance of riding public transit to rendenvouz with one's girlfriend on a lively and dynamic “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?”

Most likely inspired by his soon-to-be-published memoirs, an introspective Springsteen talked about about his early, pre-glory days, including when the demo for his first record was rejected because it had no hits on it. Next thing the rocker did, Springsteen said, was get out the rhyming dictionary and daydream out his bedroom window. And, there outside his window, Springsteen saw the inspiration for the showstopper “Blinded By the Light.”

One of Springsteen’s best stories was about coming face to face with famed record producer John Hammond and how he let “two absolutely (expletive) nobodies” (Springsteen and Little Stevie) into his office and told Bruce to show him what he got. He belted out a full-throttle version of “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” and one could easily imagine witnessing a raw but talented Springsteen working to secure his record contract and showing a glimpse into all the greatness that would follow.

Springsteen joked that before his “upcoming smash biography” that “Growin’ Up” was his biography. Not only did the song show no signs of age, this restless adolescent anthem rocked.

Springsteen passionately belted out “Incident on 57th Street” and the crowd in the pit belted it right back, before the festivities got outright joyous and downright silly during “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).”

After getting the first two albums out of the way, then came the sign requests, including the bluesy stomp of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” “Radio Nowhere” (which featured drummer "Mighty" Max Weinberg at his mightiest) and the always welcomed, cardiovascular crowd workout “Detroit Medley.”

Springsteen turned the great end-of-summer song  “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” into one of the evening’s unexpected standouts. The song was so intimate and bare that you felt like you were eavesdropping on summer lovers saying their last goodbyes.

The two encores (one featuring six songs, the other two) were crowd-pleasers but more commonplace for recent Springsteen outings. However, there were a few exceptions.

The first encore started with a stripped-down, sign-requested, solo version for “Long Walk Home” (at which time Springsteen called this year’s presidential election the “ugliest” he’s ever seen in his entire life), followed by the granddaddy of storytelling Springsteen epics, “Jungleland,” a song that would normally be unheard-of in a night that already had “Blinded By the Light,” “Spirit in the Night” and “Lost in the Flood.”

And, yes, the “Big Man” was looking down from heaven as his nephew, Jake “Little Big Man” Clemons, nailed the incendiary sax solo in “Jungleland,” which inspired Springsteen to give Clemons a big hug after the stage lights dimmed.

The relatively short but sweet second encore featured John Fogerty’s “Rockin’ All Over the World” and “Bobby Jean,” as well as a lot of fans wondering if The Boss was going to play one more song and break the record.

Alas, Springsteen didn't break the record but he did deliver another concert for the rock 'n' roll history books.