A Four-Hour Set: Bruce Springsteen has Broken his Longest Gig Record

He already had the longest gig record but now Bruce Springsteen has broken it with a scintillating four-hour set. It is a major achievement of ‘The Boss’ who is known for his energy and seemingly insatiable appetite for entertaining his audiences. The record was broken in Helsinki. Extremely long live sets are part of his signature. On the 31^st of July the singed notched up yet another milestone. Few younger entertainers are capable of doing four hours of singing.

- Celebrating a music icon in his prime: Springsteen was singing the final night of his European tour. The Finnish capital of Helsinki was set alight with the great talents of this legend. He was able to play for four hours and six minutes at the Olympiastadion. The record-breaking set had 33 songs and there were four covers to boot.

Some of the highlights included a cover of ‘Rockin’ All over the World ‘by John Fogerty, ‘I Don’t Want to Go Home’ by Southside Johnny and Jackie Wilson’s number ‘(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher’. He also sang ‘Twist and Shout’, the classic song by the Isley Brothers. Throughout his European Tour, Bruce has been pushing the boat out. In fact at one point he was involved in a controversial incident at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London. The singer had passed the allotted time and the organizers made a decision to pull the plug while he was still on stage with Sir Paul McCartney!

Entertainment without an end

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London joined the chorus of criticism against the decision. Even Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist Steven Van Zandt joined the fray. In any case the singer is going to begin his US tour next month. This will be in support of his latest album which is titled ‘Wrecking Ball’, a fitting reference to his stamina and charisma.

The revered artist also runs the risk of being mocked. Apparently Treasurer Wayne Swan has threatened to do to him what Craig Emerson achieved using a Skyhooks parody. This happened a few weeks ago. The basic format involves getting something that is very popular and then proceeding to shred it to bits with the ultimate aim of gaining political capital. In all probability Bruce Springsteen’s fans will not be too bothered by this threat. They are busy listening to an artist that is capable of going on and on.