If anyone thought that a particularly wet and soggy evening at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester would result in Bruce Springsteen giving a shortened and perhaps more subdued performance than normal then they could not have been more wrong and I would further hazard  that it would suggest they clearly know nothing of the man and his legendary concert reputation.

For despite the inclement weather, or maybe in spite of it, the New Jersey rocker that music fans the world over have long come to refer to as simply 'The Boss', proceeded to dish up a three and a half hour show, without any break whatsoever and with him never once leaving centre stage during that time, that surely satisfied even the most demanding fans' appetite for good value.

Springsteen's concert in Manchester was just one date on his current mammoth trek around the world to celebrate the thirty-five year anniversary(in 2015) of the release of his classic double album 'The River' and also to promote the recent 'The Ties That Bind: The River Collection' box set.

At the time Springsteen and his trusty E Street Band took to the stage at 6.53pm precisely(very early by most concert standards) the stadium was actually far from full to its 55,000 capacity but this was not due to any fan apathy or lack of ticket sales but rather because of terrible public transport issues in the city on the night which resulted in many people arriving at the venue very late with some still streaming in ninety minutes into the show. In the case of most other artists that would have meant those fans would, in all likelihood, have arrived just in time to catch the encore if they were lucky but 'The Boss' is not like most other mere mortal artists and at the ninety minute point, Springsteen was still just flexing himself and had barely broken sweat. The frustration and disappointment though for those fans who had paid a high ticket price must have been immense.

Looking at the extremely toned and healthy looking Springsteen up on stage, it is very easy to forget that he is now sixty-six years old and yet,  as all present on the night witnessed, there is absolutely no visible sign of the man slowing down in anyway. Once one of his marathon shows is underway, he simply doesn't come up for air until the end and it is as much an endurance test for fans to stay the distance with him.

At the outset of the tour the concert set list comprised of a rendition of 'The River' album in its entirety plus a whole host of other Springsteen favourites from throughout his four decades plus career but the show has evolved and been filtered somewhat as the tour has progressed and now it features a very healthy splattering of songs from 'The River', including such gems as 'Sherry Darling', 'Crush On You', 'Hungry Heart', 'Point Blank', the epic title track itself and the album's opener, 'The Ties That Bind', but the complete performance of the album has been ditched.

Despite his untold riches, Springsteen has a unique ability to still connect so well with his audiences, largely by virtue of the lyrics of so many of his songs that champion the cause of the ordinary working man and because, at heart, he himself clearly remains that 'ordinary Joe' who has not lost touch with his real roots.  This is a man so evidently in the business purely and simply out of his love for the music.

And the magic of a Springsteen show is more often than not shaped by moments of great spontaneity and his unfazed desire to get right 'up close and personal' to his adoring legions of fans, in fact just try stopping him as he's right in amongst them at any given opportunity that frequently brings worried looks to the faces of the security 'heavies' in close attendance.  On this particular night,  a very young boy is plucked out of the crowd by the singer to share the microphone with him on the song 'Waitin' On A Sunny Day' and a pretty girl fan gets to strut her stuff with The Boss during crowd favourite 'Dancing In The Dark' and places her necklace around his neck before being returned to her place amongst the masses. But the standout spontaneous moment of the concert occurred when Springsteen clocked an unseasonably attired fan decked out in full Santa Claus regalia and duly broke with the night's set list format for an impromptu cover of 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' aided and abetted of course in glorious out-of-tune fashion by the 'Manchester Santa' himself who milked his moment in the limelight with his hero to the max, and who could blame him.

In the form of the E Street Band, Springsteen is backed by musicians of peerless quality with long-time members guitarists Nils Lofgren and Stevie Van Zandt being star performers in their own right and, in time-keeper Max Weinberg on drummers and bassist Garry Tallent, Springsteen has just about the tightest rhythm section around. The late Danny Federici(organ/accordion) and, in particular,  the immense presence and talent that was 'The Big Man', saxophonist Clarence Clemons, are sorely missed but nephew Jake Clemons does a sterling job of filling his uncle's huge shoes whilst Charles Giordano is a more than capable replacement for Federici. Springsteen's 'missus', singer/guitarist Patti Scialfa, so often by his side in the band line-up is not on the current tour but vocalist/violinist Soozie Tyrell, certainly no newcomer having featured on several tours with Springsteen in the past, slots in seamlessly amongst the boys. 

The evening's proceedings are brought to a breathtaking and rousing musical climax with classics and live favourites including 'Because The Night'(Patti Smith Group cover), 'Thunder Road', 'Born To Run', 'Glory Days', 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out', 'Shout'(The Isley Brothers cover) and 'Bobby Jean' before Springsteen returned alone to the stage for one final song, a tender, acoustic version of the folky ballad 'This Hard Land'.

Bruce Springsteen is a truly one-off artist who shames many other, often much younger, musicians/bands in terms of what he gives of himself on stage, night after night. Were he a product on a supermarket shelf, he'd surely be stamped all over with the words 'extra added value'.  Unquestionably, this man remains fully deserving of his moniker 'The Boss'.