Hard Rock Calling 2012 Saturday Review

Saturday is the day The Boss comes to visit so everything has to be just right, with an undercard to die for.  It is straight to the bandstand to see one of the UK’s up and rising bands Halfway to New York , the band play their classic indie riffs with desire and front man Sam Burkey sings with a passion,  The stand out track is their debut single ‘Out of Time’ which sounds like a timeless REM classic.

NEEDTOBREATHE are playing at the request of The Boss, wow what good taste he has in music…. Hailing from South Carolina,  the band play their rock n roll with a lot of southern soul.  Armed with a Banjo, Bo Rinehart mesmerises the audience  whilst brother Bear (I kid you not) sings with great passion and belief.  It’s really hard not to take your eyes off him as his vocal chords draw you into the moment. Playing tracks from their current CD ‘The Reckoning’ the band fill the Pepsi Max tent with great tunes and fond memories, we will be seeing and hearing a lot more of these guys in the future.

Tom Morello is the man behind the angry riffs of Rage Against the Machine but today you wouldn’t know it, The Nightwatchman is his outlet for his folk music. Political anthems with an acoustic guitar, he even covers a rage song ‘Guerrilla Radio’ and with titles such as ‘One Man Revolution’ and ‘Ease My Revolutionary Mind’ you can see why he is thought of so highly in a political light. He even brings out fire fighters from Essex to help sing his final song ‘Worldwide Rebel Song’  which raises awareness of their fight against planned cuts and changes to the service they provide.

At first glance,  Lady Antebellum seem a little out of place on this line up but they actually get the crowd singing and dancing along with most of their songs.  With tales of Love, Breakups and Dancing you can see why they are such a big hit with the “country” community.

Gabriel Bruce takes to the Hard Rock rising stage with his two backing singers and his one man band George with one thing on his mind – Entertainment. The electronic 80’s live acts would have been given a real run for their money if Gabriel had been on the scene 30 years ago.  Coupled with his energetic dancing and his deep soulful singing, the set turns out to be a real pleasure to watch. Definitely a ‘Rising’ star and one we should hear a lot more of in the near future.

John Fogerty is another who was invited to play by The Boss.   He and his band really did play a huge set, filled with mainly Creedence Clearwater Revival songs and the odd cover. Stand out tracks from the set include ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain’ (ironically yes we have), ‘Born on the Bayou’, ‘Midnight Special’ and the wonderful ‘Bad Moon Rising’. With the crowd now swelling to near capacity John Fogerty pulls the proverbial rabbit out of the hat as he introduces Bruce Springsteen to sing ‘Rockin All over the World’.

With the sun finally making an appearance, it is time for the man himself, the one we have all come to see Bruce Springsteen.   His opening number is without his band, he stands at the front of the stage and sings ‘Thunder Road’ (backed by piano player Roy Bittan) to almost a stunned and silent 76,000 fans, then as his band appear on stage the first notes of ‘Badlands’ resonate around the arena the crowd show their appreciation for what they have just witnessed and what is to come. ‘Wrecking Ball’ & ‘We Take Care of Our Own’ appear early on as does the first guest of the night, Tom Morello joins The Boss on stage for ‘Death to My Hometown’. John Fogerty helps out with ‘The Promised Land’ before Tom Morello comes back for ‘Jack of All Trades’, ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ and ‘The Rising’. As if the tempo needed to get any higher, the first chords of ‘Born in the USA’ are greeted with sheer delight from the crowd before they begin the biggest sing along of the night. Fans favourites ‘Born to Run’, ‘Glory Days’ and ‘Dancing in the Dark’ quickly follow. Just as it seems it can’t get any better, Sir Paul McCartney is brought out on stage to help out on The Beatles classic ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, and as the fireworks light up the night sky, ‘Twist and Shout’ is given The Boss treatment as well and although they don’t get to finish the song because of the much publicised “plug pulling” it should not dampen what we have just witnessed.