ROB DeMARTIN
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
“If I Was the Priest,” last played in concert by Bruce Springsteen more than 50 years ago, made it the setlist for his show with the E Street Band at the Toyota Center in Houston, Feb. 14. Springsteen joked, before playing the song, that he wrote it when he was 22, and all these years later, “I still don’t have a clue what the fuck it’s about.”
You can watch a Facebook video of it below.
According to the Brucebase website, Springsteen last played “If I Was the Priest” at the 300-capacity Gaslight au Go Go nightclub in New York on May 5, 1972, though a new studio version of it was included on his 2020 album, Letter to You.
The Houston show also saw the tour debut of “Night,” which was in the opening slot. I have embedded a video for that as well, below.
Steven Van Zandt and Soozie Tyrell, who both have missed shows recently because of COVID, were back with the band (Van Zandt, by the way, played a great guitar solo at the end of “If I Was the Priest”). But Nils Lofgren, who contracted the disease later, missed it. Springsteen dedicated “Out in the Street” to him.
Springsteen announced today that the tour will be extended into early December, and include shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, Aug. 30 and Sept. 1.
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2 comments
Fantastic!!! Thank you for the request Matthew and thank YOU Jay
I was there last night. It was an amazing show. “If I Was The Priest” was definitely a highlight.