Springsteen in His ‘Tunnel of Love’

Bruce Springsteen promised some surprises on his new U.S. tour, and he wasted little time here Thursday night delivering them.

His first concert in more than two years began on a lighthearted note.

Instead of leading his E Street Band on stage at the Centrum arena, Springsteen remained in the wings while a man dressed as a sideshow barker carried out a mock ticket booth.

As the musicians then moved into place, the barker--looking like a cross between W.C. Fields and Col. Tom Parker--hawked tickets for a “Tunnel of Love Express” ride.

In the carnival fun-zone spirit, backup singer-guitarist Patty Scialfa trotted past the booth with several colorful balloons on a string--one of the balloons in the shape of a heart.

Springsteen finally arrived in the role of an eager suitor, carrying a bouquet of flowers and wearing a vest over his fancy white shirt. After buying a ticket, he turned to the audience and asked, “Ready for a date?”

The 13,000 fans--many of whom traveled hundreds of miles and paid scalper prices of $150 to $500 for the $20 tickets--roared . . . and the show began.

Despite the levity, it soon became clear that this tour--expected to reach Los Angeles in late April--is a serious, carefully considered affair: A radical step from the heroic, larger-than-life symbolism of Springsteen’s 1985 “Born in the U.S.A.” stadium dates. The tone was more intimate and in some ways more experimental.

Setting aside many of the epic tales of struggle and salvation that have been his concert trademarks over the last decade, the New Jersey singer-songwriter supplemented tunes from his recent “Tunnel of Love” album with far lesser-known B-sides of singles and unrecorded songs.

Instead of, say, “Badlands,” “Thunder Road” and “The Promised Land,” fans at the Centrum heard numbers like “Be True,” the endearing flip side of a 1981 single, and “Light of Day,” a raucous number written for Joan Jett.

Even “Born to Run,” Springsteen’s first anthem, was done acoustically, turning what was once a full-powered expression of desire into a more delicate and reflective self-inventory.

Springsteen eventually found time in the three-hour show for many of his most popular numbers, including “Hungry Heart” and “Glory Days.” The show’s taut, challenging and independent tone, however, was established in the opening hour.

Springsteen knows that the folk hero role he occupies as the most acclaimed American rock figure since Bob Dylan may have been hard to achieve, but is easy to maintain--at least in the short run.

The millions of fans who became so enthralled with the “Born in the U.S.A.” symbolism would no doubt like nothing better than for him to reemerge on this tour acting out “Born in the U.S.A., Part II.” The headband he wore on the “Born in the U.S.A.” tour has turned into a national fashion symbol and the superficial elements of his patriotic stance were embraced by politicians and Madison Avenue.

But his exquisite “Tunnel of Love” album last year was a deliberate and dramatic break from the “Born in the U.S.A.” fanfare, a thoughtful and complex look at modern love, which combined uncommon sweetness and cold-sweat anxiety.

The tour focuses on those songs, which are among the most compact and affecting Springsteen has written. And they translated wonderfully to the stage Thursday. The E Street Band has been augmented on this tour by a five-piece horn section that is involved in almost every number but in no way detracts from the delicacy the “Tunnel” numbers have on record.

The most noteworthy change in Springsteen’s supporting cast, however, is the emergence of Scialfa. She has moved from the purely background vocal role of the last tour to a more prominent position down front, adding a strong, conscious feminine representation to the “Tunnel” material.

While the flow of the “Tunnel” material was sometimes interrupted by some of the other song selections here, that’s simply a matter of fine tuning that can be dealt with as the tour progresses.

The message here is that Springsteen appears to have made it through the potentially imprisoning “Born in the U.S.A.” hysteria without sacrificing his integrity. Artistically speaking, he still has a hungry heart.

After being off Friday and today, Springsteen’s tour resumes at the Centrum on Sunday and Monday in this former mill town 40 miles west of Boston.

The reason for the two-day break is that the arena is hosting the U.S. Hot Rod Mud Bog Drag Racing Championships featuring a “battle of the monster trucks.”

The city of 165,000 can probably use a break from all the Bruce-mania media hoopla. If being a folk hero is hard, hosting one is hard as well.

Even before Springsteen’s entourage arrived here last week for rehearsals, area radio stations were on the case. The local rock station hired a psychic to predict which day tickets would go on sale for the Centrum dates.

As Thursday’s show approached, stations urged fans to call in with “Bruce sightings.” Most sounded like gags: Bruce eating junk food for breakfast in Cambridge; Bruce working at a soup kitchen in Boston.

The tabloid Boston Herald introduced a “Bruce Watch” feature whose scoops included shots of Springsteen signing autographs in front of his Boston hotel and a meter maid placing a ticket on the van he used here that was parked too close to a fire hydrant.

The rival Boston Globe scored a coup when a reporter found herself working out next to Springsteen at the Boston Athletic Club.

One frequent question raised around town was, why did Springsteen start the tour in Worcester? A common suggestion was that Springsteen--known for his support of the needy--had chosen the site to help this once-economically depressed city’s self-esteem. A New York Times article about the town and the concert describes Worcester as being troubled by a lingering image as a “down-and-out blue-collar town.” Locally, that notion was met with amusement and ire.

Reached at his office before Thursday’s concert, Worcester Mayor Jordan Levy cried “foul.” The 44-year-old official said the city was “honored to have Springsteen open his tour here,” but rejected the idea that sympathy for an underdog played any part in that decision.

“I think what we have here is (people) getting caught up in Springsteen’s image of helping coal miners and others who have lost their jobs,” he said.

“We went through a crisis in the ‘70s when we lost a lot of industries . . . but this city’s on the move. We’ve got a new teaching hospital here and a $300-million revitalization plan for downtown.”

Levy said the reason Springsteen chose Worcester is because of “the great concert market . . . and the Centrum is the second busiest concert venue in the country.”

Neil Sulkes, Centrum general manager, confirmed Levy’s remarks about the the 6-year-old arena. He said the facility grossed more than $14 million with 60 concerts last year.

Linda Killian, a reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, agreed: “When (Gov. Michael) Dukakis talks about the ‘Massachusetts miracle,’ he’s talking in part about Worcester . . . the high-tech firms along (route) 495. It may be a dull town, but it’s not suffering economically.

Fans outside the Centrum on Thursday night weren’t concerned about the issue of Worcester’s civic image. Hundreds were standing in the near-freezing weather hoping to buy tickets.

“This area’s a real hotbed for Bruce,” said Mike Grenier, 38. “I’d rank it right behind Philadelphia as the best Bruce crowd. I think it’s grittier and more boisterous than you’ll find at the Meadowlands (in Springsteen’s native New Jersey). That’s too close to New York, so you have that chic element showing up.”

The only sample of chic at the Centrum was the presence of actor Rob Lowe, who went relatively unnoticed with his unassuming attire and glasses, and Boston Celtics hero Kevin McHale, who drew almost as many cheers when he walked down the aisle as Springsteen. It’s hard to hide when you’re 6-foot-10.

“That’s why I like to think Bruce wanted to start the tour here,” Grenier added. “He knew he’d find true-blue fans here.”

LIVE ACTION: Whitesnake and Great White will be at the Forum April 7 and Irvine Meadows April 10. Tickets are on sale now. . . . Tickets are on sale Sunday for the Alarm at Irvine Meadows on March 19, Icehouse and the Woodentops at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on April 1 and for Love and Rockets, the Mighty Lemon Drops at the Universal Amphitheatre on May 8. . . . Also on sale Sunday are the Church at the Roxy on March 23, Lyle Lovett at the Roxy on March 24, and acoustic guitarists Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges at the Universal on April 22. . . . Tonio K. will be at the Green Door in Montclair on March 5, Bogart’s in Long Beach on March 8 and at the Roxy March 9 and 22.