Never too old to grow young again: Paulina Vanderbilt on Liverpool Night 2
- Paulina Vanderbilt
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
June 10, 2025
On February 9, 1964, fifteen-year-old Bruce Springsteen witnessed The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. More than seven years had passed since Springsteen's first - and quickly aborted - attempt to play the guitar after seeing Elvis Presley's first Sullivan appearance, but this 1964 watershed moment rekindled the fire and desire in the shy teenager to become a rocker. And, as they say, the rest is history.
Last Saturday night, for about seven minutes, Bruce Springsteen was that fifteen-year-old again, when Paul McCartney joined the band onstage in Liverpool at Anfield, the place where it all began for the current Premier League Football club, in the city where it all began for McCartney and his fellow Beatles. It was a rare and momentous moment of unashamed love, admiration, and joy. And 60,000 people were fortunate to witness it, myself included. I'm still pinching myself, and I shall truly treasure the moment forever.
Of course, the gig was more than just the two songs that these giants of rock-and-roll played together, so let’s start at the very beginning: "Ghosts;" what an opener! At first, I was thrown a little by such a prominent position in the setlist, but knowing what we know now, it makes perfect sense. Bruce remembered the sound of those Beatles guitars, and he feels alive! On Saturday night at Anfield, all of his musical ghosts and aspirations came home. Liverpool, too, was alive; the singing-along was deafening.
From the very first chord, it seemed that Bruce was out to make this show one of the best nights of his life, akin to, say, the Sea.Hear.Now Festival show last year, which marked the triumphant return to the band’s home turf. He was loose, and engaging with the crowd in a way that I haven’t seen in a long time. Maybe even not quite as emotionally invested with his political message as he was at last Wednesday's initial Liverpool show, when he tore the skies and our hearts apart with his howl during "My City of Ruins," but pressing and sincere nonetheless. It felt like the giddiness of the promise of Sir Paul backstage meant Bruce wanted to go out to enjoy and savor the sheer power of music for music’s sake. Still, "Seeds" (love), "Darkness..." (love,) and a stunningly vulnerable "My Hometown" (adore) meant that there was a lot of "dust" in my eyes for many segments of the show, as well. There is something about being at Anfield stadium that represents the spirit of everything Springsteen stands for: community, looking after each other, the (hard-)working-class person, friendship, loyalty, and belting out an homage to being home.
Meanwhile, the crowd was going wild and not quieting down, except, of course, during moments like "The River" and the beautiful, acoustic "House of a Thousand Guitars." An "echo" of sorts often emanated from the seated area, not an actual echo from sound-system audio bouncing back, but a spiritual one caused by the people in the stands and on the field singing at the top of their lungs. Did we join Springsteen's call for us to "rise up?" Of course we did, at least in Anfield on that night. In Liverpool, we were together again in the "church" of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, a group of musicians who've been for many of us the same kind of initial and enduring inspiration that The Beatles were for Bruce and his bandmates.
And then, there it was. The roadies lifted a large amp onto the stage, and we knew. All of the rumors were about to come true. (Really, was there ever ANY doubt?!) And it would happen not at the end with the well-worn "Twist and Shout," but instead right at the start of the encores. Bruce announced "a young man from Liverpool" with enough potential to make it far, and the place exploded.
Please allow me to add a bit more personal perspective here... Until I discovered Bruce, my life was made up of the four records my parents owned: Peter and the Wolf, Neil Diamond’s Beautiful Noise and the "Red" and "Blue" Beatles albums. My Beatles mania manifested itself a good fifteen years after their Ed Sullivan show appearances, but now that I was about to see Macca amongst his fellow Scousers, I could barely breathe.
What struck me immediately was that Sir Paul was not a typical onstage guest at all. Bruce essentially gave away his stage so that McCartney could take charge in his hometown. The Boss and the E Streeters returned to their beginnings as a bar band, in support of their idol. We were later told by Max that they had rehearsed in a small backroom, and all of them had been allowed to touch the famous bass guitar. It is reassuring that even well-respected musicians have their "fanboy"/"fangirl" moments, which also makes me feel ever so slightly less weird for the 150+ shows I have accumulated over a lifetime of Bruce-Tramping. "Can’t Buy Me Love" sure is a rousing crowd-pleaser, and whilst I gave Sir Paul due respect and all the energy and love I could muster, the best moments were watching the band positively glowing with admiration. To see Bruce putting his head on Sir Paul’s shoulder – bromance to the max! The grin on Bruce’s face alone was worth the ticket price. If the sun never shines again, that grin warms the heart forever. The hug and applause were testaments of Bruce’s respect for this man who helped to change his life so significantly. It also proved that we are never too old to grow young again.
Sir Paul and Boss Bruce made good on the famous 2012 "plug-pulling" moment, following up "Can't Buy Me Love" with "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" An interesting and slightly left-field choice, but also fitting: a rock-and-roll classic that no doubt inspired the Beatles, who inspired Bruce, that was later recorded by McCartney as a solo artist, who now stood next to Bruce. Full circle. And obviously there’s nothing like an easy sing-along. It really was all over far too quickly!
"Born in the U.S.A." was a little bit of a cold shower after that, to be frank. Yet, Bruce is Bruce and when "Born to Run" started, we were eating out of his hand again. He also was jumping and moving like a young man. Where does he get the energy? Was it the whiskey he swapped for a harmonica earlier on? Was it the high of being a Beatle for a few songs? Who knows? Who cares? Together we brought it up higher and higher.
Of course, they played "Twist and Shout," too; this is Liverpool after all. The amp was still on stage, but no, Sir Paul had left the building. What we did get is an extended version, complete with some schtick, of course.
And I don’t think Little Steven was acting at all when he said, “Personally, I don’t want to go home." But go home, eventually, we all must. Bruce got The E Street Choir up to the front of the stage for another blistering "Chimes of Freedom." It remains the one key moment in the show where I simply immerse myself in the message and gorgeous harmonies. All around me, there were tears in our eyes – fans old and young, strangers and best friends alike – and we were one, prisoners of the healing and uniting powers of rock-and-roll. Hopeful and ready to believe in a better future, especially politically.
It is hard to explain how right and powerful this evening was without sounding like I am gloating, but it really was one of those nights that you had to be there to believe it. For Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Liverpool is what Bruce called it at the very beginning of their first-ever Liverpool show: "where, for us, it all began." But at Springsteen shows like the ones in Liverpool last week, where it all will end also still feels safely away on some far-off horizon. That's fine with me – and with many of my fellow Springsteen fans, I suspect – because personally, we don't want to go home, either... not just yet.
