HARTFORD, Conn. – Bruce Springsteen’s hair kicked ass and took names at the Hartford Civic Center last night. Reunited with the E Street Band for the first time in five years, Mr. Springsteen’s hair launched its Magic tour with a twenty-three-song set that recalled its glory days while demonstrating there’s still plenty of room left for growth.
This full-bodied, lustrous performance came as a surprise to many critics who had written off Mr. Springsteen’s hair following its thinned out Seeger Sessions tour last year and its lifeless Devils and Dust outing in 2005. In fact, Rolling Stone‘s resident slaphead, Anthony DeCurtis, went so far as to declare: “Bruce’s hairline is retreating faster than the Iraqi police, and he’s getting a little thin on top. He looks like he’s one CD away from a comb over.”
These comments were all the more scathing for their appearance in a magazine whose editorial policy forbids criticizing artists five-five years of age or older.
Naturally there was an air of apprehension thick enough to cut with a scissors when Mr. Springsteen and his hair took the stage last night, but one look at the Boss told his legions of fans that Mr. Springsteen was still the hair apparent.
“The beloved New Jersey icon, sporting a shocking amount of hairspray in his endearingly poufy ‘do, was back among his people,” gushed Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe.
Whether it was performing new material such as “Radio Nowhere,” a hard-driving lament about the vapidity of American culture, or restyling old favorites such as “Badlands,” Mr. Springsteen’s hair was in full, thick-bodied cry. What’s more, his hairline was more assertive, his locks had more lift than they’ve had in a decade, and there was not a split end in sight.
So what if it wasn’t quite vintage Springsteen hair from Darkness at the Edge of Town days? This is vibrant hair nonetheless, brimming with playful tendrils of music that peek out from behind waves of social commentary. This haircut is capable of standing on its own merits, and in a “Radio Nowhere” age, that’s more than most haircuts can do.
Springsteen fans, by and large, welcomed the return of his hair, noting that it lent a youthful vigor to Mr. Springsteen’s appearance and made him look less like the grumpy old man he is at heart.
A few fans, however, accused their idol of selling out.
“That haircut looks like it cost more than John Edwards’,” said Vinny Sparazzo of New Haven. “And what’s with all that product? He looked like the lead singer of Hair Club for Men.”
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