Hey Look! It's Da Boss!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band roll into Raleigh tomorrow, providing a possible last opportunity for people to experience one of his exhilarating concerts. On this second leg of their first tour in many years, Bruce and his veteran band will still prove (for a tireless three and a half hours) that they are as integral to American culture as apple pie and barbecue. Bruce jumps, struts and sprints, but unlike the other unstoppable war-horse, Mick Jagger, Bruce stays clear of self-parody. While the Stones are big to the point of distraction, Bruce engages an arena like the Jersey bars of decades ago, keeping stage production to a minimum and the lights on the crowd for most of his set.

Unlike his peers, Springsteen doesn't ignore the time that has passed since he came on the scene. Indeed, today's crowds look more like the misunderstanding parents of his lyrics than rebellious youngsters. At one show I attended, I heard a guy behind me wax oddly nostalgic: "Man, this is just like 20 years ago, only instead of a Buick, I drive a Lexus and instead of a loose joint, I'm smoking a cigar." Bruce has altered his set list to accommodate that maturation: although he belted out a good number of his big hits that night, he also peppered the set with softer, more contemplative tunes like "Point Blank" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad," a folky homage to The Grapes of Wrath.

Though Bruce Springsteen has become a father figure in the canon of American rock music, he makes it clear that he's just doing what he loves-preaching the gospel of rock and roll. It's sadly ironic that when the lights go on for "Born to Run"-the ultimate ballad of youthful rebellion-you see thousands of established professionals and their well-coifed wives pumping their fists in the air. But in "Thunder Road," when Bruce notes, "maybe we ain't that young anymore," he looks at his band, looks back at the crowd, shrugs, and dismisses it in stride with an "eh." And that's all right with me.