The highest-ranking statesman of heartland rock is returning to Wales’ national stadium, his esteemed E Street Band in tow, for their third-ever performance there. With Bruce Springsteen now 74, it might be their last, too, but he’s still the Boss to his sizeable and worldwide fanbase. John-Paul Davies is among their number and has rustled up his top five (slightly) lesser-known – but still best – Springsteen songs.

1. Badlands

“I don’t give a damn for the same old played out scenes / I don’t give a damn for just the in-betweens / Honey I want the heart, I want the soul / I want control right now…” This mantra, that has led Bruce Springsteen through half a century of uncompromising songwriting, explodes out of the first verse of Badlands on record and onstage. If you think the Boss, as he’s lovingly referred to by his fans, can be prone to almost parodying himself live, then hearing him rip through this classic from Darkness On The Edge Of Town – his darkest, arguably greatest album – will tear up that notion in no time. And just as you think the song is coming to an end, the audience will take up a melody – not on the album version, hidden within the guitar part and somehow only revealed live – that transforms Badlands into some sort of rock’n’roll ritual, begun by the band but completed by the crowd.

2. Ghosts

Although this tour is billed as Only The Strong Survive, after his recent album of soul covers, there is next to nothing of that collection on the setlist. Instead, Springsteen heavily draws on his previous album Letter To You: this is his first tour since its release, and Letter… will probably go down as Springsteen’s final classic rock album, rivalling anything he has done in the last four decades. While l’ll See You In My Dreams offers a lighter moment, Ghosts walks the fine line between stadium shaking anthem and sharing an awareness of mortality. The cheer of “I’m alive,” at the start of every chorus is equal parts defiance, wonder and gratitude toward the sustaining power of his audience. 

3. Wrecking Ball

What’s exceptional about seeing Springsteen the septuagenarian live is that his songs don’t let you forget how fiercely relevant his writing still is. Many of his peers could now be counted as heritage acts, and Springsteen himself has undertaken (and quickly abandoned in favour of a broader set list) an album anniversary tour. But a late purple patch, that lasted about 20 years from 1995 until Wrecking Ball, has yielded plenty of great material. This barnstormer, written as a tribute to the now-demolished Giants Stadium in New Jersey, is also a symbol of so much tearing up of the past, with no thought of the consequences for a community. Wrecking Ball has all the bombast of an E Street Band arrangement but is also heavily indebted to the style of Springsteen’s other great backing band from The Seeger Sessions – capable of raising any roof.

4. Thunder Road

If there’s one song that can sum up Springsteen then this is probably it. Full of passion and disappointment, hot cars and cool women, Thunder Road was misty-eyed and nostalgic when Springsteen wrote it in his mid-twenties. After almost 50 years of playing it live, the poignancy has only been heightened and the sense of yearning, for the now unreachable innocence of early rock’n’roll era America, is almost palpable. While Born To Run, the title track from the same album, may be THE song, there is an inevitability about it appearing at the end of a Springsteen set that makes it as predictable as it is satisfying. Thunder Road somehow delivers more than its promise of wordless singalongs with arms around shoulders through a killer dose of romanticism. 

5. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

With a nonsense hookline that’s great fun for an audience to shout out, this soul inspired foot-tapper gives the Boss the chance to show off his moves. One of the greatest showmen to ever take to the stage (check out the recently released 1979 No Nukes Concerts on Blu-Ray) Springsteen is, of course, aware of his age and plays on it beautifully in the instrumental opening. It’s also a great feature for the extended E Street Band, making good use of the additional horn section. But this song is all about Bruce’s bandmates of the past, with video footage of the late Danny Federici and, of course, the Big Man: when Clarence Clemons’ image fills the screen, expect the biggest cheer of the night for Springsteen’s longterm saxophonist and sideman. 

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Sun 5 May.

Tickets: £85-£145 (sold out). Info: here

words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES