Bruce Springsteen serenades Brisbane in Valentine’s Day show

FOR Brisbane fans it was a Valentine’s Day date to remember. And Bruce Springsteen didn’t even play THAT song.

BRISBANE’S love affair with Bruce Springsteen continued last night, with The Boss delivering a Valentine’s Day date to remember.

The evergreen entertainer started slow, wooing 13,000-odd fans packed into Brisbane Entertainment Centre with an arrangement of New York City Serenade, accompanied by an eight-piece string section and clocking in at an epic 12 minutes.

True to form, The Boss compiled last night’s setlist on the fly, taking audience requests plucked from a now-customary sea of handwritten cardboard signs.

Bruce Springsteen woos the crowd at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last night. Picture: Marc Robertson

With a booming “Good evening Brisbane, we’ve got a Valentine’s Day special for you”, Springsteen and the E Street Band launched first into the rousing Lucky Town from the 1992 album of the same name, before a fitting trio of love song dedications: Janey Don’t You Lose Heart, Rendezvous and Be True.

The audience lapped up his banter as he riffed on Valentine’s Day, declaring it a day of love and heartbreak, reminding lovers to buy flowers and reflecting on love, loss and making amends.

“That’s right, we’re preaching on love tonight,” he declared as he segued from a heartbreaking version of Back in Your Arms to Better Days, both requests from the audience.

However a noteable omission was the perhaps too predictable number Valentine’s Day from Tunnel of Love.

The charismatic performer prompted an audience singalong to hit Hungry Heart as he ventured off stage to stroll through the auditorium, crowdsurfing back to the stage.

His almost-three-hour show drew from a career spanning more than four decades and included hits such as The River, Born to Run and Badlands.

Shrill bursts of feedback punctuating numbers towards the end of the first set was the only issue detracting from an otherwise tight production.

Springsteen’s Summer ’17 tour is his third visit Down Under in four years, after a decade-long absence from our fair shores.

This time around, the 67-year-old is playing a mix of stadium and arena shows backed by his E Street Band, including guitarist and actor Steven Van Zandt who had been absent from the 2014 High Hopes tour, replaced by Tom Morello.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play Brisbane Entertainment Centre again tomorrow night

The Boss in Brisbane