Michelle Obama joins Bruce Springsteen on stage in Barcelona

Michelle Obama and Kate Capshaw, Steven Spielberg’s wife, joined Bruce Springsteen on stage to provide backup vocals for the hit Glory Days as the 73-year-old rock legend performed before an Olympic Stadium packed with close to 56,000 adoring fans on Friday night. Obama, who also played a headless tambourine, and Capshaw sang alongside Patti Scialfa, a member of the E Street Band and married to Springsteen.

The concert is part of a new world tour six years after The Boss held his last concert of The River Tour in Australia.

Springsteen did not stray from the script that his devoted fans had been expecting, including his jeans, black shirt and wristbands. He greeted the crowd with a “Hello Barcelona, hello Catalunya!” and launched into No Surrender. Springsteen, who had not played in the Catalan capital since 2016, gave fans nearly three hours of music that included his classic hits.

On the huge stage, which featured three screens, the rocker and his E Street Band broke loose with an impressive version of Kitty’s Back, a prelude to Nightshift and Human Touch.

Springsteen’s tenacity remains the same. At the age of 73, despite a voice that sounds a bit eroded, he is like a rock proudly withstanding the crashing sea waves, showing off its marks as a sign of a life fully lived. Only he can manage the feat of getting an upscale restaurant to open up for him at midnight, like he did the other day with his friends, yet still look like an ordinary guy, like one of us.

It was a triumphant concert, one more for the Boss, who gave the crowd generational hymns such as Born in the USA, Wrecking Ball, Bobby Jean, The Rising, Badlands, Born To Run, Dancing In The Dark, Born In The USA and, of course, Glory Days. The concert ended with I’ll See You In My Dreams.

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