Another day, another instance of Bruce Springsteen tap-dancing over genre boundaries and Bossifying a classic song. Having covered numbers by AC/DC and the Bee Gees on his Australian tour, The Boss kicked things off in Auckland with their new national anthem, Lorde‘s Royals.
Springsteen has spent his Australia-New Zealand tour paying homage to local artists in each town, covering AC/DC’s Highway to Hell in Perth and Melbourne, INXS and The Easybeats in Sydney, and the Bee Gees’ classic disco strut, Stayin’ Alive, during a performance in Brisbane.
Like the other covers, Lorde’s smash hit sounds as though it could have been cleaved from unheard sessions for one of Springsteen’s more obscure albums. The Boss strips the track of its lavish production in favour of an acoustic guitar and harmonica and plays around with the lyrics.
Springsteen recently wrapped up his Australian tour with a marathon-length set at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last Wednesday (26th February). The four-hour set included the aforementioned Bee Gees nod, as well as an appearance from Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.
Watch: Bruce Springsteen – Royals (Live at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland 01.03.14)
