My friend Kyle and I at the Bruce Springsteen concert. The music was a blast and it was great to go with someone who appreciates the music as much as I do! Photo by: Evan Berman

The focal point of my February trip to Dallas was seeing the great Bruce Springsteen live. In my first of two trips to American Airlines Center less than 12 hours apart, my friend Kyle and I attended the concert and came away elated after seeing the performance! While I didn’t love every aspect of the concert, the experience was good enough to make me want to see them again and recommend that others visit.

This concert review is part of the February in Dallas trip. For more information on this trip, follow these links:

Intro

Flight: American Economy, CHS-DFW

Bruce Springsteen in Concert (This Article)

Tampa Bay Lightning Game

5 Days in Dallas

Food and Drinks in Dallas

Lounges at DFW Airport

Flight: American Economy DFW-CHS

Conclusion

As mentioned in the intro article, a main focus of this trip was seeing Bruce Springsteen in concert. I found us great seats and we thoroughly enjoyed it! I will discuss how I purchased the tickets briefly here, with a separate article underscoring the nuances of the ticket buying process.

Purchasing Tickets:

I purchased 2 tickets on Vivid Seats. I will dig deeper into the different platforms I frequently use to purchase tickets in a separate email but the short of it is these were the best seats available for a reasonable price. This is a basketball and hockey arena, so it is circular in area, and we selected seats that were behind the stage. That being said, Bruce made sure to pay attention to the people seated behind the stage, so we did not feel the view was obstructed.

The tickets cost $291 in total ($145.51 each). That may seem like a lot, but check out the venue where he is playing that is nearest you and see what the prices of tickets are. His tickets are simply quite expensive! Vivid Seats has a rewards system where after every 10 tickets you purchase, you receive a credit for the average of the 10 tickets, excluding taxes and fees. I took advantage of this by using $42.04 of credit from previous purchases to offset some of the cost. In essence, my ticket was only $103.47. Not too bad for such as nice view!

I purchased the tickets using my Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business Card. While I only earned 1x AA miles (249 AA Miles earned), I got closer to meeting the $2,000 minimum spend requirement to earn the 70,000 AAdvantage Miles. Check out this article for why American Miles are so valuable to me. I also clicked through the Rakuten shopping portal and earned 2x Membership Rewards Points on this purchase, equal to 582 points.

Evan’s Thoughts:

Unlike with a flight or hotel review, I don’t have set criteria for reviewing a concert. Instead, I’ll provide my thoughts– what stood out to me either positive or negative– and talk about my overall thoughts and share any funny stories.

The Experience:

I’m a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I know most of his songs, own several records, and have long wanted to see him live. Needless to say, it was exhilarating watching Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band perform. Let’s start with the highlights:

• The musicians are as talented as any group alive or dead. Every band member had at least one solo!
• It was incredible to hear the songs I love being performed live, especially with 20,000+ people watching and singing along
• The show was non-stop. There was a short break when the band left the stage before the “encore”– Bruce never left, so this was maybe a 1 minute pause– but there was no musing of his thoughts, just solid music being played!

Unfortunately, like any concert, especially one where you know quite a few of the songs, I did have some negative takeaways as well:

• There was a lack of music from certain albums. With the exception of Hungry Heart, there were no songs played from The River, likely his best album. Nebraska was completely avoided, as usual. The titular song is a classic, but there are other solid songs from Born to Run which were not played.
• The show was quite scripted. I don’t mind when the artist wants to play a set list, but it felt as though this was a job and less of something they enjoyed. It surprised me, given how long it’s been since the group toured

Overall, I really enjoyed the concert. Just know that unlike in other shows, there will be no lively song covers. The songs that were played were performed expertly and it was truly a sight to marvel at the collaboration between each member of the (large) band! From backup vocals to the brass instruments and everything in between, it is clear why The E Street Band is so highly regarded. The arena was rocking and for the most famous songs, it appeared that everyone in attendance was standing, dancing, singing, and generally enjoying themselves!

Food and Drinks:

We had eaten dinner prior to the concert, so we did not eat at the arena. However, we both grabbed a beer. I opted for Hopadillo, an interesting “Texas-style” IPA from Houston’s Karbach Brewing Company. It was quite refreshing and had a terrific label!

Merchandise:

One other item I found interesting was in the merchandise. I frequently attend concerts for people ranging from niche artists to well-known superstars so I generally know what to expect in terms of merchandise. At this concert, I was shocked at the offerings. I feel $20-$40 is reasonable for a shirt, maybe more if it is a specific limited edition item. The cheapest options were $65! In addition, none of the designs were attractive. We were both quite disappointed in the slim pickings but there’s not much to do. 🙁

The Seats:

As mentioned in the booking section, our seats were slightly behind the stage. Did that diminish the experience at all? Not much. We were close enough to see the singers and musicians and while the majority of the concert featured views of their backsides, we did have songs where Bruce would turn and face our sections. Don’t be afraid of sitting behind the action– if the seats are available, they will be good. Even with a disclaimer of “limited view” or “partially obstructed view,” the seats should turn out just fine.

Your own calculations may vary, but I cannot in good conscience advocate for spending $100+ more per seat to be a couple of sections over. The pit area, yes, but not the first level.

Recap:

I saw Bruce Springsteen with a friend of mine at American Airlines Arena in Dallas in February. We had a terrific time and would highly recommend that anyone with an interest in Bruce Springsteen attend the closest concert to you. Have you seen him live? Let me know your thoughts and experiences below! Next up: less than 12 hours later, we were back in American Airlines Center to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning take down the Dallas Stars in an exciting hockey game!

Evan