Refused are fucking dead. Or rather, they were. They’re not anymore. So … living dead, I guess? If so, they’re more like the fast moving aggressive walkers of 28 Days Later than any Romero style zombies. The reunited Swedes were playing as part of Roskilde’s stacked Saturday lineup, sharing the bill with such other notables as Dry The River, Alison Krauss and Union Station, M83 and Bon Iver. I didn’t see all of those acts, but I saw quite a few.
Of course, the biggest and most anticipated act of the night was Bruce Springsteen, who put an an absolutely incredible show from start to finish. It was easily among the best shows I have ever seen.
“We came a long way tonight to ask you just one question tonight. Can you feel the spirit?” This question was posed to the audience by way of introducing “Spirit In The Night,” but really it was a recurring theme throughout the night and a call to arms of sorts for the audience. Bruce wants you to feel the spirit. And on this night, the good people of Denmark felt that spirit. All night.
In some ways, Bruce was like a preacher on this evening, testifying before the crowd. The band were so good and played so many classics, but its telling that even the new songs felt like classics. “Death To My Hometown” and “Jack Of All Trades” in particular went over well with the crowd, their political messages seemingly striking a chord. One of the (many) highlights of the set was when The Roots joined him onstage for a version of “The E Street Shuffle.”
“The Roots were amazing,” said Springsteen as he brought them out on stage. It`s true. They were amazing. The E Street Band was amazing. Put them together onstage and it`s absolutely a joy to watch.
It may seem like I`m gushing here, but as I said, Bruce wants you to feel the spirit. And over the course of their roughly three hour set, that spirit was felt. So many in the audience were worked up into an emotional frenzy. Bruce can do that to you. When the band stopped cold for a moment of silence during “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” after the line “And the big man joined the band” while images of departed E Streeter Clarence Clemons flooded the screen, I will admit to getting a little bit choked up. Bruce can do that to you. He can build you up emotionally just to break you down again. In the best way possible though. Of course he`ll build you up again by playing a cover of “Twist and Shout” to end things off. If Bruce Springsteen ever became a full on cult leader, I would totally join.
Speaking of cults, a cult of personality has grown around the aforementioned Swedish hardcore troupe in the years since Refused broke up, which is one of the reasons why the band decided to reunite. Singer Dennis Lyxzén commented on the fact that they were now playing to much larger crowds than they did when they were a “real band” and that the reunion came about as a sort of gift to those fans who kept the band’s legend going over the years. Before launching into “Rather Be Dead,” he commented on whether the songs still held up, noting that “the lyrics mean more now than they ever did because the world is a more fucked up place.” He later wondered aloud, “Who wants to see a bunch of 40 year old guys play in tight pants and singing about revolution? But I guess you do.” We do, Dennis, we do.