At 7:20 last night, an assembled crowd of 40,000 people cheered one of the great live performers onto the stage. Three hours later, they were jumping up and down, clapping and whooping after an epic performance of old school rock and roll delivered with passion and precision.

After 30 years or so, the E Street band has had time to perfect it's own unique style ensuring each member brings something different to the mix and that the overall sound is... well, big. With nothing left to prove, they can go out on stage with no greater intention than to have as much fun as possible, whip the crowd into a frenzy and then party the night away.

Barnstormers like Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark (working much better live than it ever did as a single), Ramrod and Mary's Place rose to ever increasing crescendos and the cover of Seven Nights to Rock was a throwback to the era of Jerry Lee Lewis, manic rock and roll full of energy.

Amid these there was time for reflection with the street opera of Jungleland and Your Missing, a track about dealing with the loss of a loved one in New York which was counterpointed by the planes flying into nearby Gatwick.

For anyone in love with live music, this was a chance to see Springsteen in full flow, brimming with almost messianic fervour. The crowd still play favourites when the band is introduced, saving especially loud cheers for Little Steven Van Zandt, the mighty Max Weinberg and of course Clarence Clemons on saxophone... possible the coolest man alive and stern gatekeeper of a final encore.

He's playing again tonight and the touts yesterday were stuck with more tickets than they could shift so anyone showing up has a decent chance of getting in at less than face value. If you've nothing planned, you could do worse than to get your ass down to the Palace and shake it like a mad thing.