A treat for fans of The Boss.
As soon as news emerged that there was going to be a massive gig in Cork next summer, we’re certain that quite a lot of people were hoping for The Boss to stop off and play Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
We’re sure Westlife will be very good, but there’s only one Bruce!
Despite the fact that we’ve been treated to the incredible Springsteen on Broadway, Springsteen: In His Own Words, and the recent Blinded by the Light, it’s clear that the appetite from Irish fans for all things Springsteen will never die down.
Hell, why would it? The man is an absolute icon.
As he draws closer to his 70th birthday, The Boss is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, he’s expanding his horizons because as mentioned previously, the upcoming documentary Western Stars will mark his directorial debut.
The documentary is based on the album of the same title and The Boss will be directing alongside his longtime collaborator, Thom Zimny.
Springsteen and Zimny have worked together on several projects over the years, including the documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, and the Emmy Award-winning Springsteen on Broadway, which Zimny directed.
Much like the album itself, the documentary will touch on themes of love and loss, loneliness and family and the inexorable passage of time,.
We’re told that “the documentary film evokes the American West—both the mythic and the hardscrabble—weaving archival footage and Springsteen’s personal narration with song to tell the story of Western Stars. It offers fans the world over their only opportunity to see Springsteen perform all 13 songs on the album, backed up by a band and a full orchestra, under the cathedral ceiling of his historic nearly 100-year-old barn.”
In their review, Variety said that the film “isn’t a rockin’-out extravaganza; it’s intimate in its embrace”.
“Yet it’s a moving testament to how much Bruce Springsteen has still got it,” the review continued.
“It’s a concert film you’ll want to experience with others, as a ray of light in the dark.”
The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, said: “With Western Stars, as with Springsteen on Broadway before it, the answer would seem to be to take the familiar and nudge it into those previously uncharted, wide open spaces.”
Elsewhere, The Wrap called it “a ruminative, almost elegiac look at Springsteen’s life and career, filled with moments of uncommon beauty that makes it of a piece with this latest, most introspective phase of his career,” while IndieWire said it’s “an intimate exploration of Springsteen’s latest album of the same name and a deeper dive into his most pervasive compulsions.”
At present, the film holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 88% on Metacritic.
Western Stars is scheduled for release on 25 October and here’s a look at what’s in store.
Clip via Warner Bros. Pictures
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