VIDEO: Bruce Springsteen wows fans at vast Belfast gig as he opens with... 'No Surrender'

According to the website Setlist.fm, where fans make records of artists’ set lists, it is the first time this year that he has opened a set with the song – though there was nothing to suggest he knew of the significance its title has in Ulster.

It was released in 1984 on his ‘Born in the USA’ album, and contains no reference to Ireland.

Here you can see the moment he took to the stage in front of 40,000 people – young and old – at Boucher Road playing fields in south Belfast, amid fine weather and with the silhouette of the Belfast Hills off to the west.

Now aged 74, it is a measure of the devotion he inspires in fans that some told the News Letter they or their loved-ones have seen him in excess of 20 – or, in one case, 40 – times.

The last time he had been in Belfast was in 2013.

Here, according to Setlist.fm, is the rest of his setlist for the night so far (this will be updated through the night):

No Surrender

Lonesome Day

Prove It All Night

Ghosts

Letter to You

Better Days

The Promised Land

Spirit in the Night

Hungry Heart

Nightshift (Commodores cover)

My City of Ruins

Last Man Standing

Backstreets

Because the Night (Patti Smith cover)

If I Was the Priest

She's the One

Wrecking Ball

The Rising

Badlands

Thunder Road

Encore:

Land of Hope and Dreams

Born to Run

Bobby Jean

Glory Days

Dancing in the Dark

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Twist and Shout (The Top Notes cover)

Encore 2:

I'll See You in My Dreams.