Plenty of Bruce Springsteen songs are about destruction — of towns, dreams, loves and hopes. But few other tunes seemed as appropriate for the occasion on Saturday as when The Boss introduced “Wrecking Ball.”

“We gotta play this one for the old building,” Springsteen said during the final show at the soon-to-be-demolished L.A. Memorial Sports Arena. “We’re gonna miss this place, it’s a great place to play rock ‘n’ roll.”

Indeed, for one last night, it was. Here are a few quick notes from the Sports Arena’s climactic evening at “The Dump That Jumps.”

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1 / 34 Take a look back at some of the musical acts who have played the Los Angeles Sports Arena over the years. (Los Angeles Times) 2 / 34 Fans arrive for a Pink Floyd concert on Feb. 7, 1980. (Larry Armstrong / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 34 Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour at the L.A. Sports Arena Nov. 26, 1980. (Doug Burrows / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 34 Pink Floyd at the L.A. Sports Arena on Feb. 7, 1980. (Larry Armstrong / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 34 The Who’s Roger Daltrey, left, drummer Kenney Jones and Pete Townshend rock the Sports Arena on June 24, 1980. (George Rose / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 34 The Who’s Roger Daltrey, left, drummer Kenney Jones and Pete Townshend at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on June 24, 1980. (George Rose / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 34 Kurt Jefferies, center, winner of the MTV Lost Weekend With Van Halen contest, hangs with with the group and crew members backstage at the Sports Arena. “I had a great time,” Jefferies said. (Los Angeles Times) 8 / 34 David Lee Roth, left, and Michael Anthony of Van Halen during a September 1980 concert. (George Rose / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 34 U2’s Bono joins fans in the L.A. Sports Arena balcony, then gets a helping hand as he jumps to the main floor, on July 24, 1983. (Los Angeles Times) 10 / 34 U2’s Bono climbed to the second-story balcony to sing on June 18, 1983. (Los Angeles Times) 11 / 34 U2’s Bono at the Sports Arena on Dec. 27, 1987. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 34 U2’s Bono, right, joins Bob Dylan on stage at the L.A. Sports Arena for a rousing rendition of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” in April 1987. (Los Angeles Times) 13 / 34 Michael Jackson performs at the Sports Arena on Jan. 17, 1989, as part of his “Bad” tour. (Jeffrey Mayer / WireImage) 14 / 34 Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain performs at the L.A. Sports Arena on Dec. 28, 1991. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 34 U2’s Bono plays the L.A. Sports Arena on April 14, 1992. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 34 An undated shot of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. (Los Angeles Times) 17 / 34 In this undated photo, an overflow crowd assembles outside the Sports Arena to listen over loud speakers as an unknown program takes place inside for a capacity crowd. (Harry Chase / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 34 The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena as seen on April 16, 1987. (Rick Meyer / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 34 The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena as seen on April 16, 1987. (Rick Meyer / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 34 The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena as seen on May 26, 1960. (Los Angeles Times) 21 / 34 Then-Vice President Richard Nixon waves to the crowd as he prepares to speak at the dedication ceremonies for the new L.A. Sports Arena on July 4, 1959. (Ben Olander / Los Angeles Tiimes) 22 / 34 In this 1959 photo, three members of the Coliseum Commission cut a cake shaped like the new Sports Arena. From left: Commission President Frode P. Kilstofte, Supervisor Warren Dorn and Commissioner George Kinsey. (Los Angeles Times) 23 / 34 The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena under construction, as seen on Oct. 3, 1958. (Steve Fontanini / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 34 On Feb. 25, 1964, 10,575 boxing fans watched the televised heavyweight championship bout between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. Clay won the fight in on a seventh-round TKO. (Art Rogers / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 34 Rapper Big Boi of OutKast performs during the Audiotistic festival at the Los Angeles Sport Arena on Oct. 18, 2003. (Stefano Paltera / For The Times) 26 / 34 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, center, performs with dancers as part of the Unforgettable Tour at the L.A. Sports Arena on July 28, 2008. (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 34 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at the L.A. Sports Arena on April 26, 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 34 Black Sabbath rocked the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Sept. 3, 2013. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 34 Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam performs at the L.A. Sports Arena on Nov. 23, 2013. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 34 Fans voice their appreciation for Pearl Jam at the L.A. Sports Arena on Nov. 23, 2013. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 34 Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam performs at the L.A. Sports Arena on Nov. 23, 2013. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 34 Supporters of Bernie Sanders fill the Sports Arena on Aug. 10, 2015. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 34 Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to a capacity crowd during a campaign event on Aug. 10, 2015. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 34 Bruce Springsteen, center, with Stevie Van Zandt, left, and Patti Scialfa played the first of three shows at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on March 15, 2016. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

1. There really is something egalitarian about the Sports Arena. The lack of luxury boxes, the slim concessions and uncomfortably tight seating quarters puts the arena behind the times. But for Springsteen’s last call there, the room’s flaws further united the throng.

Strangers shared trays of candies spiced with marijuana, moms and daughters huddled together in the aisles for a better view. You won’t get vegan sushi at the Sports Arena, but you will get all that.

2. “‘The River’ is about time,” Springsteen said, closing down the harrowing performance of the full “The River” album that opened the four-hour set. “And when you choose the people you’re going to walk beside, you realize you’re also walking alongside your own mortality.” Heart-rending stuff from a singer on one of the most celebratory nights of his life.


But those words underlined the full-circle quality of the show. Springsteen’s tour when “The River” was first released in 1980 brought him to the Sports Arena, and it helped make him a global superstar. For him, and for anyone else who was there for that initial tour, Saturday’s set was living proof that time had passed. Three decades, in fact. But all we can do is pick good people to follow along with.

3. I’m not a Sports Arena apologist. I’ve spent plenty of shows there where the music didn’t catch on, and where you were painfully reminded of your section-mates’ beer dripping onto your head and having to use an open horse trough in the men’s bathroom. It wasn’t even a decayed grandeur like the old Forum — it was always kind of grim.

And yet, it was one of the few last vestiges of the rundown, popular-history-laden L.A. that’s open to anyone. One generation saw Pink Floyd perform “The Wall” in there, another saw Darkside blow minds at FYF Fest. And one final mix of generation leaped out of their seats when Bruce did “Hungry Heart” one last time in the arena.

No one should lament nicer venues moving in. But anyone with a creeping suspicion that L.A.'s rising international cultural cache means doom for these kinds of scruffy, weird shared spaces should have been there to see Bruce. L.A.'s getting fancier, and our own dry “River” — the L.A. River — will eventually resemble an actual river more than an image from a Bruce Springsteen song. There’s a lot to gain there. But maybe there’s something ephemeral and sad that is lost as well.


Jake Clemons, left, and Bruce Springsteen perform. Jake is the nephew of the late saxophonist Clarence Clemons, the longtime E Street band member.

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