Bruce!

Last Sunday, Jim and I went with Matt and Kerri to the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Bradley Center. When 60 year-old Springsteen began crowd surfing three songs into his three-hour long performance, we knew that we would enjoy an entertaining show.

The Bradley Center was filled to near capacity with thousands of loyal Springsteen fans. Jim and I felt a bit like imposters amongst the crowd of supporters. Sure, we were familiar with a few of Springsteen's hits; who doesn't know "Dancing in the Dark" or "Born to Run"? We had watched guitarist Steven Van Zandt on The Sopranos and drummer Max Weinberg on Late Night with Conan O'Brien for years. But in comparison to most others in attendance at Sunday's concert, we could not rightfully call ourselves fans of Springsteen and his band. I nearly gave up my ticket to an older man who was standing just inside of the BC's doors and looking for a ticket to the concert. He didn't look like he had a lot of money, and it was clear that he wanted to see the show. Although I enjoyed the concert and am glad that I had a chance to see Springsteen perform, he probably would have appreciated it more than I did.

Thanks to Matt and Kerri, we had great seats for the show. We were seated just to the right of and about 20 rows away from the stage. We had an awesome view of Bruce and the band in addition to the throngs of people on the floor. Many of those lucky fans with floor seats held up signs displaying their song requests or their adoration for their beloved Bruce. About halfway through the concert, Springsteen asked that those signs be passed forward to the stage. The band then granted the song requests that were written on a few of the posters. As the signs were being passed forward, a Santa hat was thrown on stage. Bruce picked it up and said that it might be too soon for his cover of "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town", but then went on to play the song anyways. The luckiest fans were those standing closest to the stage, who were allowed to reach out and touch Springsteen and his guitar at several points during the show. And of course, the very luckiest of fans were able to pass Springsteen over their heads as he was passed across the floor section toward the stage.

Performing a three-hour long show, Springsteen demonstrated quite the stamina and an amazing level of energy for the 60 year-old man that he is. He went from one song to the next without taking many breaks between songs to catch his breath. I may not have known all of the words to the songs that he sang and I may not have known much about the history of his band, but I know now that Springsteen is one heck of a performer. I am glad that I didn't give up my ticket to that man.

*Photos courtesy of Kerri Nowicki