BRRUUUUUUUCCE

When I was seventeen I attended my first major concert. No, Scott Baio show at Knotts Berry Farm does not count! I wore a t-shirt that I bought in Manila the summer of 1985. It was end of September (or was it early October?) 1985 at the LA Coliseum. It was a huge venue and our seats were waaaayy out there. I was with my sisters and only one of us was 21. Bruce came on stage and I was hooked. Three hours of pure music. A concert that wouldn't end and no one wanted it to end. It was classic. No other concert/artist thereafter came close

Last night. Colin and I waited patiently for the rain/lightning/thunder to pass. They wouldn't cancel the concert, would they? I looked around and noticed that there were more people 2-3 decades over the legal age and I was one of them (when did that happen ?!??!!) There were 2 couples in front of us standing up and the woman on my right did not appreciate this. The concert has not started yet and she's grumbling out loud that the effing people are standing up. The uprights retorted back, "No one sits down at a Bruce Springsteen concert!" I was hoping for the knock out punches to get thrown by the woman with hearing aid but nahh just more grumbling. After a while, she and her husband stood up and vacated their seats and did not return. Wooo hooo more space for me!

The 7:30pm concert started at 9:25 and I was again enveloped in music. His first song was Summertime Blue got Gillette Stadium in Foxboro rocking. No smoke or fireworks. No dancers cluttering the stage. Just Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I noticed throughout the show that the camera kept giving us jumbo-tron view of his backside though. And yes, he still rocks in jeans. Just like twenty three years ago, he had energy and vibrancy last night. His voice is more gravelly and his face more lined but he still exudes classic rock. He belted out songs from his Magic album (Radio Nowhere), older ones (10th Avenue Freeze Out) and a couple of songs that premiered on the tour (Who'll Stop the Rain). He took request from the mosh pit (signs) and played a few of them. He played "I'm Going Down" which was much better live than on the album. It was close to three hours with no intermission/breaks. Pure music.

I sat down momentarily during Livin' in the Future set because all the stompin' and dancin' made my feet a bit painful in my heels but sitting down didn't feel right. I was up again because no one sits down at a Bruce Springsteen concert.

And for your information, this t-shirt still fits!













..