What Bruce Means to Me
Julia from Folk of the Fringe pointed me to an article about Bruce Springsteen on the website Killing the Buddha that captured what Bruce Springsteen means to his fans.
I've been a fan of Bruce since 1981, when I saw him in Cincinnati on The River tour. That show was not my first rock concert, but it changed how I saw rock and roll. I was converted. I bought albums, I found other fans, I bought a 5x5 tacky silk-screen wall hanging and it became the only artwork in the living room in my small, rundown apartment.
Bruce went on a hiatus of sorts in the early 90's. He fired his band. He made two albums with some excellent material that he released simultaneously in 1992, and then, in his words, "lost his rock voice." He released a folk album, "The Ghost of Tom Joad," in 1995. He didn't release any new material for seven years. He did a reunion tour with the E Street Band in 2000, and in 2002 released The Rising, his response to the September 11 attacks and arguably his finest work.
When Bruce started touring on The Rising, I went a little nuts. I saw him in Houston with my daughter, and followed the tour news in the discussion boards on the web site. Life had changed a lot for me since the last time Bruce had released new material and mounted such a major tour. I was married now. I had a little boy. But somehow, I got it into my head that I could just follow him around. All those other people did!
Unfortunately, Bruce is not The Grateful Dead. One can not earn a living selling falafel from a tent following Bruce Springsteen around the country. Somehow, between my husband's bewilderment at my ideas ("Gee, you really like this guy, don't you?") and a reality check from, of all places, a talk at church, I came back down to earth. I only saw The Rising tour one more time, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, when I was on vacation with the family. I spent far too much money on a great seat less than 10 yards from the stage. It was a great show, but when it was over, I was exhausted, and all desire to devote my life to following Bruce around the country was gone.
I still enjoy opportunities to see Bruce for free. The Vote For Change concert two weeks ago (rebroadcast tomorrow night, don't miss it!) and the video feeds of the Kerry performances (two of them!) yesterday were really great. And if he tours again, I will buy tickets, if I can, and I will love the show, and it will be, again, a transcending experience.
I've been a fan of Bruce since 1981, when I saw him in Cincinnati on The River tour. That show was not my first rock concert, but it changed how I saw rock and roll. I was converted. I bought albums, I found other fans, I bought a 5x5 tacky silk-screen wall hanging and it became the only artwork in the living room in my small, rundown apartment.
Bruce went on a hiatus of sorts in the early 90's. He fired his band. He made two albums with some excellent material that he released simultaneously in 1992, and then, in his words, "lost his rock voice." He released a folk album, "The Ghost of Tom Joad," in 1995. He didn't release any new material for seven years. He did a reunion tour with the E Street Band in 2000, and in 2002 released The Rising, his response to the September 11 attacks and arguably his finest work.
When Bruce started touring on The Rising, I went a little nuts. I saw him in Houston with my daughter, and followed the tour news in the discussion boards on the web site. Life had changed a lot for me since the last time Bruce had released new material and mounted such a major tour. I was married now. I had a little boy. But somehow, I got it into my head that I could just follow him around. All those other people did!
Unfortunately, Bruce is not The Grateful Dead. One can not earn a living selling falafel from a tent following Bruce Springsteen around the country. Somehow, between my husband's bewilderment at my ideas ("Gee, you really like this guy, don't you?") and a reality check from, of all places, a talk at church, I came back down to earth. I only saw The Rising tour one more time, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, when I was on vacation with the family. I spent far too much money on a great seat less than 10 yards from the stage. It was a great show, but when it was over, I was exhausted, and all desire to devote my life to following Bruce around the country was gone.
I still enjoy opportunities to see Bruce for free. The Vote For Change concert two weeks ago (rebroadcast tomorrow night, don't miss it!) and the video feeds of the Kerry performances (two of them!) yesterday were really great. And if he tours again, I will buy tickets, if I can, and I will love the show, and it will be, again, a transcending experience.
1 Comments:
You are an enigma. I love that about you. As Donkey would say, "You have layers."
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