bruce live

Last night I saw Bruce Springsteen in concert for the 11^th time. That’s right, 11. One more than 10 (which was a nice round number, and one my wife thought was a good one on which to end my Bruce concert career).

But he was in Richmond last night; only an hour away, and I decided to save up my allowance for a couple months and do it. Kenny and I drove down, had a forgettable dinner at the Third Street Diner (Penny Lane was too crowded), and went to the show.

The concert was amazing. Back in the 80’s he played monstrous 4-hour marathon shows. Bruce is 58 years old now; the shows these days usually go about 2-1/2 hours. Last night he played for 3 hours. He talked about how special Richmond was—in the early days, it was the first place outside of New Jersy that he played.

Each concert is an amazing experience. (check this out: The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen.)

There are times when the experience is transcendant. 10,000 strangers (or more, I once saw him with 50,000 at Mile High Stadium in Denver) joined together, connected by the music. And the music is incredible. Bruce sings about life--good, bad, relationships, tragedy, hope. He did a good mix of old and new; several of my favorite songs—"Badlands," "Cadillac Ranch," "She’s the One"...

I thought about how Bruce’s music has been the soundtrack of my life. I began listening seriously when my friend Jeff introduced me to Born to Run in high school.

I was fully converted when I saw him for the first time in Denver--November 11, 1984. Now, 24 years later, I hear the songs and each one takes me back to a different time in my life, bringing memories of an old girlfriend, or job, or home, or car... 

If you've never seen Springsteen; do it next time you get a chance. I've seen a lot of concerts; his are without a doubt the best.