{"id":575,"date":"2016-09-08T21:32:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T01:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/?p=575"},"modified":"2016-09-08T21:32:24","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T01:32:24","slug":"first-bruce-springsteen-concert-a-perfect-beginning-and-maybe-a-perfect-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/first-bruce-springsteen-concert-a-perfect-beginning-and-maybe-a-perfect-ending\/","title":{"rendered":"First Bruce Springsteen concert a perfect beginning . . . and maybe a perfect ending"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bruce<\/a>

Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven Van Zandt rock out at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia Sept. 7, 2016.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

Who knew that farmers could predict the future of rock and roll?<\/p>\n

When I moved into the dorms my first year at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, the guys who lived next door were enlightened and entertaining characters. Al Steinbach, a New Yorker with a dry wit, was studying engineering there in the middle of the Heartland. I\u2019m not sure why he went all that way to do that. His roommate, Duane Morrison, was a rural gent from Grinnell, Iowa, who was studying farm management. That made more sense to me, since the university is surrounded by roughly a bazillion cornfields and two bazillion cows.<\/p>\n

What made these guys cool to a youngster experiencing being away from home for the first time was that they had a turntable, a vinyl collection and an open-door policy. Anyone could drop in and listen to records at almost any time.<\/p>\n

Duane was particularly taken with a relatively new artist at the time, one with whom I wasn’t familiar. One day he played the guy\u2019s album for me, seeking my reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, whaddaya think?\u201d he said to me after both sides of the record had been played. \u201cDo you like it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s OK I guess,\u201d I responded, without much enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d better listen closely,\u201d Duane said. \u201cThis guy is going to be a big deal some day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The artist was Bruce Springsteen and the album was \u201cBorn to Run\u201d from 1975.<\/p>\n

A mere 39 years after pooh-poohing the \u201cBorn to Run\u201d album in the middle of Nowhere, Iowa, I was at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live for the first time in my life. For the sake of posterity, the date was Sept. 7, 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Bruce<\/a>

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

While I appreciate what Springsteen has given us with his music and concerts, I had never become a diehard fan over the years. The Blonde Accountant and I also aren\u2019t big fans of stadium concerts, but we figured that if we were going to spend the money on one, it would be to see Springsteen, whom neither of us had seen in concert.<\/p>\n

I had mentioned to her on the way to the show that Bruce\u2019s music over the years hadn\u2019t really spoken to me like some other artists, most notably the Beach Boys and co-founder Brian Wilson. Certainly that\u2019s a subjective view. Music can evoke an emotional response within us, but it can be from different artists for different people.<\/p>\n

We battled the crowds to get into the stadium that evening, and had just secured some ballpark and were trying to make our way to our seats in the 200 level, when the crowd got it\u2019s first look at Springsteen. He hit the stage a little after 8 p.m. and the Philly crowd went crazy.<\/p>\n

And Duane the farmboy was right. Bruce Springsteen is a really big deal now.<\/p>\n

The Boss opened with \u201cNew York City Serenade,\u201d featuring a beautiful string section. And there I stood, a tray full of chicken fingers and crab fries, at my first Bruce Springsteen concert . . . and I couldn\u2019t contain my emotions. The music reached in and grabbed my soul, and I could feel my eyes well up with tears. It was an in-the-moment thing and it caught me off guard. And as I remember this concert in the years to come, that\u2019s the feeling I want to remember.<\/p>\n

\"(Photo<\/a>

(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

The rest of the night was what we\u2019ve come to expect from Bruce these days. He doesn\u2019t much care if it\u2019s a work night or a school night, every night is a Friday night for Bruce and he seems happy to play well into the wee hours. He\u2019s in a stretch of concerts now where he\u2019s regularly hitting the four-hour mark. In fact, our show lasted 4:04 and is the longest show to date that\u2019s he\u2019s ever played in the U.S. My guess is that record won\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how he does it. I\u2019m 10 years younger than he is and I got tired just sitting there watching him. And I can\u2019t imagine that E Street drummer Max Weinberg – dressed in a jacket and tie in the September Philly heat and humidity and banging away on the drum kit all night long – didn\u2019t at some point think to himself, \u201cReally Bruce? Four hours? I\u2019m dying up here. C\u2019mon, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a concert that was mostly all highlights for a first-timer, I was particularly pleased with \u201cRosalita (Come Out Tonight),\u201d which I thought was outstanding. The crowd appeared to agree with me on that one.<\/p>\n

The encore featured the tour debut of \u201cStreets of Philadelphia,\u201d (just for those of us in Philly, of course) \u201cJungleland,\u201d \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d \u201cDancing in the Dark,\u201d \u201cTenth Avenue Freeze-Out,\u201d a cover of the Isley Brothers\u2019 \u201cShout\u201d and \u201cBobby Jean.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of my favorite Springsteen songs is \u201cGirls in Their Summer Clothes,\u201d but I didn\u2019t expect to hear that one because he hasn\u2019t been playing it on this tour. But I can\u2019t even call that a disappointment, given the quantity and quality in the show.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Boss and Jake Clemons interact with the crowd.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)<\/p><\/div>\n

Of course, many friends wanted to know what I thought after my first Springsteen show, and they may be surprised at my initial reaction. This will require some more thought and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time, but I don\u2019t think I want to see another Bruce Springsteen concert.<\/p>\n

Coming to the Springsteen bandwagon later in life has afforded me what I believe is a unique opportunity to have his entire catalog of music to explore and his live show to experience. It\u2019s all fresh and new to me.<\/p>\n

And to have that first concert experience be as close to perfect seems special. It\u2019s like a baseball player hitting a home run in the last at bat of his career, circling the bases and running right off the field into retirement. It\u2019s a perfect ending.<\/p>\n

In my case, my first Bruce Springsteen concert was a perfect beginning and a perfect ending. And I\u2019m not sure I want to ruin that story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who knew that farmers could predict the future of rock and roll? When I moved into the dorms my first year at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, the guys who lived next door were enlightened and entertaining characters. Al Steinbach, a New Yorker with a dry wit, was studying engineering there in the middle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tvdbook","tag-bruce-springsteen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinyldialogues.com\/VinylDialoguesBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}