You know how they say you should never meet your childhood heros when
you're all grown up because they will disappoint? They have a point.
Except, that is, if you're hero is Bruce Springsteen. In which case
that theory is utter bollocks.
I fell in love with Bruce Springsteen in 1985, lying on my tummy on my aunt and uncle's bed, watching MTV on their telly in the bedroom (what a luxury, a telly in the bedroom!). We didn't have cable then, so watching MTV on a TV in a bedroom was the height of sophistication for me. And there he was. Bruce. In all his glory. I'm pretty sure my knowledge of English was pretty non-existent then, so I can't have known what 'Dancing in the Dark' was all about but that didn't matter at all. The first ever CD I bought was the Live 1975-1985 box set (80 guilders, which was a lot of money then for me), and I would listen to it on our family stereo (I didn't have my own CD player then) with these huge headphones on. Later on, I traced him back to his first albums and loved him even more. But always from a distance. It never occurred to me I could actually go and see him, live, doing a concert. Until this past xmas then all of a sudden I realised this is one childhood dream I can make come true.
So this past Wednesday, I boarded a plane, went to Amsterdam and saw the Boss in action. And boy, was it good. I didn't want the night to end or Bruce & the E Street band to stop playing. He was awesome. You could tell he was having a great time and he worked his butt off to give us a good time too. The whole band did. Better than I could have imagined. Here's to childhood dreams and making 'em come true.
You have one on me now. I still haven't seen Bruce in person yet. Glad you got to experience him live.
There is a version of Thunder Road that (I think) is on that boxed set that literally cured my homesickness in Japan. Just Bruce, a piano and maybe a xylophone in what sounds like a small club in Jersey. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to sit in that crowd and hear them play that night. You had to have known you were seeing and hearing something magical.
Posted by: Jeff D | Friday, 20 June 2008 at 09:36 PM
Oh Jeff, that is one of my favourite songs too! And in particular that version. Makes my neckhair stand up straight every time I hear it. What can I say Jeff, great minds think alike :-)
Posted by: Natasja | Sunday, 22 June 2008 at 07:42 PM
Hehe...we're brilliant!
Another thing you should try to dig up is when Bruce was on VH1's Storytellers. It's essentially him with a guitar or piano, playing a bunch of great songs and talking about them, how he wrote them, what he was thinking...just a great, great show. Here is an Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Springsteen-Storytellers-Sean-Ashby/dp/B000AMWJ16
Plus I dug up the old Bruce post I made when I was in Asia. You can decide on its poignancy or lack thereof.
http://jeffandpam.blogspot.com/2006/09/poets-and-storytellers.html
Posted by: Jeff D | Wednesday, 17 September 2008 at 05:00 AM