Air Canada Centre, Toronto
May 7, 2009
I’m an emotional wreck
But what did I expect?
Contemplating the meaning of life so hard
Over the entire month leading up to this
I guess I should stop it
And all my self-analysis
But I can’t seem to help it
So I’ll blame it on my mid-life crisis
Hooking up at the Monarchs Pub for pre-show drinks
I take a single toke
And catching up with an old friend
From our excellent ACC ring side seats
Helps me snap out of it
But my spirits hang low
Much lower than they should
For someone about to see a Springsteen show
Fuck anyone who tells me...
“you can choose to be happy”
Because that just ain’t so
I wish he was here
And I wish someone would share the secret
To finding more than momentary happiness
“Soon The Boss will be jumping around on that very platform
Directly in front of us”, Ken says
“I know, I was just thinking that
“Thanks to you for scoring these great tickets!”
I won’t be the least surprised if I spot him here
Because it never seems to fail
The one person I don’t really want to see
Will likely be the first one I do see
Despite the 20,000 to one odds
Of finding someone in a crowd the size of this
But it happens to me all the time
I’m afraid I left a negative effect
And that wasn’t my intention
Ken leaves for the men’s room
While I sit back and survey the audience
Rock and roll is clearly alive and kicking
With smiles plastered on faces everywhere I look
Especially on the folks
Filling up the standing space down in front
I love live music
And I really am thrilled to be here
Among so many others who also love live music
But I struggle with my inner demons
As I sit here waiting, surveying and taking notes
I find it hard to let them go
Turning my head to the right
Lo and behold, I shit you not
There he f^&king is
I knew it
I knew it
I just f&^king knew it!
Sitting in the same middle-aged row as me
But in the next section
With my heart fluttering
I send a text message
And when his gaze turns toward me
An intense stare down begins
We’re not smiling
And before too long
I look away
I wanted to share this show with him
I have the heart of a rock and roll romantic
And no one stokes the fire inside me better than
Bruce Springsteen
And that hot cock rocker sitting right over there
Detached
Well, I guess I should be glad he’s not sitting
Directly in front, behind or beside me
That would really suck
Considering he’s here with someone
With different colour hair than me
I take a deep breath
And start to wonder if something other than music
Cannot make me happier
The lights go down and the roar of the crowd rises
With the explosive sounds of Badlands to open up the set
Ken returns just in time
As the house lights go up
And I pull myself together
So I can get a good look at The Boss
And the band under the bright lights of the arena
Springsteen immediately has us in the palm of his hand
“I don’t give a damn for the same old played out scenes
I don’t give a damn for just the in-betweens
Honey I want the heart, I want the soul
I want control right now!”
Fuck
Fists pump the air all around
And I try not to feel it but
“Now I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope and I pray
That some day
IT
Will raise me above these...”
Fuck!
What the hell is IT?
“That’s not Patti”, Ken says
No it’s not
I wonder why The Boss’ wife has been replaced
Strange to see someone new on the E Street stage
Her hair is too perfect, I think
I’ve seen the Boss more than a dozen times
No one puts on a show quite like him
I love that he keeps doing this
But my mind wanders again
Back to a phone call I got earlier
Damn him too, I say to myself
Today was my last day of work
And it was hell
But now I’m on vacation for ten days
And it’s off to a quite a start
“Well, we busted out of class
Had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a 3-minute record, baby
Than we ever learned in school”
Aaah, the story of a youthful Bruce and Little Steven!
“Well, now young faces grow sad and old
And hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
Now I'm ready to grow young again
And hear your sister's voice calling us home
Across the open yards
Well maybe we'll cut someplace of own
With these drums and these guitars”
No surrender, No Surrender, No f&^king Surrender!
Noticing the Big Man’s two shiny saxophones
I wonder if he’ll blow one for Jungleland
My fists pump the air now too
Sandwiched between Outlaw Pete and Working on a Dream is...
“Angel in her eyes
That tells such desperate lies
And all you want to do is believe her
And tonight you'll try just one more time
To leave it all behind
And to break on through
Oh she can take you, but if she wants to break you
She's gonna find out that ain't so easy to do
And no matter where you sleep tonight or how far you run
She's the one
She'd fill them long summer nights with her tenderness
That secret pact you made
Back when her love could save you
From the bitterness”
Fuck!
The Boss makes his way over to our side of the stage
Up close I can see his laugh lines
And the crow’s feet as he blows his harmonica
But not near close enough to be able to grab hold of him
No, certainly not that close
But outstretched arms reach up from the floor
And Bruce gets in the midst of it
Several cell phone cameras are raised high
To capture the moment
And all I can think of is...
In the old days lighters were the only things held high
But fuck the lighters and fuck the cell phones
If Springsteen were kneeling down that close to me
I wouldn’t be holding up anything
I’d be grabbing hold to the arm of his muscle, baby
Pulling him down so I could maul him
And smother his face with kisses
Bruce shares his microphone with some girl
Who, as expected, don’t sound too good
Screaming with excitement instead of singing into it
It’s only rock and roll and I like it
When the song is over
Bruce finally begins to talk
The preacher says they want to build a house of love and faith
And asks the crowd for our help
Because the band can’t do it all by themselves
I say, “now that’s what I’m talking about!”
The gospel according to Bruce
And we could all use some sexual healing!, he says
“Hell, yea!”
Springsteen’s words fill us with hope
Fighting hard, I fail many times throughout the night
As I try not to look
Patti’s replacement not only plays guitar
But a fine violin
I didn’t catch her name when Bruce made the introduction
But he did say Patti was home recovering
From injuries sustained from a horse riding accident
“But she’s alright!”, Bruce exclaims
Before dedicating Kingdom of Days
Max Weinburg is one helluva drummer
Perched high atop the kit, he rocks
Max Weinburg rocks! He f&^king rocks!
And with the pounding sound of drum and bass
Here it f^%king comes...
Baby, we were Born to Run!
I cannot find the words to convey
How this song makes me feel
So at the risk of repeating myself yet again
Born to Run is, in my opinion
“the greatest rock & roll youth anthem of all time”
Every time a band member comes near our section
Arms shoot straight up, high above our heads
To show our appreciation
Jumping up and down
We yell our praise and love straight back at them
Nils Lofgren’s guitar work shines bright
Making The Ghost of Tom Joad a definite highlight
There are many placards in the crowd
And Bruce acknowledges the New Jersey placard
Hanging down from fans sitting above our section
But it’s the placards with song requests written on them
Waving back and forth above the heads of the audience down front
That obviously get most of Bruce’s attention
Watching him gather many of the home-made signs
Bruce reads the requests before placing them at his feet
And then leads the band to play each and every one of them
I particularly liked the car painted on the placard for
Racing in the Street
Roy Bittan played beautiful keyboards all over it
My eye fights and loses miserably
I just caught a James Brown smile
Ken nudges me with a celebrity sighting
Sure enough
There’s a familiar hot blonde on the floor below
Standing right beside her bad-boy hockey player boyfriend
It’s none other than Kelly Carlson
The actress who plays Kimber on the popular Nip/Tuck television series
A tv series which had me addicted
And dreaming of Dr Christian Troy and plastic surgery all last summer
Ken tells me he was told in advance they’d be here tonight
“Man, you know everything!”
My eyes stay on the stage most of the time
But my straying right eye now has a challenger
As it shifts from the stage to the gorgeous NHL/Hollywood couple
Kelly Carlson and Tie Domi clearly have great taste in music
Steven Van Zant appears to be having a conversation with us
Without, of course, actually being able to hear a single word he says
Nonetheless he’s giving our section his attention
Walking around the stage in that familiar way
I can’t help but think of his character on The Sopranos
Van Zant is so cool
And I find his mumbling coolness
Comparable to the mumbling coolness of Keith Richards
And that’s pretty darn cool
But it’s time for 10th Avenue Freeze-Out!
Like I always say about the E Street Band
“Rock and roll don’t get much better than this!”
Bruce looks as incredibly hot as ever
Hanging low in a backbend off the microphone stand
And for this number, Clarence Clemens rocks
The Big Man on sax, in layers of black, totally rocks
After something like a three or four song encore
Including the question...
“Rosalita, won’t you come out tonight?”
The house lights come up for the last time
And the 3 plus hour show is finally over
For our chosen path out of the crowded venue
Ken leads me to the left, fortunately
I don’t want to bump into him
Ken and I head back to the Delta Chelsea Hotel
Where every Thursday night, The Monarchs Pub plays host
To Toronto’s own Jerome Godboo and Jack DeKeyzer
But I tell Ken, “As much as I love you
And both these blues musicians
I’m only having one drink
And I’ll stay long enough to meet your cousin
But then I really must leave
I’m on vacation, sure
But I’ll need a good cry when I get home
Then again
With the emotional roller coaster I’m on
I won’t be surprised to find myself
Having an hysterical laughing fit instead
But hey, come to think of it
I won’t have time for any of that
Unless I want to be up all night
I still have to pack for Vancouver
And my flight leaves in the morning!”
http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
http://www.theaircanadacentre.com/
http://www.monarchspub.ca/home.html
