The following story was submitted by Jerry from Wildwood Crest, NJ. He found this contest through the popular Bruce Springsteen chat board BTX (Backstreets.com) and his story was truly enjoyable to read (as were all of your stories). I wish we had tickets to give away for everyone, but unfortunately, we can only give away one pair.
The rest of the stories will be posted shortly on Today.com so everyone can read them all! Thanks again, everybody, for making this such a great contest!
And of course, congratulations Jerry, and we’ll see you at the show!
I have been a fan of Bruce’s music since I was about 14 years old. I had a friend who was a big fan, and he used to try to get me to check out Bruce’s music. He used to talk about Bruce’s music so often that I was sick of hearing about it. At the time, I was into disco music and really wasn’t very well indoctrinated into the glories of Rock and Roll. However, after finally getting sick of hearing about this Springsteen guy from my friend, I agreed to listen to some of Bruce’s music. Not surprisingly, the first song he played for me was Born to Run. I had to admit that I was impressed. After a couple of listens, he convinced me to go out and buy the “cassette” of Born to Run. I remember taking the cassette home and popping it into my boom box and hearing the opening to Thunder Road and realizing that this was definitely not like anything else I had ever heard. I played the Born to run cassette over and over, marveling at how this music made me feel. I had never been moved by music in that way before. It was inspiring, and it was like I was hearing real music, music that actually spoke to me, for the first time. Well, I raved about it to my friend and he suggested that I needed to get “Greetings”, which I did. I found “Greetings to be as moving and powerful as Born to Run. Needless to say, I was hooked. I bought “The Wild and the Innocent”, and from then on I would have every Springsteen album on the day it was released. I began to read about Bruce and learn of his background, and he began to impress me as a human being as well as a musician. I knew that the next thing I needed to do was to see him live. I was a freshman in high school during The River tour, and at that time, I had never been to any concert so I really had no clue as to the nuances of acquiring tickets. That would come later. After The River tour, Bruce didn’t tour again until the Born in The USA tour which was during my senior year of high school. Now that I was a bit more concert savvy, I took measures to obtain tickets. All of the sporting events and concerts I had been to at that point took place in Philadelphia. I was from Wildwood Crest, NJ which is south of Atlantic City, but my whole family was from Philly so I was very familiar with that city. A friend and I got tickets for the September 12, 1984 show(the second of a six night stand at the Spectrum). We were in the lower part of the second level, very close to the stage. I was so excited, having heard so much of and read so much about the amazing shows that Bruce put on. My heart began to pound as the lights went out and I heard that booming drum intro to Born in The USA. When the spotlight first shone on Bruce, I was mesmerized. It was a feeling that I had never felt before. The energy and the passion were indescribable. That show moved on like a blur, even though it lasted for four hours. I was hooked. It was as a result of that show that I became a bona fide Springsteen fanatic. I had to see him again, and fast! We ended up getting tickets to the next to the last show of that Spectrum stand, and Bruce duplicated the experience I had the first time. And so it began. Ever since then, I have been to mostly every Bruce show in Philly, several at the Meadowlands, several in Asbury Park, and a few in Red Bank. I am approaching 50 shows and will reach and surpass that on this next tour. I know that there are people who have seen Bruce a lot more than that, but to most of the people I know, this is a lot. After each show I attend, one of the things I always say to whomever I am with is “And they want to know why I keep going!”. Honestly, every show I attend and have attended has made me laugh, think, cry, and really just fully experience life. There really is nothing that compares to seeing Bruce Springsteen live. Unfortunately, I am a Philadelphia sports fan, and I have seen a lot of sports heartache over the years. I am often asked whether I would rather go to a really important championship game like the Super Bowl with the Eagles playing in it or see Bruce. I always choose Bruce. Why? Because with any sporting event there is always a 50-50 chance that it will end in heart break if your team loses. Not with Bruce. At a Bruce show, I can duplicate and definitely surpass the rush of a thrilling sports event and know that I will walk out a winner because of the experience. I know many fans talk of feeling that Bruce has them and their situations in mind when he writes his music. I am definitely one of those fans. I guess that is one of reasons why Bruce is so good at what he does. He can speak to many through his music yet make each individual feel as if he is talking to him or her. I was never the type who waited outside of venues to try for autographs or pictures, but I knew I wanted the opportunity to meet Bruce. Not that it would matter whether I did or didn’t, but I just felt like I wanted to meet the man whose music had so deeply touched and influenced my life. That opportunity came in February of 2001 at that year’s Kristin Ann Carr Fund’s semi-formal. I had heard that Bruce always attended and that it was real low key. I figured,”What the heck.” Tickets were for a good cause, it was at a nice place in NYC, it would be fun to go up to New York dressed up, and if I got the opportunity to say hello and shake his hand, I would do so. No big deal. So I went along with my wife and some friends, and we had a really great night. We were mingling, having a few cocktails, and really enjoying ourselves. At one point, one of my friends was at the bar while I was seated at the table. He came over to the table and told me that Bruce was in this roped-off room by the bar. Off we went to see if we could say hello. Well, once we got there, we could tell that the reason it was roped off where Bruce was mingling was because it was the VIP section and there was a guy with a flashlight shining it on people’s hands to be sure they had the VIP stamp in order to gain access to the area. We definitely weren’t stamped VIP’s. So now what? We were entertaining the idea of trying to “grease” the flashlight guy’s palm, when all of a sudden Bruce Springsteen walks through the roped off section heading right toward us on his way to the bar. You know how Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden used to go “HOMANAH HOMANAH HOMANAH” whenever he got really nervous? Well, there I was doing my best Ralph Kramden in duress impression as my idol came strolling towards me. Somehow I managed to get a hold of myself, stick out my hand for Bruce to shake, which he graciously did, and stammer out,”Hey Bruce, nice to see ya”. He replied with some kind reply(I was too in shock to recall exactly what he said), and he continued on his way to the bar. I did it! I got to meet and shake hands with my idol, even if it was for only 30 seconds. I had to tell my pregnant wife who was with our other friends at our table in the other room. As soon as she saw my face she knew. I grabbed her and took her back to the bar to see if we could get a picture with Bruce, but by that time it was getting pretty crowded around him, and I didn’t want to bother him. Our table happened to be situated near the dance floor which hadn’t seemed very crowded the whole night. As the night was moving on, at one point we noticed the dance floor begin to get quite crowded. We walked over to see why, and sure enough, Bruce was out there dancing with Barbara Carr. All of a sudden I got an idea. What if I waited with my wife away from the dance floor but near where I knew Bruce would have to pass on his way back to the VIP section? I wouldn’t be smothering him like a lot of people were doing on the dance floor. I would politely request a picture while he was on his way back to the VIP room. My idea worked. Sure enough, after his dance, here comes Bruce heading our way. Mustering all the courage I had, I stuck out my hand, which he again graciously shook, and pointing at my pregnant wife said,”Bruce, we’re having a baby, could I please get a picture for good luck?” He smiled and replied,”You’re having a baby? C’mon, Daddy.” And with that, he put his arm around me, we smiled for the camera, and my wife took the best picture she has ever taken. I was now officially on cloud nine. As we drove out of New York, I called my parents and all I could say was,”I did it!” I explained what I meant, and they were thrilled. When we got home I was too excited to get much sleep. First thing we did was go to the CVS to get the film developed. I told the girl to be extra careful developing that film. I think she thought I was some nut but she said she would take good care of the film. We went to church, and after some extra praying, we went back to the CVS to get the film. Our prayers were answered as the picture turned out perfectly. It sits in a modest frame in my home. I didn’t blow it up or anything like that. It is nice to look at and remember Bruce’s importance in my life. Bruce’s music continues to move and inspire me, and I have since indoctrinated my son into his music(like he had a choice!). We will be with Bruce for the duration. I know there are fans who probably have better stories out there, but this is my “Bruce Experience”.
