First off – the quiz was broken but now it’s fixed. Basically I had to start a new one – if you’ve already taken it, please don’t take it again. Thank you! (Over a hundred of you took the quiz – is it the chance at free yarn, or bless my heart, do you all really want to learn about my religion, BruceSpringsteenOlogy – where it’s okay to take any drug you want?)
I don’t know where to start, really. I’m exhausted. We got home about 1AM and had something to eat then went to bed. But I was up at like 5:30 still thinking about the concert.
I expect a lot from a Springsteen concert. I expect to be transported to another place – a place where everyone pumps their fists in harmony. No, really, I expect to be lifted by the words and music. I expect the bass to pound in my throat and to be thrown into a frenzy and get extremely emotional. And I am RARELY disappointed. Last night was no exception. For the most part.
This time around Bruce is touring with a HUGE band – like 3 or 4 guitarists, bango,back up vocalists, piano, drums, a horn section, two violins, stand up bass, an archordian – there are A LOT of people on stage. And while the sounds of his new album verges on country (which I really don’t like) or hootinan, the horns save it! The horns are everything. (I may be in love with La Bamba!) (OH MY GOD! La Bamba and I went to THE SAME HIGH SCHOOL! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!) The whole concert feels like you’re at a New Orleans funeral. And the songs aren’t his – they are mostly songs that have become part of the fabric of America – old Negro Spirituals, protest songs, ballads. In the liner notes most of them aren’t attributed to any one person – they just are. But the presentation is pure Springsteen – it’s rousing and fun and playful and serious and heartfelt and AMAZING.
The first four songs were a blast. I wore a smile so big my face hurt. I was bouncing around like a kid presented with a puppy – complete with squeals and clapping hands. I was sweating and dancing and singing at the top of my lungs! I WAS IN MY GLORY! I had Bruce and my man by my side and nothing could go wrong.
The next part of the story I’m a bit ashamed about. But I’ll tell it anyway.
I’m not much for public sharing – i.e. movies, concerts, theater, sporting events. I’m acutely aware that there are many people out there just waiting to ruin public experiences for me. No, I’m not paranoid (much) to think that they are DELIBERATELY out there waiting to ruin things for me, but they are there. Waiting. It never fucking fails. I go to the movies and even when it’s empty someone sits next to me and talks the whole freaking time. I go to the theater and someone talks the whole freaking time. So I avoid these situations. I rarely, if ever, see movies in the theater. I’d rather watch at home where the only person who can ruin the experience for me is myself.
Inevitably this happens at concerts as well. Especially Bruce concerts. Bruce’s fan base is such that there are many people stuck in 1984 (the year Born in the USA was released and Bruce became MEGA.) These fans feel it is their god given right to see Bruce in New Jersey whenever he performs, get shit roaring drunk and scream out THUNDER ROAD every opportunity they get. Doesn’t matter if Bruce is alone on stage playing acoustic. Doesn’t matter if it’s the E Street Band. They come and they drink and they scream. It’s really quite a shame because in the end (if they remember anything) they don’t like the show because they don’t get Thunder Road and they don’t get arena rock and still they come. One of my favorite concert moments ever was seeing Bruce at the Beacon Theater in NYC – a very small venue. He was on the Tom Joad tour, which was a solo acoustic tour, and he started the show telling people that he needed quiet to sing these songs and please help him out and still there was one asshole – no doubt from Jersey – who wouldn’t stop yelling out Thunder Road. Bruce stopped, in the middle of the show, and told him in no uncertain terms to SHUT THE FUCK UP. If you don’t believe me – I’ve got it on tape. 😉
Last night, the first four songs were SPECTACULAR! I heard my favorite of the new album – Oh Mary Don’t You Weep, which was followed up by a nothing short of astonishing version of Atlantic City. Really – blew my freaking socks off. I was dancing I was singing I was deliriously happy. It was GLORIOUS. And then this asshole and his girlfriend bogarted their way into the seats next to us. Now, I know when you buy tickets to a concert it’s a crapshoot who your neighbors will be. That’s the price you pay (along with your first born to Ticketbastard.) BUT when assholes show up next to you WHO DON’T EVEN BELONG IN THE SEATS then you have every right to be livid. Don’t you? So these cocksuckers show up and they’re plenty drunk and the girl is holding one of those extra large beaker bottles filled with beer and she kept her bag on her shoulder the whole time so the beer bong thing is swinging around and her bag is swinging around and they’re dancing like drunken fools they are and they have friends two rows up who they keep high fiving with over this poor older woman’s head who wisely stayed in her seat the whole time because really she probably would’ve gotten sucker punched if she stood up. In between songs, when Bruce is talking about the homeless and the death penatly and war, this fucker next to us is shouting “Who loves you Bruce? Philly loves you Bruce! New Jersey loves you Bruce! THUNDER ROAD!!!”
Now I understand full well that this is a concert. People are allowed to dance and SHOULD dance and people are allowed to scream and SHOULD scream (hey I can BROOOOOOOCE along with the best of them – and I do) but the drunken disorderly-ness is UNACCEPTABLE. I will never understand why people pay A LOT of money to come to a concert to get shitfaced. Wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper to stay home and drink that six pack in front of the tape player? You can yell all you want there. It’s just so obnoxious and ignorant and base. And yes I think I’m better than this guy. I really do. Because at the end of the night he’s going to get in his car and drive home drunk and I can only hope he was arrested.
The worst part of all of this? I let the guy ruin my night. I HATE THAT. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT! I tried so hard to be all zen and say that it was okay and I was there and the music was good but I was so freaking aware of his spastic moves and that his drunk ass girlfriend was thisclose to hitting G in the head and that they yelled through the quiet songs and screamed during Bruce’s talks and that there was nothing I could do about it because anything action on my part of G’s part would’ve ended in a fight and I HATE IT! I LET THE FUCKING DRUNK ASSHOLE WIN!
Really, though, in the end I don’t blame the asshole. He’s an asshole. He has no choice in his life but TO BE AN ASSHOLE. He’s not smart enough to know better. (Or maybe he was – on the drive home I said to G what could that girl have possibly seen in him and we both commented on how we observed that when the girl left (to go buy more beer) the guy became completely normal. He stood there quietly – even sat down. As soon as the girl got back MR. ASSHOLE returned. It was really quite hysterical.) Anyway, I don’t blame the drunk guy. Put beer in front of him, he’s going to drink it. He has no self control. And I really don’t blame the venue either (which was quite nice – Tweeter Center in Camden) – they’re trying to make a buck. I blame Bruce. On the Devils & Dust tour, he made it tour policy that as soon as the lights went down and the concert started, all concessions stands closed. And yes, people were drunk because they spent all day drinking in the parking lot, BUT THEY DIDN’T GET DRUNKER. They got more SOBER as the
night went on. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences ever. And while I don’t expect this at every concert – maybe half way through you cut people off? An hour in? SOMETHING? I can’t believe you enjoyed the THUNDER ROADING any more than I did. In fact, I know you didn’t. So Bruce, my love. Do something!!!! I’m with you all the way, but please. No more.
Whew! That felt good. You may ask why I still go to Bruce concerts when inevitably there will be assholes nearby. Because my friends, those first four songs – when the asshole wasn’t near us – were some of the best moments of my life. And that’s worth all the assholes in the world.
Back later with some good stuff. And if you’re interested, AOL is showing 18 Nights of Bruce – a live clip from each of the US concerts. Last night’s My City of Ruins is already up. ENJOY! (I promise – no assholes.)
PS – Oh and so far no poison ivy. But I’m still itchy – although it’s kind of an all over body itch so I think it’s all in my head.
So *that’s* what the deal with the quiz is! I’ll have to try it again now that it’s working again.
I can relate to your Bruce and movie and other public places stories because that always happens to me, too, but I don’t know how to fix it. I wonder if I joined in the conversation during the movies if it would shut the talkers up… with my luck it wouldn’t. I’m going to have to do some thinking on the concertgoers and how to deal with them without raising the old blood pressure.
Oh, Cara. I’m so sorry that you had that experience. I can related to your story. My son and hubby had season tickets to the San Jose Earthquakes (now departed to Houston to become the Dynamo). They would always talk about these idiots who sit near them FOR EVERY HOME GAME. Screaming, ranting and raving at the refs, etc. I thought that they were exaggerating. Then, my son couldn’t go to one game, so I got to go. Let me tell you, loud-mouthed, drunken fans can ruin a good experience. I guess you know that though, right? BTW, my brother and his family live around the corner from BS in Rumson, NJ. You can barely see the house from the street!
During school concerts and plays, it never fails that a parent cell phone goes off right in the middle of the performance of the shyest, most self-conscious child. And they always have the world’s longest and most involved ringtone. No subtle vibrations or chirps for these folks- Mr. Capitol Hill’s ringtone sounds like something from Snoop Dogg. I have perfected a ‘look’ for these people which, combined with the fact that I am a TEACHER, seems to make some impression on the dads. The moms just think, “What a bitch.” Sigh.
you really do have an itchy brain.
It’s Ann’s fault as she put poison ivy in your head.
Damn assholes…what would the world be like without them?
You did good to keep your composure, you’re way above the likes of mr and miss dukes of hazzard who were both probably celebrating a successful wall climb to a free concert.
I used to have season tickets to the Washington Bullets. My seats were directly behind Robin Ficker, who is the reason I no longer have season tickets.
Clearly, the only solution is a private service.
; )
The assholes of the world are the main reason I just stay home (ok, that and that I like to stay home). I’m glad the first 4 songs made it worth the pain and suffering. Glad to hear you don’t have poison ivy.
Cara, that just sucks (the drunk ass dude) But, as you know… it will never stop. There will always be drunk assholes at concerts. Having been to a serious number of Dead shows, I’m here to tell you, even among stoned hippies, there are assholes 😉 Once at a Dead show, this person sat next to me, Geez, think it was in Philly but don’t remember.. FREAKING out because they hadn’t played Touch Of Grey yet (this was right after Touch Of Grey hit it big) I tried to explain to him how the Dead played, you know..different set list every night, chances are, dude, you are not gonna hear ToG tonight cuz they did it last night in the previous city. He freaked even more..saying he wasted his money. EYEROLL.
Anyway..don’t let the drunk losers bring you down sister! My philosophy? Smile and twirl!
Mary, Don’t You Weep is fantabulous.
On the subject of concert assholes: the week of my 21st birthday, I saw Dave Matthews Band at the Vet in Philly. The boys next to me were very young, smoking mondo amounts of pot. Eventually, the boy next to me fell asleep…with his hands down his pants.
He could have stayed home, turned on the cd, and provided himself with that service in private. Would have made my concert going experience much more pleasant. It was the first and last time I ever left a concert before the encore ended. I just could not take it anymore!
My friends and I used to go see Jimmy Buffett every summer. The last concert we went to was about 8 years ago, when the drunk teenagers on the lawn in front of us LEFT THEIR PASSED-OUT GIRLFRIEND there and went to party elsewhere. I don’t care if you’re at a Wiggles concert surrounded by toddlers, it’s not cool to leave a passed-out girl anywhere by herself. So we kept an eye on her (thank for that responsibility, strangers). And then she puked on my shoes.
So yeah, I know what you mean. I went to a Springsteen acoustic show too where some jerk yelled through half the concert. Sometimes people suck.
My husband and I went down to New Orleans for Jazz Fest and I got to see Bruce.. it was heaven :o) But there were tons of drunk (and high) loosers who thought it was their right to bump into everyone they could…stupid drunk people.
Well, phooey, wish the jerks had stayed home. Usually I do stay home since between the jerks and the loud from the amps I can’t really hear the music, just noise.
I figure that I can buy many CDs and enjoy them whenever I want for the price of one ticket.
It has been my experience that discreetly speaking with an usher regarding drunkeness (or seat switching)will often lead to the drunk being escorted to security. The laws that surround liability for drunk driving and the implications of a venue being sued in the case of an accident are reason enough for them to remove the drunks.
The key is to be very discreet AND to act surprised when the security guys arrive to remove the assholes.
Ugh. There’s always (at least) one. One time I was at an outdoor country concert, sitting in the expensive $400/seat for the weekend seats no less, and this HUGE like 6’10” guy right in front of me felt the need to stand the WHOLE TIME holding up like a beach towel with the performing artists picture on it. Like he wasn’t tall enough!
Anyway, I’m glad you were still able to mostly enjoy yourself 🙂
I hate going to concerts with people like that around.
Yuck. The same thing happens to me, and I’ve stopped going to the movie theater too. One time I went to the theater-theater (not movie but drama) to see Les Miserables and the guy next to me SANG throughout the entire first half. I got the usher to throw him out at the intermission, but not before his girlfriend deserted him out of humiliation 🙂
#%^#@% idiots – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. I completely empathize, having had many an event ruined the same way. Jerks can ruin your day. Some time back, I attended a pro football game at an indoor domed stadium with a strict no-smoking policy. My then-boyfriend was an attractive, muscular cop (sigh), who, being off duty, was not in uniform. Obnoxious jerk next to me smoked continuously from the moment he sat down. I asked him politely and repeatedly to not smoke, and pointed out that this was a non-smoking facility. When this produced no results, my boyfriend leaned across me and told the jerk, in a polite but firm voice, that his smoking was bothering the lady, and to please put out his cigarette. The guy whined back, “What are you gonna do – call a cop??” Boyfriend, in a still polite but noticeably firmer tone, said “I don’t have to. I AM a cop.” The idiot blanched white as a ghost and put out his cigarette. End of discussion. I LOVE that story!
Darlin’, you know why I took the quiz…
that “private service” idea is a nice one, I think 🙂
I agree with your rant about inconsiderate people. I don’t mind finding security guards when warranted, or telling people what they are doing that is making me SO frustrated. (Sometimes I lie and say I am off my “meds” and can’t be responsible for what happens next.) I don’t look scary, but I out weigh lots of folks and have a frantic gleam in my eye that I can summon at will.
Oh, and that all over itching, could WELL be the precursor to some small poison ivy “lesions.” I had all-over itching (Thank CVS for Benadryl!) and THEN broke out about 2 weeks later. Glad you washed… wash your clothes, AND THE SQUARES. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
I saw Grease last weekend with my sister and we stood in the foyer waiting to buy sweets while a HUGE group of 40 somethings rolled in singing the songs really loudly. We pray they are not sitting with us. We trot upstairs, following them, up and up. They are the three rows in front of us. They keep singin, especially when one of their group suffers an attack of vertigo and spends fifteen minutes in tears trying to get to her seat.( I admit I laughed at her).
My sister started to panic but I went along with it and joined in a bit. Fortunately, they piped down for most of it and we had a good time. Sandy was appalling anyway and their offkey singing drowned her out a bit.
Are these people bred in labs to remind us how lucky we are?
Cara, I am so like you in that respect! I hate that part of me, the one that can have a special night ruined by an asshole, but I just can’t stop myself from being affected! I’m a firm believer of manners and it seems that these days, there are so many people who feel entitled to their whims and wants! Maybe thats part of why I now live on 11 acres in boony-land. If the chickens of goats get too loud I can just shut the windows…LOL
Let’s see, Sunday I waded through poison oak, today’s Thursday. In theory it should show up within 48 hours, but last night another little row of bumps showed up. Mind you, I still count myself lucky, but I reserve a special hate for PO — and assholes at concerts, them too.
Could you be any more adorable? Your passion for Bruce (and everything else) even through the crap-tastic is so inspiring.
wow, that’s quite an entry. it’s hard for me to imagine what you talk about… i have only been to one concert ever. lol dave matthews. but it was fun…lots of drunk people tho.
have you seen the video for pay me my money down? i work for the company that owns GAC and i saw it when it came thru the door for air… bruce looks like he knows how to have a good time, that’s for sure.