BRUUUUUCE

Bruce Springsteen tickets go on sale in 49 minutes.

Wish me luck.

If I get tickets, I am going to take my dad with me. I am not asking him if he wants to go, I am telling him that he is going. Period.

I am sitting here nervously watching the clock... my heart is pounding, my palms are sweaty, my fingers are all twitchy. I drank some coffee, but Amy suggested that i should probably drink a beer instead.

I remember the other times i got Bruce tickets:
Sleeping outside the mall with Manny in 1992.
Matthews calling me on the phone with FREE Bruce tickets in 1993.
Getting 4 tickets to a Meadowlands Arean show in 1999.
Going in to work to use the phones with the really really fast redial to call about 350 times to get tickets for the Boston Concert in 1999.
2003 - Jason and Kristin coming over and Jason and I looking on the internet to see what time tickets were going on sale and learning that there were tickets available already for the Giant Stadium concert- and then getting them.
A week later getting tickets for the Lincoln Financial Field concert.

By thunder those are some good memories... the minute i had the tickets in my hand, or at least knew that i was going to see Bruce, a sense of nervous calm fell over me... like all was going to be right with the world. No matter what hardships or problems would befall me in the next few days/weeks/months, there was always a light at the end of the tunnel - the light of Bruce.

I do not mean to tirvialize the religious experiences of pilgrims who travel to far away places in order to see sacred places or objects, but the six times i have seen Bruce were truly holy events that in some way changed my life either momentarly or permanently. After seeing Bruce from the front row and after he slapped my hand and after he looked at me and pointed at me, I felt as though that this truly was a sign that there is a God and that He wants me to be happy. I thought at that very moment when Bruce slapped my hand, that it was the pinnacle of my life. And, up to that moment, it was the apex of my 27 years. (That event has since been surpassed by my wedding day; and both of those events (concert and wedding) have been eclipsed by the birth of Fiona... indeed every single minute with Fiona far exceeds the front row concert.) I understand that Bruce is not a God or a Saint... he is just a man. But like God and religion, he is a constant in my life. When I look back over the last 20 years, the only things that have been there the entire time are: God, My Family, and Bruce. (Of course i now have amy and fiona to add to the list, but i am looking at a broad overview of my life from pre-adolescence to today.)

Anyway, my point is this: Bruce rules and he is awesome and I would love to see him again.

Wish me luck... i will post later.

peace
mph


UPDATE****************************

BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS

Bad news is that I will not be seeing Bruce Springsteen with my dad. I won't be seeing him with any of my family of friends for that matter, which leads me to my good news.

The good news is that I am going to see Bruce Springsteen on November 8 at the Spectrum. (The spectrum is, of course, where i first saw Bruce 13 years ago.) After failing to get a pair of tickets for the concert, i went back and tried to get one ticket... SUCCESS! I will be flying solo at a bruce springsteen concert. Some might see a person sitting by themselves at a concert and say "What a loser... he must not have any friends, and/or he is soooo increadibly obnoxious that no one would be seen in public with him." Or they might think - "Wow... that guy is super dedicated."

More good news - Because i ordered just one ticket, i got a pretty decent seat - i am in the front row of section 206... therefore i am in the front row behind the seats on the floor. literally 1 foot in front of me is the floor of the Spectrum.

I will add a post later with the songs I want to hear.

peace
mph