Count the band in, then kick into overdrive
By the end of the set we leave no one alive
Ghosts runnin' through the night
Our spirits filled with light
I need, need you by my side
Your love and I'm alive
After what feels like an overly extended Darkness on the Edge of Town, a weary and hungry E Street Nation this week made its return to the not-so Secret Garden in Boston to break free of our pandemic-induced withdrawal from the live concert experience that is the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making LEGENDARY E STREET BAND, led of course, by their Boss in rank and name, Bruce Springsteen.
And let me tell you, after nearly seven years of not seeing the Boss and company have crowds nearing 20K eating from the palm of his hand, it was a desperately needed return to normalcy for an experience that has accompanied so many of us for decades, providing the background soundtrack of our lives.
My brother Jimmy first started seeing the Springsteen not long after his 1973 debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., and indoctrinated me into E Street Nation by taking me to my first Bruce shows, in Providence, R.I., and the original Boston Garden.
In the ensuing 40+ years, my friends, family and I have enjoyed live Springsteen in all of his iterations, numbering literally more than a thousand times collectively among us.
Along the way, we have been joined by multiple like-minded fans who have helped us write new chapters in the Book of Dreams that has chronicled our shared memories. Sadly, we have also lost some members of that Band of Brothers.
Well now young faces grow sad and old
And hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
I'm ready to grow young again
But this week, we reunited to celebrate the return of live performances, something we've been clamoring for ever since the cloak of COVID blanketed live concert opportunities more than three years ago.
And let me tell you, it was exhilarating to be back Out in the Street with the Boss.
A disclaimer: the pics to follow come from a variety of sources - me, Andrew, Katie, Marcia, Ken, and the interwebs. Apologies for no cutline credit, but in the days where everyone in the crowd brandishes a hand-held camera, it's hard to keep track of what comes from where.
We gathered first, as we often do, to break bread in the North End. We MAY have slipped a cannoli into our pre-game warmup.
We got our own roads to ride and chances we got to take
We stood side by side each one fighting for the other
And we said until we died we'd always be blood brothers
One of the additions that made this particular Bruce show so unforgettable was that it marked the first time Andrew's bride Katie experienced a live Springsteen concert.
She's had to endure the songs non-stop alongside her husband, but this would mark her first live show, and it would, inevitably, leave its mark upon her.
(Notice she's already working Springsteen tee-shirt swag, alongside her husband who's wearing my OG 1980 Springsteen long-sleeve tee.)
From the North End, it's over to the North Station for the Main Event.
(Though for some, an Italian dinner in the North End is a Main Event of its own.)
Ghosts runnin' through the night
Our spirits filled with light
I need, need you by my side
Your love and I'm alive
I turn up the volume, let the spirits be my guide
Meet you, brother and sister, on the other side
I'm alive, I can feel the blood shiver in my bones
I'm alive and I'm out here on my own
I'm alive and I'm comin' home
Yeah, I'm comin' home
From the opening notes of No Surrender straight into Ghosts, it was readily apparently the Magic was back.
Our collective E Streeters circle of friends was scattered throughout the Garden, but we were still united as kindred Spirits in the Night. A special shoutout to Ken Gordon and Susan Strauss who scored standing spots in the pit
Cue rapid-fire live set show pics:
This particular Boston night, I had already lost my voice before the encores, which featured so many of his anthemic songs. Sadly, for me, happily for those around me, I had little to contribute to the noise level by the time Born to Run blew the roof off the Garden.
Well, there's another dance
All you gotta do is say yes
And if you're rough and ready for love
Honey, I'm tougher than the rest
Katie and Andrew spent most of the encore dancing, earning them praise from the concert-goers behind them who were swept up in their sheer jubilation.
Somewhere in this mass of humanity stands Ken and Susan, swarmed by a crush of fans who rushed the mid-floor runway during the Tenth Avenue Freezeout.
Here they are here, center screen:
Despair not, the pair held their own and captured these epic shots:
So, a fun little aside:
Out there in the twitterverse, some fellow Bruce fans posted these random shots of Bruce and Nils riffing it out.
What makes them of particular note to regular readers of this blog is the guest appearances (above Bruce's head) of ye author, ye author's wife, ye author's son, and ye author's daughter-in-law.
Mike Wizowski would be proud of us.
(I zoomed in on them in case we don't stand out from the crowd)
If you're still with us up to this point, I'm hoping these pics helped capture some of the Glory Days of being back on the Backstreets with Bruce and friends, not to mention our own friends who've logged many a mile on our own Thunder Roads.
After sending the 17 members of his band off stage, Bruce broke out his acoustic guitar to end the night with a poignant solo version of I'll See You in My Dreams.
I'll see you in my dreams
When all the summers have come to an end
I'll see you in my dreams
We'll meet and live and love again
I'll see you in my dreams
Yeah, up around the river bend
For death is not the end
And I'll see you in my dreams
We still have multiple shows to absorb in the coming days, weeks and months of this tour, but man, does it feel good to be back.
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