Thoughts of a Middle Aged Man

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert in Anaheim on Monday. First a little background. I am not a big concert goer. Let me count the concerts that I have been to:

• Van Halen (just before they got big)
• Linda Ronstadt (Smokey Robinson made an appearance)
• Dan Fogelberg
• James Taylor
• Bruce Springsteen

That does not include Alicia Keys and Tom Petty at the Super Bowl. So as you can see I do not frequent live music shows often. So on Monday, I really didn’t know what to expect. Thanks to my brother, and upcoming 50th birthdays, my wife, my brother and I were on the floor putting us 50 feet from the stage. Luckily, we were about the average age of the floor crowd, so the Mosh Pit was well behaved. At 8:30, Springsteen took the stage and he and the E Street Band went non stop for 2 1/2 hours. There was no break, just solid classic rock and roll to keep the crowd entertained. I thought the show was incredible, but since I didn’t have any context, I left the show a little uncertain if it truly was a great show, or was I just a newbie that was overwhelmed with the experience.

My brother’s post and the local reviews confirmed my suspicion, that what I witnessed was indeed a special show. When Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello took the stage with Bruce for the “Ghost of Tom Joad” I thought it was special, even thought I had no idea who Tom Morello was. His guitar solo was not only amazing but sent the crowd into a buzz that was so contagious, that I found myself cheering.

Many thanks to my brother for enlightening me to live music. I have found myself looking at the Friday paper now with open eyes for a show or two that I might like to attend. I didn’t find anything today, but you never know.