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March 2023 (Part 08)

Bruce Springsteen Concert at State College, PA

The kids had been back at school for a week, so it was clearly too long since we'd seen them.  Steve had gotten four tickets to the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Penn State arena, so we headed up to see the kids and Bruce.  What an amazing show.  18 members in the band and Bruce didn't leave the stage or take a break for over 3 hours and 10-15 minutes.  Astonishing show.  Not sure how much the kids were familiar with his song list, and admittedly, many of the early songs were not as familiar to Steve or Nancy.  But many of the hits were there, especially after the 30-second intermission that all but Bruce took.  Steve got to here his top request of Rosalita, but not the River, while Nancy was left without her top request of Born in the USA.  Still, he lived up to his reputation and one of the best live acts ever, it was simply wonderful.

Bruce formed the E-Street band in 1972, naming it for the street the keyboardist lived on and whose garage they practiced in.  Only one original member from that time remains, Garry Tallent on bass, although most of the band has been together for a long time.  Max Weinberg on drums and Roy Bittan on piano joined in 1974 before their third album Born to Run.  The last core member, Little Steven (aka Miami Steve, Stevie Van Zandt) was a childhood friend and a band member, but had left to form his own band when Springsteen was first signed and so didn't officially join until late 1975 when he helped to arrange and created some of the guitar lines for Born to Run.  Guitarist Nils Lofgren joined in 1984 for the Born in the USA tour.  Also in front was Soozie Tyrell who played a variety of instruments, including violin.  There was also keyboardist, Charles Giordano (since 2006); a percussionist, Anthony Almonte; and four backup singers including Curtis King (since 2006), Lisa Lowell (since 1992), Ada Dyer, and Michelle Moore (since 2012).  Finally, there was a five-piece horn section, featuring Jake Clemons on saxophone, who replaced his revered uncle Clarence, one of the original E-Street members.  Missing for this show was Bruce's wife, Patti Scialfa.  The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.  Either solo or with the band, Bruce has released 24 albums selling more than 71 million in the U.S. and over 140 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.  He is the first artist to score a top five album across six consecutive decades.  "He has earned numerous awards, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award. He was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016 and awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Joe Biden in 2023. He ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Artists of All Time, which described him as being "the embodiment of rock & roll"

One of the unexpected issues with the evening was that Penn State wound up playing their second round NCAA tournament game at the same time, a match-up with 2 see Texas.  The had won their first game as an upset, taking down 7 seeded Texas A&M as a 10 seed by a score of 76-59.  Andy, and many other people in the stands, were watching the game along to the concert.  They kept it close, even having the lead with only four minutes to go, then going down by 2 then 3 with about two minutes to go, before finally losing 71-66.  The look on Andy's face says it all.