Riding Out Tonight To Case The Promised Land (16/6/13)

This is how I came to Bruce Springsteen. At least, it's the way that I remember it.

I was stood in a physics class in what must have been early 1980. Hungry Heart came on the radio. I have no idea why the radio was on in a physics class but there you go. 'Thats pretty decent' I thought and left it there.

Ste Beb bought Billy Doyle the 'Born To Run' album on vinyl (it could only be that or cassette at the time) for his 18th birthday. Late 81/early 82 then? The cover looked pretty cool, stark white background, one man leaning on the back of another, a guitar and a sax. I don't recall linking the cover with the previous single.

Then there was The River; stood in the hallway of a Parisian hotel on a sixth form holiday, Feb 81. 'That' I thought 'is bloody great' and did no more about it.

'Atlantic City' was heavily played on The Old Grey Whistle Test and was clearly utterly brilliant. Again, I did no more about it.

The ubiquity and sheer colossal presence of 'Born In The USA' put me off. Yes, 'Dancing In The Dark' was a fine pop song, 'I'm on Fire' was pretty special but I couldn't get any further than the tub thumping rabble rousing patriotism of the title track. Obviously I didn't listen to the lyrics, if I had I'd have known better. No, I was against Springsteen. I fell on the Prefab Sprout side of things; "some things hurt more, much more, than Cars & Girls"

If I'd been paying attention then I'd have known I was missing the point of that single as well.

Then I got this job in Revolver Records in Lord Street in Liverpool. Got the job in August 86 and in November 86, to great fanfare, they released the 5LP box set 'Live 1975/1985' and I changed everything that I thought. I was convinced by the end of track one, side one, disc one. By the time I hit the end of my first listen of Thunder Road I was a fan.

And it built from there; the release of Tunnel Of Love was a retrenchment from stadium sized sounds, a quiet, personal, subdued album of the heartbreak of a man who should have it all.

The live experience started when we lived in Leeds; a trip to Sheffield for the Human Touch tour. A serviceable band. Fine but not the full spectacle.

Me and J did the E Street band reunion tour at Manchester (G Mex, I think) - we were selling tickets at the time, I bought ours the second they went on sale. Seated but down the front. J wasn't feeling well through the entire gig, we didnt know it but she was pregnant with Matty.

We did the Seeger sessions tour, J hadn't heard the album (a folk album, full of banjos and fiddles, songs that were 200 years old) two hours, loved every second, sat watching it in the gods.

Old Trafford was something else though; both of us in the stands watching 'Promised Land' lead into 'No Surrender' onwards and upwards.

I did the Etihad last year on my own. In the rain. The week after The Roses (or the week before The Roses, who remembers?) on the pitch. 30 songs, 3 hours, perfect. One of the greatest gigs that I've ever seen.

I wasn't going to see him on this tour but somewhere about a week ago J got hooked on watching 'Tougher Than The Rest' on YouTube and decided she wanted to see him live. So we started to sort it out. Coventry, next Thursday, seemed a good call but J's workload is huge, she can't do midweek, can't take time off.

Yesterday afternoon I seriously considered the idea of driving down to Wembley on my own for last night's gig (which appears to have been one hell of a show)

Instead, this morning, for Fathers Day, we bought two tickets for Coventry on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon I will be waiting outside our Tom's college at 3.15pm for him to come out. He'll jump in the car and we'll drive to Coventry. I'm taking my son to see Springsteen.

Now THAT is one hell of a Father's Day present.

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