Solo Rehearsal Show @ Paramount Theatre Asbury Park, NJ
In a dark theater, on a stage draped in purple and crimson, a lone figure in black stood stomping his foot, heaving into a harmonica and groaning distorted on the mic. A powerful moment on this cold, rainy afternoon in Asbury Park.
As a kid I can remember blasting an 8-track of a Springsteen show that I recorded off of the radio. I would jump around in front of a fake mic, playing air guitar hoping someday to get to see him live. To experience what was legendary, even at that early stage of his career.
Sadly I never had any luck getting to a show. No matter how I tried, tickets always eluded me. That is until he became a stadium playing rock god and by then I had sworn off all stadium shows for good. Too big, too crowded, bad sound, bad view, etc.
So when my brother asked if I wanted to go to a special solo acoustic show at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, how could I say no. The place only seats 750 and we’d be in the 6th row Orchestra.
After the total media saturation of Born in the USA, I gradually lost touch with Bruce’s music. I felt that he had drifted into the realm of making music to please the masses. Looking back now I regret that decision as I felt completely out of place while everyone sang along to songs I’d never heard before. Songs that far surpassed the quality of what he had going on in the mid eighties.
Say what you will but there is no doubt that the man can weave a good tale and captivate an audience. With no band backing him, he gave us two hours of raw brilliance revealing the qualities that make him an untouchable rock icon to some and a fantasized comrade, coworker or friend to others.
He could be funny with stories about his dad’s theory that love songs are a government conspiracy to get people married and pay more taxes. He could be political stating that the White House’s view on evolution is, “If six days ain’t enough time for you, fuck you. That’s your problem.” He was also the one who greeted the audience and made the ‘no cell phones’ announcement. A task normally left for an emcee.
One issue I’d love for him to clear up someday is his stance on the revitalization of Asbury Park. When he began to list out all of the worthy charities in town, he included Save Tillie. This made me cringe a bit. If you’ve read my past thoughts about Asbury Park, you know where I stand on this subject.
Although I am all for saving culture and history, the Save Tillie folks seem to have gotten it all wrong. In my opinion they’ve done little more than halt progress and keep a dilapidated city in ruins. All to save what has been neglected and laid to waste for decades. Bruce even joked saying, “I think we saved Tillie, but the building’s gone.”
Does he see how misguided those folks have been over the years? Much of why they began their crusade is fueled by his song lyrics and not by doing what is right for the city. Also, with all of his wealth and fame, what’s stopping him from say renovating the Paramount Theatre. Which, by the way, is a dump. When the lights were up my brother joked after looking at the stained seats, “I think this place was a porn theater at one time.”
So Bruce, if you’re reading this, call me. Let’s chat over a couple of beers and straighten this all out once and for all.
The show ended with an embarrassing moment for me. The house lights came up and Bruce started playing some chords. The crowd cheered as he asked for assistance on the chorus. He was like, “Just wait for it. You know when it’s coming.” and they cheered more. I assumed this would be one of his classics.
So I stood in anticipation when I noticed something. I had no clue what song this was. I awkwardly clapped and swayed trying to look like I belonged when clearly I did not. Then came the chorus and the theater erupted in joyous rapture and I stood there all befuddled.
I was just 20 or 30 feet away from Bruce, dead center. I fearfully fantasized that he was going to notice me not being a true fan and call me out. Thankfully that did not happen. My embarrassment was all in my head and simply made for a funny anecdote.
