I just got back from seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band at the Verizon Center. This is not going to be a teary-eyed essay about why Springsteen is awesome. I’ve written plenty of those for this site, so instead I’m just going to share a short anecdote.
Many people made signs with song requests on them. Midway through the set, the band played an instrumental soul-type tune as Bruce collected the signs from the crowd. After he had several dozen, he started going through them all. When he saw one that he liked, he would hold it up to the crowd and play the song.
Bruce went through the pile and started to smile. He held up a sign written by a nine-year old girl that said: “Jonas Schmonas! Smart 9-year olds are Out in the Street with Bruce and the E-Street Band.”
Bruce was clearly knocked out by the poster.
“Who made this sign?” he asked. “Was it you honey?”
The Jumbotron cut to a little girl on her dad’s shoulders, nodding at Bruce with wide eyes.
Bruce winked at her and said, “You got it!”
Springsteen glanced at Little Steven, and the band started to play “Out in the Street” for the girl.
During the second verse, Bruce brought the girl onstage and sang the rest of the song to her. The place went nuts.
My cold, cynical heart melted.
Moments like that make me forget that he didn’t play “Jungleland.” I probably shouldn’t be complaining though, especially since he played “Rosalita.”