By Jim Hunt for the News and Journal
Last year, I was looking forward to seeing one of my musical idols, Bruce Springsteen
and the E Street Band in Pittsburgh. As the day approached, I was listening to his music
in my car and through my Air Pods on my walks each morning at the Bridge. I caught a
part of the news on the radio and heard some distressing news about my dream
concert. It seems that the 74-year-old singer was suffering from a peptic ulcer and had
canceled the remainder of his U.S. and Canada tour. While I was disappointed, I
realized that this is the challenge of following these aging rock stars as they deal with
the common problems of old age.
I can’t imagine Bruce Springsteen, worth over a billion dollars, still touring around the
world and staying in hotels for weeks at a time. I have some appreciation for his passion
and dedication to his fans, but I don’t think I would carry his suitcases around with him
for a million dollars a year. And what about guys like Mick Jagger, at 81 and Keith
Richards at 80, still strutting around the stage and making the women swoon. It can’t
have been the hard living, and illegal drugs that seem to be giving them this immortality.
Or is it?
A better writer might be concocting a joke about these senior citizens but when I thought
about it, the only thing I could think of is that the Rolling Stones Tour is being sponsored
by the AARP and then I went to their website and saw that indeed, the tour is being
sponsored by the AARP. So much for humor. At least Bruce Springsteen has a reason
to approach the makers of Prilosec, which is the usual treatment for peptic ulcers, in
case you didn’t know.
When they canceled the concert, you had the option of getting your money back or
waiting for Bruce to recover and hopefully reschedule. I wasn’t sure which would be the
best option, but I had some reservations about letting Ticketmaster have my money for
a year and if Bruce came down with a cold, I may never get to see him. I bet on “The
Boss” being resilient and kept the tickets and fortunately, a few weeks ago, my wife and
I were on the road to the PPG Arena for the concert.
When the concert started, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Van Zant, were electric. They
did five songs before even taking a breath and the crowd was standing throughout.
They played for two and a half hours, and the packed arena sang along with each song.
I knew there would be an encore, but it was more than anyone could anticipate. Another
half hour and five songs later, the band retreated to backstage as Bruce returned to the
stage for a final song.
Without a doubt, one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Long live the Boss!