Bruce Springsteen at the Rose Garden

Before I got into news, I worked in music radio, and that meant I saw a LOT of concerts. Up until this week, I would have said nobody could have topped Tina Turner when it came to showmanship (well, OK, maybe Neil Diamond). Heck, even at 70, Tina put on a show that would embarrass Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears or just about anyone else in the biz.

But then I saw Bruce Springsteen at the Rose Garden Wednesday night. Wow. He opened with ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ and closed it out three hours later with ‘10th Avenue Freeze-Out.’ No break, no intermission, no fancy stage or pyrotechnics like U-2, just three hours of pure music and fan interaction.

I’d never seen Bruce in concert, and honestly tried not get my expectations up. But by the third song in, when he threw himself into the audience for some ‘crowd surfing,’ I knew I was in for something special. No security followed the Boss as he made his way through the Rose Garden. In fact, the thing I felt all night was trust. He trusted his fans, and his fans trusted Springsteen to put on a great show. He did. He brought everything with him for that performance…and make no mistake, that’s what it was, a performance.

When some of my co-workers here heard I was going, they kidded  me I was seeing an ‘oldies’ act. Springsteen may be getting up in years ‘I’m on old man’ he said during the show, ‘but I’ve got a job to do.’ And boy did he do it. Thanks for a wonderful night.

Dan Mitchinson

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