Monday, November 12th, 2012 was one of the best days of my life. I mentioned in this post that had I purchased tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in St. Paul, Minnesota. I had no idea at that time what an AWESOME night it would turn out to be.
For the first time ever I decided to buy General Admission tickets instead of purchasing a seat. I've seen THE BOSS before, but always from a seat way up high at the very back of an arena. I had kind of given up ever getting up close until I met someone this summer that told me if I got General Admission tickets I had a very good chance of getting up front and that he would share his tips with me since he's done it many, many times.
I went ahead and got two tickets, one for me and one for my sister-in-law who shares my Springsteen obsession. I've been with her every time I've gone to see him and we both agreed that it was worth a try to get up close. Our day started at 12:30 p.m. when we left our small town in rural Minnesota and drove to St. Paul. On the way there my sister-in-law told me that she felt like it was our lucky day. We didn't know then just how lucky we would be.
We made it to the Excel Center by 1:45 p.m. and got our numbered General Admission wristband (the one on the bottom in this photo). I was #139 and she was #140. Then we walked to a nearby restaurant to have lunch - it was the last time we ate or drank anything for about 9 hours. We had to be back at the Excel Center by 4:30 p.m. for a lottery drawing; we were there by 3:30 and spent the next hour sitting on a ledge waiting for the drawing. Around 5 we were let into a large room with all of the other wristband wearing fans, lined up in numerical order (1-556) and a number was drawn. The person wearing the wristband with the drawn number would be the first person allowed into the PIT, right in front of the stage, followed by everyone else in numerical order. The number 107 was drawn, which meant that we were going to be the 32nd and 33rd people into the arena. Talk about lucky! At some point we were given a second wristband - the purple one shown in the photo - which gave us floor access.
We stood in our place in front of the stage for hours - we were let into the arena at 6:30 p.m. and the concert went from 8:30 to 11:30. During that time we made friends with a couple from Rome that came to the Twin Cities to visit family AND see Bruce Springsteen. They have seen him at concerts all over Europe as well as many locations in the US.
Their names were Andreas and Roxy and they were a lot of fun to talk to as we waited and waited. They had signs and an Italian flag - clearly very prepared.
Finally it was time for the concert to start and THE BOSS came out on stage and we saw him up close and personal for the first time EVER.
I did not zoom in on this photo or the ones to follow - we were actually that close. It was SO MUCH FUN to be in the pit, feeling the energy of the crowd and dancing and singing along with so many other fans. Bruce started the concert with "I'm a Rocker" and then followed up with "Hungry Heart" at which point he body surfed from the back of the pit to the front and back up on stage.
It was tempting to rush over and try to participate (meaning touch him!) but it was pretty early in the concert and I didn't want to lose my spot in front of the stage so I settled for a picture instead.
At one point Roxy held up her sign that said she came all the way from Rome to dance with Steven (van Zandt) and Bruce pulled her up on stage so she could do just that.
Yep, pretty jealous - although I would have stayed right with THE BOSS!
Last year Clarence Clemons, the long time saxaphone player in the E Street Band (known as The Big Man) passed away, which was a huge loss for everyone. His nephew is now playing the saxaphone for the band which is pretty cool. Bruce featured him quite a bit and also showed a great slide show in memory of Clarence.
Towards the end of the 3 hour concert he did THIS. The man is 63 years old and he's still got it! He puts on such a high energy performance - never taking a break or leaving the stage for 3 hours.
By the time the concert ended we were all exhausted - our feet hurt, our backs hurt and we were really, really thirsty. We bought t-shirts and made our way back to our car and then drove home, arriving about 13 hours after we had left.
It was SUCH AN AWESOME NIGHT!! I can't imagine that I will ever stop talking about it, and I don't know why I would! If you even have a chance to attend a Springsteen concert DO IT. You won't be disappointed!
