Eight Rows Back

As a teen-ager my mother and I weren't very close.  We fought a lot and got on each other's nerves.  But one thing we could always agree on was Bruce Springsteen's music.

That's why I found myself standing outside the Worcester Centrum on February 5, 1988 for over eight hours.  The temperature may have read fourteen degrees outside but knowing two tickets to the opening show for Springsteen's "Tunnel of Love Express Tour" were waiting for me behind those doors was keeping me warm inside.

This show held more meaning for me other than Worcester being the start of the tour; it would be the first rock concert my mother and I had attended.  She had always managed to drag me to her country artist concerts.  Now I was getting my turn.

They say timing is everything and on that fateful evening of February 25, my mother and I rounded the corner of the Centrum only to bump into Steve Van Zandt.  He was just getting out of a Boston cab, dressed in his signature bandana and chains, a cigarette dangling from his lips and a boom box in his hands.

"Look!"  My mother shouted.  "It's Little Steven!"

A few other onlookers had gathered by now but we managed to get his photo and autograph.  I still have this slip of paper today.  He simply wrote:  "Solidarity - Little Steven".

Once inside we sped through security and rushed to find our seats.  Until this time I had no idea where we were sitting, as I could never figure out the seating area.  Usher after usher kept telling us to head down to the floor.  We finally got there and the usher led us way, way down the aisle.  We were getting closer to the stage.  My heart thumped.  Closer.  Closer.  He stopped eight rows back from the stage.

"How'd you manage to get such great seats?"  He asked with a smile.

"I waited in line for eight hours to get tickets," I replied.

Soon the arena dimmed and Bruce appeared on the stage.  He opened the show asking the crowd, "Ready for a date?" and broke into "Tunnel of Love".

Sadly my mother passed away in 1998.  I have never been to another Springsteen show but I have attended many other concerts, none of which will ever be as special as this concert was.