Springsteen’s fans: the nicest people

You meet the nicest people at a Bruce Springsteen show. Really. It could be Bruce, his music, his philosophy. It could just be that the music makes you feel good and smile more and be friendly. Maybe it’s a shared bond, the communal experience, like being in church with an incredible choir. I’m sure there’s plenty of blog posts out there on the subject so I’m not going to belabor the point.

Last night we hung out with some really cool people. Sitting next to us was a well off, successful luxury car dealer who worked his way up. And after the show, I had a great time talking with a man from a nearby city; he arrived late and I shared with him set notes from my iPhone. He’s the one who dialed us in to which exit Bruce had used the night before and walked with us there and showed us his car.

At that exit, we visited with a Polish singer here to do some recording and her friend who had done some recording of the show; they sat next to Sting during the concert, adn we saw Sting drive off with a wave to us.

Another man had recently picked up old Bruce LPs with hopes of autographs; he generously shared one with the Polish couple. There was a woman with a picture of herself and Bruce from the Rising tour in 2001. She and others were so moved by the Big Monkey’s story and his photo that they wanted to see him get his picture signed.

And after 22 years of bringing that picture to almost every show, last night, with the help of some friends, Bruce signed it. It was the last item he autographed before he headed off with his friends.

I’d scan the signature to share with you, but right now, it’s with the Big Monkey at work, so I’ll have to add it later as well as photos and video from our new friends.

As we left, we talked with Scott who the Monkey has known through many years of following Bruce; they’ve traveled to shows together in California and Nevada. Scott knew what it meant for him to finally get that photo signed. Then he called his friend Mark who’d given us the tickets, then his friend Ron who writes such thoughtful reviews. These are deep friendships, build through the attendance at the Church of Bruce.

Thanks, Bruce. From the bottom of our hearts.