Bruuuuuuuuccccceeeeee! 33rd Edition

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The driving around the City of Pittsburgh is brutal! We were following the voice of the GPS lady and she was taking us down side streets, up hills, down into valleys and through construction work where the guide rails were inches away from both sides of the truck.

"I feel like I'm in a video game," I said at one point.

But we made it.

We swiped my credit card and headed for the escalator, figuring we'd have to go up a level.

"You're in the premium section," the usher told us.

"How the hell did you do that?" I asked my beautiful wife.

"I don't know. I just ordered them off the computer."

And we headed to our seats. Our vantage point is shown above. We settled in and the woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder.

"How many have you been to?" She asked.

"This is number 33," I said.

I was a little embarrassed as it makes me sound like a nutcase, but it's been over 30 years!

"I lost count at 75," she said.

The guy to her left said he was well over 100.

Then a couple sat beside us and the woman promptly showed me a photo of her hugging Bruce from behind as he sang a song a month ago in Columbus.

"I got to play the guitar when he held it into the pit during Born to Run," she said.

We could've all traded stories all night long, I imagine, but Bruce came blasting out at 8:06 p.m.

He didn't take a single break.

The band played 29 songs...about 15 or so that I'd never seen them perform. Bruce left the stage at 11:15 p.m.

"He got a haircut," Kathy said at one point.

And that's when it hit me. We know him so well from seeing him perform once a year that even a subtle change such as a haircut is big news.

He slid across the stage. He jumped up onto the piano. He was on his back on the pit being pushed to the stage. He didn't stop for a minute, and he ended the show seated at the piano singing Dream Baby Dream begging the audience to "keep the fire burning".

A long time ago I heard Bruce in an interview. He was trying to explain his popularity to his then-young kids.

"I'm like Barney for adults," he told them.

Indeed.

I hope he comes around again soon.

You can never have too much Barney.

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