Meet Me on E St

Thanks to Norrie for blogging the E St News.

Let’s have a little re cap here…. it’s a long time since Bruce Springsteen and The E St Band played in Scotland. If memory serves me correctly, and it undoubtedly won’t, I don’t think he’s played here since he toured with The River album in 1981 or so. If not then I’ve wasted a lot of energy seeing him elsewhere!

In case you don’t know what I’m talking about then I should point out to you that Bruce and Band will be appearing at Hampden Park on July 14th. (it’s Tuesday night I think but we don’t have Another Country duties for) So what’s the fuss?

Well I’ll tell you. There’s some things you should probably know about me. I’ve done enough gigs in enough sticky floored rock toilets to never want to darken the doors of any of them again – least of all pay for the privilege. I’m on record as saying I wouldn’t go to see David Bowie play in the park across the road if there was something good on the telly. (and there’s never anything good on the telly!) You would have to pay me to go to Glastonbury – someone once did and that’s the only time I went – and given that I have a duty to go to gigs by pals/colleagues/relatives/co writers/ up and coming artists/on the way out artists…..you get the idea…..going to a gig can feel a little less than a night out and something closer feeling you’ve just remembered you’ve got detention as you’re running out the school gates. That’s why I never really invite my pals to my own gigs. I always imagine they must have a hundred other things they’d rather be doing that night. But there are certain gigs you really want to go to – you’ll know them, you’ve been to loads of them.

Maybe there are ones you can’t miss.These supposed giants of stadium rock – you know the usual suspects. You’ll perhaps even think that you should spend your hard-earned cash on one of the big pop tours – fill in the missing names – or you’ll see an obscure gig with 75 other people that you know everyone will be jealous of within a few months. There will be nights when you’ll be yards away from legends – you might even talk to them or they might sing just for you – or you might be lucky enough to see an artist who’ll probably never tour again. All of these events are worth writing home about. But none will be in the near realm of just one night on E St my friends.

I say this as the man who spent two of his first 3 nights in New York City in Madison Square Gardens watching the Tunnel of Love tour or as someone who drove with his good friend The Swan to Old Trafford cricket ground a few years back to witness the Rising Tour and yet again last winter as a special birthday event with my wife at the 02 in London for some live Magic. After all of these nights I didn’t want to write home. Oh no. I wanted to take my life apart and start all over again. And, let’s face it, I usually had a long journey home to think things through.

I won’t bore you by explaining all the reasons for this; just take it from me that if you’re planning to spend Bastille Day in France, or you think you might be watching Wimbledon or your neighbour is having a barbecue or you’re getting married…..cancel it.
This gig is one more last chance to see the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, earth-quaking, nerve-breaking, Viagra-taking history-making, legendary … E-STREET BAND! I think you should take it. Have I made this quite clear?