chuckography

"Born In The U.S.A".....but, hold your hurrahs.

It's been about 4-5 years since I stood in line - several of them -  at a Bruce Springsteen concert.

One line got me involved in a lottery that his people set up in each city.

Many fans follow The Boss from town to town so he rewards (some) of the lucky ones with special seating, er, standing, right in front of the stage.

I won in Charleston and stood among people who knew to bring
posters with song title suggestion. Instead of a set list of songs, he gets his cues from the crowd.

They support him in other ways too as I saw Saturday night in Charlotte.

There was a runway built cross the floor, splitting the audience, and he danced and strutted out there a few times to slap hands, pick up more signs with titles of his songs and even hoist a young girl up on his shoulder.

Shortest way back to the main stage is a straight line so he just leaned back, kept singing and the audience passed him along to the front.

There were 15 members of the band - including the talented backing singers and a huge horn section.

I remember the violin player way over on stage right from the Charleston show.

Bruce has a reputation of putting on a long, long show and did not disappoint.

More than 3 hours of fantastic music with one crowd-pleaser after another and the singalong factor was loud and clear.

This time I was seated on the side at the Time-Warner arena. Locals call it the Cable Box.

Unlike the folding chairs usually found on the floor area, these were soft and cushioned...and perhaps a wee bit wider?

Basketball season ticket holders sit up here so the seats are definitely more comfortable.

The show ran just a bit over 2 hours but then came the encores.

I don't think the sponge filled with cooling water was only for show!

I recalled from last time that the main microphone is securely anchored to the stage.

Bruce can almost pole dance on some songs as he swings around the stand and leans way, way out to the sides.

He's very physical and energetic as he holds up another sign, shows it to the band and they take off on a fan favorite.

He covered Mustang Sally and reminded the crowd that, like the iconic Ford, he and several groups (longest with the E Street Band) has been performing for 50 years. Yikes.

I understand "Born In The USA" has not been a staple on the concert tours but he sang it with grit Saturday night.

As the link explains, it is often mistaken as a puff song about the glory of our wonderful country and was even used as a rally cry by President Ronald Reagan and the GOP right after it came out.

But, take a moment and read the lyrics. Springsteen had a totally different intent with his message.

On the ride home Sunday, I thought I saw a motorcycle with training wheels in front of me.

As I got closer, I could see it was a 3-wheel vehicle. The single drive wheel was in the rear.

Had passed a few trailers loaded with sporty 4-wheel ATVs and, of course, had been roared past by the usual 2-wheel Harleys.

I liked the smiley face English muffin depicted on the back of the truck. Bet the biker was smiling too because the heavy rain from the day before had gone away.

(Click on the photos for more detail.)

As I look over the many shots I had taken, I'll probably add a few more.

No...not of the biker.

More views of "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen.

Yeah, here's a few more....encore!

Labels: 3-wheeler, ATVs, Born In The U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen, Harley-Davidson, Nils Lofgren, Ronald Reagan, the E Street Band

posted by chuckography @ 8:18 PM 1 Comments

This is NOT your pilot speaking....

Flying on Aer Lingus recently, I was reminded of the time I held the microphone and talked to a planeload of startled passengers.

When a Convention Bureau goes after a group to come to their city, it tries to show ingenuity whenever possible. Off the wall works too.

So the Committee to select where the 1980 Republican National Convention would be held came aboard the plane in Dallas, Texas after several days of being wined and dined by Texans who wanted the convention.

I was with the Kansas City Convention Bureau and we wanted the GOP back again after they had met successfully in KC in 1976.(Remember the Ford/Dole ticket? Jimmy Carter creamed them.)

As long as the group was in Texas, we held back from tooting our horn. It would have been bad form to intrude or interfere there. But, as soon as the plane buttoned up, they were subject to our message and it began immediately.

There were straw "skimmer" hats placed on each seat with a red, white and blue hat band and the GOP elephant featured very prominently...right next to the KC,MO 1980 logo. Colorful bunting was draped around the cabin as well and KC/GOP campaign-type buttons were being passed around.

I clicked on the microphone and introduced myself as being with the Bureau and asked everyone to welcome the members of the GOP Selection Committee who were on board in their midst. Some applauded.

To our knowledge, this kind of airborne pitch had never been done before.


I quickly added that since we all were headed up to Missouri, we had arranged to have the inflight meal changed to a Kansas City Strip steak with all the trimmings.

Then "Going to Kansas City...." music started playing.

Later, of course, Detroit, Michigan won the convention and a fellow named Ronald Reagan became President.


(I borrowed the steak picture from the internet and, truth be told, the airline served its regular steak. WE just called it a KC strip.)

Labels: 1976, 1980, George Bush, Gerald Ford, GOP National Convention, KC Strip steak, President Jimmy Carter, Robert Dole, Ronald Reagan

posted by chucker @ 5:00 PM 1 Comments