For some reason, it doesn’t seem like 36 years ago.
I had a ticket to see Chicago at the Spectrum. I was a senior in high school. There were a group of us who were Spectrum regulars. Yes, it was a long drive from Oxford, all the way out at the end of Baltimore Pike in Chester County. But it was usually worth it.
The names are familiar. Jethro Tull. Led Zeppelin. The Allman Brothers.
Aerosmith. And yes, it seemed like Foghat opened every show.
The truth is, at least musically, I’ve never grown up. I still listen to classic rock. I just don’t go to many concerts any more.
I was particularly looking forward to the Chicago show. I was a fan from the days when they first hit the scene as Chicago Transit Authority, introducing the idea of a horn section in rock, along with Blood, Sweat & Tears.
I didn’t pay much attention to who was billed as the opening act.
As it turns out, something came up and I couldn’t make the concert. I think I gave the ticket to a friend.
The next day in school, I asked my buddies about the show. They said Chicago was good, but that the opening act stole the show.
Even more, they said the guy and his band actually got booed off the stage because they were playing too long and the crowd was restless to see Chicago.
More than three decades later, that working class hero and his pals will return to that very same stage to say goodbye to the legendary concert hall in South Philly.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play two shows, starting tonight, at the Spectrum.
After hearing my friends talk about the show those many years ago, I became a devoted Bruce fan, and have remained one to this day. I would love to be there for tonight’s show.
I’m afraid my concert days are in the rear-view mirror.
I’ve seen The E Street Band several times, but one stands out.
It’s a long story, but I finished college and got my degree from the University of Colorado.
In the summer of 1978, Bruce had just released “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”
Nationally, he still wasn’t quite as well-known as he was on the East Coast.
I had been bragging for months to anyone who would listen to me that they had to see a Springsteen show to really appreciate the man and his music.
A couple of guys who I had met out there from the East Coast would nod knowingly when I talked about “The Boss.” Everyone else thought I was making it up. Yeah, sure, four-hour shows.
Just outside Denver, there is a very likely the most magical place I have ever seen a concert. It’s called Red Rocks Park. It’s a natural amphitheatre carved from a rock formation in the foothills outside Denver.
When I first arrived in Denver, my older brother and I saw a show there.
Appropriately enough, it was John Denver. Don’t laugh, the guy was very good.
I returned there for several shows, including the Eagles/Dan Fogelberg show that ironically I had seen earlier in the summer when I was home at the Spectrum.
I managed to talk a group of kids into going to the Springsteen concert at Red Rocks.
Bruce came out, looked around, and mentioned something about “big rocks you got out here.”
Then he and the E Street Band simply tore the place down. Colorado in that era had this mellow, laid-back attitude. You know, the whole Rocky Mountain High thing. Not that night. For one night, Colorado was transformed into a Jersey shore bar.
I’ll be thinking about all that tonight.
Give ‘em hell, Bruce. As if he’d do anything else.
Still can’t believe it’s been 36 years. Guess you could call them “Glory Days.”
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