THE Boston show - A report from the Pit

So this is a little late but it was written moments after the end of the Boston show and is a great story. I just don't know why I didn't think of this! Thanks to Grace for having the wherewithal to write this down while the emotions and feelings were still raw.

Enjoy!

MY AWESOME EXPERIENCE IN “BOSSTOWN”:

1600 GA tickets were sold for Bruce Springsteen in Boston. Doors to the TD Banknorth Garden opened at 8 am for wristband distribution. Anyone with a GA ticket was eligible for the beloved PIT area.

We arrived around noon to find 2 arena staff and one guy claiming to be “with Springsteen”. We got our wristbands – Nino # 129 and myself # 130. Nino promptly asked me what if the # 130 got called, what would happen to him? I answered in a word: “ba-bye”.

Off we went for some sight seeing, and happened upon the Millenium Bostonian Hotel, for some R&R in their very comfy chairs, and a place to warm up…ok, ok…and go to the can. We didn’t possess a hotel key, so Nino paid the door man to let us use their very luxurious washrooms, for hotel guests only…oh well…we were quiet, and I stayed in there a few extra minutes to enjoy my surroundings! In the lobby, we met another guy claiming to be “with Springsteen”. This one a native of New Jersey. He overheard Nino and I speaking about the wristbands and our chances of getting into the PIT, which at the time seemed to me to be slim. He was quick to tell us that they would only allow 200 fans into the PIT, with 100 extras being staff and other special people I guess, such as his bad ass self. I never really took a liking to this guy. He didn’t have the decency to take his sunglasses off – HELLLOOOOO, IT’S DARK IN HERE, NO SUN - OOO YA, YOU’RE SOOOO COOL…OOOO, I OTTA….OOO…Truth be told, I was jealous as hell that his cell phone was going off every few minutes, and he was discussing the fact that he was holding special tickets for this person and that person – none of which names sounded anything like “Nino and Grace”…OOO, I OTTA…well, never mind, he went about his business and left us to rest in our comfy chairs while we contemplated the cold weather and what was ahead in case we did not get into the PIT. I later thought…hummm (that’s me thinking)…there was probably a very “valid” reason for the shades.

As we approached the arena, we saw the scalpers in full action…”got tickets, need tickets”…you get the picture. Nino stopped to ask them a few questions, and turned to me and asked: “If we end up in the back part of the floor, i.e. NOT in the PIT, might I consider a seat?” For some odd reason I was doubtful we would make it into the PIT, but I agreed to think about it should things get to that dreaded moment in time.

We started lining up outside the arena in numerical order…much more civilized than what I am used to, as this avoids the need to camp out all night and all day ensuring your spot in front of the stage, in the said PIT! And it IS a need, make no mistake, a very desperate NEED!

Slowly but surely fans made their way back to the Garden center to line up as per instructions given out earlier in the day verbally to wristband holders, taped to all doors, and on the www.backstreets.com website. All was well, chilly but well, and then we started to get to know the people around us, as everyone tried to find their spot in line. Oddly enough, met no one from Boston around us in line, but encountered many good, decent Bruce fans - as one always does at these shows!

In particular # 132, and # 133…a very special couple, with a very special story. We 4 hit it off immediately speaking of prior shows, fav songs, special moments, etc. It would later turn out to be the most special evening of their lives…possibly mine as well!

Meet Carol and Bill. Carol flew in from Georgia, where she lives (originally a Jersey Girl), and works as a General Manager for a Country Club…and Bill, living and working as an entertainment writer for the local university in Tampa, Florida. They were celebrating their 5th anniversary of meeting each other at a Springsteen show, in Tampa, in GA, on November 24th, 2002. Bill recalls the week…he was assigned to sit in the press box, way up high, on November 23rd, 2002, for the show in Miami. He told us it’s kind of crazy when you are responsible for doing the write up and you have an early morning deadline, you don’t really get to enjoy the show. The very next day, he toyed with the idea of whether or not he should get a ticket on a whim and go to the Tampa show, just to enjoy it. At 5 pm, he said to himself “no”, and by 6 pm, it was “to hell with it, I’m goin’ to the show”. He scalped a GA ticket for $75 and was in GA within the hour. He recalls meeting 2 women, sisters, both petite. By the time the second encore came on, having started the process of getting to know each other, both knowing one of their fav songs live was RAMROD - Bill took Carol and put her up on his shoulders and they enjoyed the remainder of the show together.

Carol and Bill have being flying across the country (is it across? I will have to check my atlas…) to keep their relationship going for the past 5 years. Moments after we met in the line up, as I was speaking with Carol, Bill speaking to Nino, Nino nudges me and Bill is holding up an engagement ring above Carol’s head. He was going to propose to her TONIGHT!

More on Carol and Bill shortly, let’s get back to the line up for a bit…it’s now 5:15 pm, and the draw is upon us…we hear nothing, only someone moving us to another location…where are we going? who is leading this line? where are they taking us? Turns out that out of 1600 GA tickets sold, only 719 GA ticket holders showed up for a wristband. A random fan was chosen to draw the first person for the PIT line (God Bless you, whomever you are)…and the number chosen was……was……713……..so, in the interest of saving brain cells and time…let’s do the math together, shall we? There are 7 wristbands from 713 to 719; 719 was the last wristband given out, which turns things around to numero uno and onto 193, 7+193 = 200 fans in the PIT. Nino asked the official looking fellow what number was drawn, to which he sternly responded: “What number you got?” Nino told him we were # 129 and # 130…to which he said: “YOU’RE IN”…well, that was music to our ears…but not only music…screams of joy started to fill the air, and we were quickly lead away from the, hem-hem, losers (sorry!), and brought to another area of the arena. We were considered “VIP”, but they didn’t think to bring us inside the arena until we were good and frozen…(still recovering)…in any case, back to the screams of joy…we were lined up single file, in proper order, checked and re-checked…oh, and checked yet another time, to make sure nothing was fishy, tampered with, or out of whack. We were counted by 2 men, one man tapped each of us on the head as he counted, like in school - remember? Like after a Fire drill? (speaking of which, I would really love to hear FIRE live, just once Bruce – pleeeeease!); and the other man gave us our second wrist band, the PIT wristband - YA!

I then decided it was time to call to my long time fellow Bruce fan, and reason I am as crazy as I am - Mer…WAIT! Crazy is the wrong word, we are PASSIONATE fans! Mer got me into the Boss at the mere age of 12. As we are discussing my luck, everyone starts to scream and jump around…yes folks, it was Bruce and his police escorted entourage of SUV’s, LIMO’s, etc, etc, making their way up the ramp, and into a secret parking area – shhhhhhh, it’s a secret…………but I saw it!!!

Yes, back to the story…shortly afterwards the doors opened, and by 6:15 we were in our spot. There was no need to rush, no need to run, there was lots of room. I got what turned out to be the best spot I have ever enjoyed a Bruce show from - in the middle, slightly to the right of Bruce’s mic, so that when Bruce and Stevie duet, I had a clear view. Before we knew it, the set lists were being taped to the floor of the stage...and then…then…8:20 pm arrives, the lights go out, and we’re in business – ROCK & ROLL business!!! For the next 2+ hours, we sang and jumped around to our hearts’ content!

Back to Bill and Carol for a bit…Carol had a worried look on her face, as Bill kept disappearing. The reason for this was that he was attempting to plan his proposal that very evening, while at the show. Long story short, he told us that Bruce would play a song just for him and Carol, as soon as The Promised Land was over. He should put Carol on his shoulders right after that song, and the next one would be for THEM. Before arriving, Carol had prepared a sign that read “Jersey Girls R Tougher Than The Rest!” When I decided to sit down for a bit of a rest, she entrusted her sign to me. She was enjoying a few drinks and I told her I would take good care of her sign. Shortly afterwards, I had to relinquish the sign to Bill, as he was using the back of it for his proposal. As the show proceeded, Carol turned to me and asked for her sign…oh my, what to do? what to do? Bill pipes up and says the security guard took it away from me…oh my, what a sad look on her face 


Soon afterwards her frown was turned upside down  when just as The Promised Land finished, the lights were low, and a spot light flashed to Bruce…and as if he were looking for a lost ship in the sea of faces – he called out for Bill…the fans around us promptly helped Bill put his loved one on his shoulders and Bruce summoned them to the front of the stage (5 steps or so), where he kissed Carol on her cheek - Bruce, not Bill. Bruce then blessed them with the sign of the cross, and Bill took the engagement ring out from the box and held it up for Carol to see! Bruce cut into I’ll Work For Your Love (I call that one “Pour me a drink Theresa”, but who cares about me at the moment!), and sang that wonderful song to Carol and Bill, as Carol swayed about not knowing where exactly she was for a few moments, and in her words later that night, said she was “out of her mind”! Bruce followed up with “Tunnel of Love” and the following comment: “if I ever did something like that to Patti, she’d kill me!”

We never saw Bill and Carol again…no, no, just kidding…they hugged and kissed for most of the rest of the evening…hugging, kissing…not sure how much of the show sank in after getting engaged!

We also met a wonderful young fellow, # 131 Shyam (pronounced like Shaun, but with an M at the end) a free lance photographer currently living in L.A., who since his work with Spiderman 3 has not had a lot of work, but was able to scrounge together a few bucks to see yet another show. A long-time fan, and absolute treat to chat with. Alone at the show, stumbled upon the Nino, Grace, Bill and Carol team, and very quickly snuggled in between us, in his rightful spot of # 131. We discussed his dream of hearing Jungleland, as he’d never before seen it live…and so…as Bruce fulfilled the dreams of so many that night, so too did he fulfill the dream of a young lad all the way from L.A.

After the show, Shyam found a program left on the floor, a little beaten and battered, but since he had one, offered it to me, as I bear the name of his beloved 1978 car (I’m sorry Shyam, I cannot remember the name of it, Chevy I think…so sorry, no disrespect to “Grace”), as he already possessed a program from seeing Bruce in L.A. I thank you for the program Shyam…nothing that can’t be fixed with “a little touch up and a little paint”, and thank you for using your photography expertise to help us all figure out our cell phone camera resolutions, and the hidden capabilities of our digital cameras – much appreciated!

We met another 2 guys in the PIT, from Boston. One of which had won 2 tickets on a radio program earlier in the week and had asked his buddy to join him – a virgin to Bruce concerts – good luck trying to ever beat this show buddy – they, as we all did, LOVED IT!

Thank you Bruce, have fun in Europe, and hurry back to Canada!

Grace
Ottawa, ON, Canada