Bruuuuuuce
Rogue River Dam
We attended the R.E.M.-Bruce Springsteen-John Fogerty-Bright Eyes concert in Detroit Sunday night. Much good music. Much loudness. Much bouncing in my seat. Much screaming and applauding. Much fun.
While I was there to see (finally!) Michael Stipe and fellas, the rest of the crowd was definitely there for Bruce. Yet, toward the end of their set, when Michael announced that Springsteen was coming on stage to join them for a song, people in the crowd started booing. Laurel, Stacy, and I looked around with confusion. We’d seen dozens of Springsteen T-shirts bopping around at the hotel beforehand. So why would all of these rabid E-Streeters be booing The Boss?
Scott set us straight. They weren’t booing. No. They were Bruuuuuuce-ing. Bruuuuuuuuce, Bruuuuuuuuce, Bruuuuuuuuce. Ah-ha! Gotcha.
Bruce Springsteen is well-loved, that’s for sure. When he hit the stage and ripped into “Born in the USA,” the crowd just roared. Of course, this was one of the only songs I recognized. The band played guitar-heavy rock-n-roll for the entire set while I watched grown men play bad air guitar (and some drums too) all around me. And with the break between every song, we girls joined in with a few Bruuuuuuuuces of our own.
‘Twas fun.
I remember going to see REM in 1988 or 89. I had a hard time finding someone to go with me – no one really liked them then. Some people who had better seats than me sat there looking bored the whole time until “Stand” came on – then they sat back down and looked bored again for the rest of the show. View-blocking LOSERS!
Something simliar happened when I went to the Willie Nelson/Bob Dylan concert this summer. I love both of ’em but I was definitely there to see Dylan. I think most of the crowd was there to hear Willie, tho’, and people even left after he finished his set.