I wore a suit....

..... because I was going to see “The Boss” in concert – Live, Solo and Acoustic. The atmosphere was awkward, just how it is outside a board room, people pouring over some literature being handed out. Ushers leading people into the right seats.

Awkward silence, annoying chatter around the hall, expectant people waiting for proceedings to kick off. “The Boss” walks in, takes his place, holds the mic and gives out strict instructions in fluent French and Flemish, “This is an acoustic concert with a variety of songs from my repertoire, I would like to point out that the show can be enjoyed best in a silent surrounding and I would urge you to turn your mobile phones off and do not use any cameras”. The crowd of 15000 expectant fans break into an appreciative applause.

The man looked old when he walked on to stage, but the minute he strapped on the six string, it was magic unleashed, the man changed form and he looked like a man possessed and you could see the passion run through every raging vein of his from his forehead to his forearm.

The music was truly moving to say the least, actually the reason why I haven’t been able to post a blog on this concert is because I still haven’t completely been able to fathom all that I felt and experienced over those 2 hours on 30th May. The way he sang and played the piano and the guitar and the harmonica, the way he spoke between his songs, the way he eased the tension from one deep song to the other by just uttering a few words, which you could easily sense were not practiced and repeated just for concerts, even if they were, they were said with an air of non chalance that made you feel comfortable with it.

I knew probably 9-10 songs out of the 24 he played, but it was the ones that I didn’t know too well, that really struck a chord somewhere, the way he spoke of his music, his family, his life, I am sure it moved a lot of people and not just me. Goosebumps must have been felt by all in the audience at some point of time or the other.

The average age of the concert goer at this one must have been over 35, which would have made me one of the younger fans of “The Boss”, but I was suprized at the energy and enthusiasm of some of the die hard fans, who sang along and even gave out loud shrieks of approval even when he played songs, that were not often heard. A sure sign, the arena was full of only die hard fans.

“The Boss”, being the boss, had to have things his way or no way… he played the songs that he had picked and towards the end they allowed the people with seats right in the front to stand up and approach the stage, The boss, walked up and sang and high fived with the audience, in true Springsteen fashion, gave out one last warning to putting the stamp that says “I am the Boss”, he said, “If you don’t stop using those flash cameras of yours, I swear I am going to kill you”, which immediately commanded the respect a man of his stature deserves.

I am still coming to grips with what I had experienced that evening. A great concert, a great moving experience, a great man, with great skills, a great man with great amounts of passion.

Every cent spent on getting the tickets and all the emails sent out to this really sweet ticket agent to manage tickets for a sold out show was worth it.

This is going to be something I can only cherish and not share as easily I would have liked to, because I am no boss, who can say what he feels, express what he thinks and do it with an amazing amount of musical and lyrical power that would leave anyone floored. I am just an ordinary guy, waiting for more enlightenment from the “The Boss”.

By the way, I did actually wear a suit to the concert and that was only cos I had to go straight from work to the concert :-)

On a different note, can someone please tell me how I can upload pics or small movie files on to the blog so that people who may be interested to see my last two concert experiences can see them.

Tomorrow afternoon this time I will be queuing up to enter Twickenham stadium and meet the only real sons of Rock & Roll - Paul, Dave, Larry and Adam – Also known as U2. Watch this space!!!!!!!!