My Bruce Journey - Part 20

‘There’s Diamonds In The Sidewalk There's Gutters Lined in Song’

There was a cock up with the Birmingham NEC tickets.  They were supposed to go on sale 9.00am Friday 4th August 2006 but we found out from BTX that they had already gone on sale Thursday night.  A mix up over a.m. and p.m. apparently.  So we already had two tickets guaranteed before the Friday morning rush.

Got our Sheffield Arena tickets from Badlands.  Those of you who have been following this may remember our first Bruce gig was at Sheffield so it would be good to go back after 13 years worth of fandom behind us - we were the old hands now and it felt good.

Two more dates for the diary and the first time we had done four gigs on the same tour.

Mike and I have been researching our family history, on and off, for a good few years now.

In the early days we spent many a happy hour in Leeds library doing research.  The library is in a wonderful Victorian building which hardly gets a mention on the internet because it is overshadowed by the Town Hall and many other buildings on The Headrow.  A couple of years ago it was closed for refurbishment and to my shame I haven’t been in since it reopened.

When we were regular library visitors the family history department was a couple of musty, stuffy old rooms down a maze of corridors.  Sounds very uninspiring but I loved pouring over the microfiches trying to discover births marriages etc.  Somehow it seemed appropriate to be delving into history in an old fashioned building using out of date equipment.

Nowadays most of the research can be done on the internet and for me it has lost some of it’s charm.  Mike still dabbles from time to time and he has managed to trace his family back to 1770

My ancestors have proved more difficult.  On my dad’s side we got stuck at  my great great grandad - no father’s name on the birth certificate meant we couldn’t go back to the previous generation.  Mind you, this was a great success compared to my Mothers side. Her Mum - Alice was illegitimate and we don‘t know who the father was. Alice’s mum was in service so we suspect the master got her pregnant.  We will probably never know!!

Anyway during his research Mike found a long lost cousin - Jane.  We got to know each other initially through emails.  How to describe yourself in a few paragraphs?  Well, I am 50...ish, happily married, no children of my own, two grown up step children, one grandchild and another on the way…then…what? Oddly most people don’t mention physical characteristics.  In this world where looks mean a lot you would think these would come high on the list.

So you get on to what defines you: what makes you who you are.  For people who love their jobs that could be the next thing you mention.  You might say where you originally come from if you live away from your roots.  I don’t mention either of these.  The next thing up on my list is I am a Bruce Springsteen fan.  It’s such a big part of what makes me who I am.

So we mention to Jane, fairly early on in the getting-to-know-you correspondence that we are both Bruce fans and tell her we are going to see him in Birmingham.  Turns out she has been a fan since the year dot and has been to every tour!!  Well would you believe it?

It’s easy in our little, cocooned, Springsteeny world to think that everyone loves Bruce but in reality you don’t often come across another fan in day to day life.  Most people think he has retired or worse died - then mention ’Born In The USA’ but you all know this!

November 9th 2006 Birmingham.  We stayed at The Premier Inn just across the way from the Arena.  The Eric Meola exhibition was on in the city and Badlands were putting on a do there.
 http://www.snapgalleries.com/exhibitions/bruce-springsteen-born-to-run/

We didn’t go but we did see loads of people around the hotel with the book.  I must say I was tempted and would have been absolutely gutted if Bruce had turned up and we hadn’t been there.  I bought the book later (not the limited edition) and I notice the other week it was in the sale at HMV.

The hotel was absolutely packed. I think Mark Wright was playing in the bar but I couldn’t really see him and certainly couldn’t hear for all the noise.  We ordered some food before the show which we had to wait an age for and then strolled over to the NEC.

We were sat about half way up half way back looking to the stage on our right.  The Birmingham tickets specifically say that people might stand up so I was on my feet from the start.  Someone asked me to sit down and after a couple of minutes, to make my point, I did.  Stood up again as soon as Bruce told us to get of our assess though!

Now this is a thorny problem.  I might say that sitting down spoils my enjoyment but although it tempers it a bit I can’t say sitting will ruin my night.  I might say the person who can’t see should stand up too but what if they can’t - broken their leg or something.  What gives me the right to spoil their night?  You might ask why, if I want to stand, I buy seats instead of GA tickets.  So - I don’t know - but it made both Mike and I feel awkward and I am never the first to get up now.

It was a great night.  I loved the fact that we were now getting more reworked classics.  This version of Further on (Up The Road) is one of my favourite Bruce tracks.

 

My brother loves it too and he is not particularly a Springsteen fan.  We also got ‘Long Time Comin’ - one of the tracks I do like from one of my least favourite albums.

This was our first taste of American Land live.  I had tried to get a handle on the words but they come a bit thick and fast.  I know some folks hated the fact that the words appeared on the big screen but chill people, have a good time and sing along!

Was this when Bruce started to notice the kids in the crowd?  Lots of little guys held up signs for ‘Froggy’ and he seemed to love singing it for them.

We gave the bar a miss again afterwards - too crowded.

The next day we were going to a craft fair at the NEC - I make my own cards and stuff - when I am not blogging!!  It might have been a mistake though.  Although I love crafting it isn’t what you would call exhilarating (it’s more relaxing) and I was still in too much of a Springsteen frame of mind, too hyped up, to appreciate cards, paper, stamps and all those artsy things.

I kind of like to bask in the afterglow of a Bruce gig so doing anything else the next day doesn’t really work for me.

But we had one more thing to do on this particular day. We were going to meet cousin Jane for the first time…

Set List

Blinded By The Light
John Henry
Old Dan Tucker
Further On (Up The Road)
Jesse James
Oh Mary Don't You Weep
Bobby Jean
Erie Canal
My Oklahoma Home
The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Mrs McGrath
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live
Jacob's Ladder
Long Time Comin'
Jesus Was An Only Son
Open All Night
Pay Me My Money Down
My City of Ruins
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
When The Saints Go Marching In
This Little Light Of Mine
American Land
Froggie Went A Courting