Bruce Springsteen returns to city for shows, TV spot
Coaster Photos
Bruce Springsteen performed at Convention Hall in Asbury Park this week. The concerts were benefits for local charities.
By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
Bruce Springsteen fans got a more intimate glimpse of their hero Tuesday morning when he made an appearance on Good Morning America from Convention Hall in Asbury Park.
The concert and three others on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights were rehearsals for his upcoming We Shall Overcome Tour with the Seeger Sessions Band. The compact disc was released Tuesday.
Tickets for the events were $100 with all proceeds going to local charities.
Fans, who showed up at 6:30 a.m., waited in patient anticipation to enter the hall.
Forty-five minutes later Springsteen shuffled on stage looking slightly disheveled.
“I salute you early risers. I must want to sell records really bad,” he said, before adding, “Well I’m gonna go put on my pajamas no my show clothes.
“That’s so cute to just come out and say hello,” said one avid fan from Connecticut, who attended the concert the night before.
Thirty minutes later Springsteen was back on stage, this time to perform. The early morning crowd rose to its feet with deafening applause.
By now he was in full performance mode and got the crowd clapping and singing along to Jacob’s Ladder, a cut from the new CD.
The audience did such a good job on their part, Springsteen told them, “That’s wonderful, I can go home now. It’s all up to you,” before breaking into a rousing rendition of the song with his 17 piece band.
Afterwards when one fan let out an ear splitting yell Springsteen cautioned him, “You’re gonna hurt yourself, it’s too early for that kind of enthusiasm.”
After the band rehearsed another song “O Mary Don’t You Weep, Good Morning America’s stage manager came up on stage to give Springsteen directions for the morning show’s next segment.
Looking somewhat put out he quipped, “This is where television meets rock and roll I’‘m gonna do the weather first.”
The crowd loved it.
Many fans brought signs to the mini-concert hoping to have them make it on television.
Some read “The only boss I listen to is Bruce,” and “Jersey Girls Love Bruce.”
Patsy Resnick and Sara Ann Towery, members of Asbury Parks Historical Society were on hand to welcome Springsteen back to the city.
“We’re loving living in Asbury Park,” they said, “We’re here to rock, he’s been so good to our town.”
Councilman James Keady also attended and said he remembers
going to see his first Springsteen concert, The USA Tour, when he was in the eighth grade.Waiting for yet another cue Springsteen commented again on the early hour joking, “You ain’t supposed to sing this early…... where do people sing this early? In the shower, that’s why nobody records there.”
Then he broke into folk classic “Old Man Tucker,” with the energy and enthusiasm of any of his nighttime concerts.
When the time came to perform on Good Morning America for real , Springsteen Bruce greeted host Robin Roberts. “Robin, nice to have you here, back in Asbury Park.”
Then he joked on stage for several minutes waiting for his cue to perform, while the show took a station break.
“Waiting to play, this is strange,” he said as he fidgeted with his guitar. Then he chided his many fans for playing hooky to come see him.
“So nobody has to work today!?” he asked. “Well there are some empty seats, there are still some responsible people out there.”
“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” he asked the crowd. “I’m going back to bed, I actually have my pj’s on under my pants. I like to do that in the morning. I drive the kids to school with the pants over the pjs, then I can just jump right back in bed.”
Then noticing wife Patti Scialfa commenting to band members, he offered, “Patty is complaining about me just out of ear shot.”
As their final number the band sang a slow, soulful rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” with Scialfa joining in on vocals with her husband.
But for one avid Bruce fan, Professor Jack Ryan from Brookdale Community College, the show is never over.
“Bruce has never left the building,” he said summing up what many New Jerseyans feel about their icon.
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Published every Thursday.
Papaianni really captured the feelings of most avid Bruce fans through her passionate writing! You can definitely tell that she, herself, is a fan as well as a true Jersey Girl! I also liked how she wrote this article from the position of a fan rather than an insider. Keep up the good work!