Springsteen & I: 'Even the noses ...'

In honor of today's re-release of the documentary "Springsteen & I," this is the final installment of a two-part blog recounting the day I met the Boss.

The day had arrived. It was May 11, 1976.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band was to play that night at Auburn's Memorial Coliseum. 

With the previous week's impersonation still in mind, I got ready for the show: Floppy hat, denim shirt, blue jeans, earring, boots, reflective sunglasses and a leather motorcycle jacket borrowed from my fraternity brother Don Kaufman. The jacket, which I didn't wear during the campus walk the week before, was added for the "Born to Run" album cover effect.

My date, Cindy Burland, and I headed to the Coliseum a couple hours before showtime. I was hoping to meet up with Skip Bishop, the student entertainment committee director, and see if he could arrange a meeting after the show with Springsteen. Cindy and I went to the main doors of the building and asked someone there if they knew anyone who could hook us up with Skip.

No luck.

So, we headed back to the concourse in front of the building and waited. A couple minutes later, a student came up and asked "Are you going to play 'New York City Serenade'?"

Wow. He was a real fan. The song was from Springsteen's third album "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle." 

Well, here was my chance to come clean. To tell him, I'm just an Auburn student from Jersey who is a big Springsteen fan.

"Uh, we just might," I answered. "Thank you for asking. Hope you enjoy the show." 

We shook hands; he walked away and Cindy, who was a TKE little sister, gave me such a look. 

A few minutes later, I suggested we walk around to the back of the Coliseum and see if we could find Skip. As we walked there, I noticed a group of guys throwing around a baseball. We got to the back of the building and we noticed they stopped playing and started walking toward us. 

Then, I heard words I will never forget.

"Hey Bruce! Bruce. Look at this."

Gulp.

From the group walked a guy about my size and build, with a beard and long, dark wavy hair. He was wearing a yellow "Bad News Bears" T-shirt, Army fatigue pants and sneakers.

It was Springsteen.

We walked toward each other, he was grinning and I think I was too. We shook hands, looked eye to eye (we were the same height) and, in his gravelly voice, he said, "How ya doin'?"

I answered, "Fine. Thanks."

Then, more words I will never forget. "Look. Even the noses!"

At that, we both turned and looked at a grinning Steven Van Zandt. 

We chatted a little and I asked him if he had heard about the impersonation.

"Yeah," he said. "It's cool. It's cool."

Then, he said he and the band had to get ready for the show but asked if we would like to come backstage afterward.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Cool. See you then. Enjoy the show."

We sat just behind the sound crew, center of the seats with almost every one of my fraternity brothers and their dates. I was hoping Springsteen would live up to their expectations. My expectations? Hell, I just met him. I was set for life.

During the show, he wore a black three-piece suit - minus the tie - which surprised me. But he didn't hold back in his performance. Though there were only about 1,500 to 2,000 people there and the arena was sectioned off to seat about 4,000, he gave the crowd their money's worth - and more.

At one point, during "Spirit in the Night," he left the stage and climbed into the stands. I thought that was part of his performance. And one of the sound crew waved to him, which I thought was interesting. But, after the show, he said he was coming up to try and find me. And that explained the sound guy's wave - he was signalling I was there or, most likely, Springsteen needed to get back on stage. 

Here are links to some songs from the show, filmed in 8mm.

Spirit in the Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TwswT3VKgI

She's the One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A4GtK9z2uM

10th Avenue Freeze Out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YreeqdgfHm8

Compilation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H9x9RENRCs

After the show, Cindy and I went backstage and caught up with Clarence Clemons, who was truly a big man and seemed quite taken with my date. Also Steve van Zandt and keyboardist Danny Federici stopped by. A few minutes later, Bruce, who had changed out of the three-piece, sweat-soaked suit came out and we talked. "Enjoy the show?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," I answered.

Danny and Steve left after a couple of minutes but Clarence stayed. I had the Time and Newsweek magazines with Springsteen on the cover and he and Bruce signed them. Unfortunately, the magazines have since been lost. 

In the meantime, as our conversation wound down, Springsteen made a surprise request.

He asked if I wanted to join them on the bus to New Orleans, where they were to play two days later. I was stunned. I paused, still in shock, then answered.

"Um, no thanks, I have classes."

To this day, I can't believe I said that. I was not exactly a top student at the time and this was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. But I turned it down, nonetheless. 

"That's cool," Springsteen answered. "We have to get ready to go. Nice meeting you, Bud. And you, Cindy."

With that, he and Clarence returned to the dressing room and Cindy and I left, walking back to the TKE house, a couple of spirits in a memorable night.