27 September 2007

Bruce Springsteen

I remember his concert at the Paramount in 1975. People waited in
a line that wrapped counter-clockwise around the building and down
into the northbound expressway entrance at Pike. It was already dark when I joined the ranks crowding the wall a quarter of the way down the ramp, just about where the cars were picking up speed.
The crowd was talkative. We didn't really know much
about this guy. A few months before Rolling Stone ran a short but
killer review of a Springsteen concert saying; See him live. Local stations in Seattle had begun playing some of his songs promoting the tour.
Most of us were here on a whim. Maybe he'd be good? Look at all the people showing up for this guy, a relative unknown. This was starting to look like an Event.
The line started moving and we shuffled, in slow waves, toward the entrance, getting excited.
Let me speak for the crowd. It rocked.
Tickets were $5.