"Are You Ready To Be Delivered?" ~ Part 2

I'm so glad that I followed my heart to Penn State... out of nowhere I decided to go... I saw a drop and scored behind the stage... but then Bob offered me his extra GA... so I took it... Perfect... I'd have my back up seat in case I missed the pit... so as I headed out for my 5th Dream Show I decided to leave my request sign at home... Dana commented that I wouldn't get it anyway... "he's not gonna play it" so I left it behind. Which is why I think I got such a good spot in the pit!! My strategy worked. ;) At LA and Philly the crowd seemed frantic to get close to Bruce... the energy was high but it was a little intimidating in the pit... and I found myself letting others go ahead of me rather than being climbed over... but it wasn't that way at Penn State... though the excitement was high... there was a calmer energy... that is till the lights went out... Badlands... and we're off... Out In The Street... Outlaw Pete... such an amazing performance... Bruce pours himself into this one... She's The One... the show is an instant success with She's The One!! And though all the songs are repeats... each is intensely drawing us in...

Bruce collects the signs... I was so close but didn't have mine with me... oh well... what would the requests be tonight? We waited but surely didn't expect Bruce to chose Ramrod, My Generation or Spirit In The Night... The crowd was going crazy... then after the 3 pack of Waiting On A Sunny Day, The Promised Land and The Wrestler I heard one note and knew what was coming... I started yelling "YES!" "YES!" "THANK YOU, BRUCE!" "YES!!" and my request was granted (though I have no clue if he had seen my sign at the 4 shows before this one) it was my request!! and just like the little lamb on my sign, I/we sang, "Baa, ba ba ba ba ba ba ba" over and over. What a great time!! I simply love This Life and if I had to choose... I'd rather This Life than Kingdom of Days (but both are lovely!)... and in my dream world followed of course by Life Itself/What Love Can Do or My Lucky Day in place of Lonesome Day and The Rising... though I do love both of these... I'd love to see Bruce showcase his new songs... they are so beautiful... and I feel this would be a great place to do it, too... (unless he would want to replace the "stump the band" with "play the new!" lol... Anyhow... if This Life wasn't enough of a surprise we also got Jungleland followed by the nightly Land of Hope & Dreams (I also love this song in the encore!) but tonight Bruce wasn't ready to stop after American Land... so he gave us another with Bobby Jean and then another with Detroit Medley... there was dancing and singing and we were having so much fun... and it continued with "one more" and then Wooly Bully closed the show on a total high! The Penn State Dream show was so worth the drive... as well as the traffic ticket! :o

I had 2 more shows planned...

DC (hopefully) and Pittsburgh (for sure)... but when I got word that DC had oversold and were canceling tickets... I was afraid that I wouldn't get in... so I made the choice to trade my DC trip for Hershey. :o It was easy to get a GA for Hershey but I had forgotten how terrible the GA line had been the year before... that is until I arrived. There were nearly 3 thousand trying for the pit when we were told all 3,000 would be let in... but the order was yet to be determined... and it was of course randomly chosen by the lottery. The crowd did not respect the order that they were put in and it soon became a free for all. Little children being stepped on and over... Once everyone got into the pit it seemed to calm down some... but I was in a funk... so when Bruce hit the stage with the words, "Are you ready to be delivered?" he was just in time!! I needed to be delivered! I needed to hear the into... "Can you feel the spirit?" and so Spirit in the Night followed Badlands but it was Outlaw Pete that finally got me out of my funk and into the show... on a huge screen there was a video of gorgeous southwestern landscape scenes playing. A very nice added touch. By now the set list is pretty... set... but Bruce went a little out of order when he spotted a request that he wanted to grant... Bruce wasted no time and launched into the request as the sign promised to "burn all my Hanna Montana CD's if you play Twist & Shout!!" It was far too over crowded where I stood so there was no twisting... but plenty of shouting! Our other 2 requests were Give The Girl A Kiss and Trapped. We also got Backstreets, Thunder Road, 10th Ave and after American Land, Rosie and Bobbie Jean! But the time the show ended I had nearly forgotten the stress of the "line up." (nearly but not completely!) The BTX tailgate was an utter success!! It was so much fun hangin out with Killmo (joan) Kimberly (2Hearts), chitownjaney and her daughter... phillyfan51, shoregal, finally met ptart and Easyjoe and his angels (and their virgins!) Very good to see roidrage, Sharon and Rich, rumbledoll (J), and Paul! Oh yes... I also saw borntorun1962, howtch, Val, Barbara and betho! (and more!)

My last show of the first leg... Pittsburgh!

Finally I got lucky and wound up with my elbows on the catwalk... along the right hand side! One row back from the front. I was so close that my nerves were jumping! The lights went down and I nearly fainted!! Badlands!! The house lights were up and so were we!! The energy was amazing!! Then Candy's Room... Outlaw Pete... Jackson Cage and She's The One!! Wow... what a start!! This was sure to be the best of all the shows!! Our requests in Pittsburgh: Good Lovin', Like A Rolling Stone and Darkness On The Edge Of Town... an intimate I'm On Fire led us into the final 4 of the main set...

Then right as the main set was ending with Born To Run... Bruce was letting the group right in the front of the catwalk strum his guitar when he suddenly turned to me and Laia and offered us to touch his strings!! I laid my fingertips across his strings... marvelling at how soft and smooth they felt... It lasted only a moment... but that's all I needed... don't tell anyone... but it was one of my secret desires!! I left on cloud nine... purring like a kitten.

In Pittsburgh not only had I gotten to spend a little time with great friends: Cindy and Jeff, Kimberly, Laura, and Barbara, Pat... We also were honored to have Laia join us from Spain!

Enough was not Enough!

I had a wonderful time! Satisfied with the shows I caught in the first leg of the tour... but still wanting and hoping for Incident... Lost In The Flood... (both sound checked at Hershey) and though it had been played in Boston and Nassau... I still wanted For You. I started looking for a caller for Izod... hoping to hear them over the phone... But then on Wednesday night, May 20 at 8:45 I got a text from Zach, "Izod GA dropping!" What should I do? I had never seen a show in Jersey. I waited then finally texted him back, "Which night?" I already had a lead on a ticket for the second night... so when the answer came back, "Night 1" I decided to peek... and I pulled a GA. What else could I do but go?? So I packed up my car and hit the road!! Meg and Zach invited me to join them... and we had an awesome time... as well as my second encounter with Mr. State Trooper... I didn't know that you couldn't use your cell phone while driving!! Thankfully he understood that I was lost and gave me directions to the Izod... with NO ticket!! I did tease him a little that he was a New Jersey cop and didn't know that Bruce was playing. :)

While the set list the first night was rather tame the energy was intense! Jay played drums the full show... bringing such a fresh energy!! He really bangs those drums wildly!! Our requests included Growin' Up... I'm Going Down... and Prove It All Night... and prove it he did!! I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Jay in Europe! I can see why Bruce loves him!! Jay reminds me so much of Bruce when Bruce was 18... shy... quiet... but he becomes an animal onstage... down in Jungleland!

Which brings me to Saturday!! As Zach and I were hanging out in the parking lot before the show... looking for trouble we spotted Jay a couple feet away... so we went over to say, "Hi" and maybe get a picture... hehehe... he was so sweet... I asked him to sign my boot of the night before and he asked me if I could get him a copy! Zach and I both got a pic with Jay... and off we went... then I was able to get him a boot (from live poet) and so we took it over to him... then he took another pic with me!! He's so cool. :)

It's hard to deny... the second night had a much more interesting set list... with Spirit In The Night and a powerful Something In The Night our requests were Good Lovin', Cover Me, The E Street Shuffle, but Bruce gave us an extra song... Thunder Road led us into the Waiting On A Sunny Day/The Promised Land pair which was followed by an absolutely beautiful Incident on 57th Street!! It was an amazing night... simply amazing. After Hard Times, Kitty's Back led off the finale which tore us up before ending with Glory Days & Mony Mony!!

What an ending to the first leg!! I was not let down in the slightest... but there are a few songs I still want to hear... Anyhow, if you didn't get a chance to see the American Leg of The Dream Tour... then if at all possible pack your bags... and head to Europe!! I'm chasing 3 songs: What Love Can Do... Life Itself... and For You solo piano!! Do you think I'll get them?!

If you can't make it to Europe you could plan to see the show in the fall... at Giant Stadium!! Tickets go on sale this Monday! :o

I had an amazing time hanging out with a few friends from Backstreets!!

Then after the show we went back to the hotel where Zach and Johnny(StreetScene) gave another mini concert of all Bruce covers... mostly from WIESS and BTR... it was lovely... Zach played the piano wonderfully... not missing a note... and Johnny has such a sweet voice... and he knew all the words! They did Incident, Racing In The Streets, Backstreets, For You :) and many more! It was the coolest ending to a wonderful day! Thanks, guys!!

Thank you Meg for EVERYTHING! It was so much fun!!

Thank you to my Fairy who got me a GA and to my Angel for watching over me!!

Thank you, Bruce & The E Street Band!!