My Anniversary

Today, June 29, 2009, marks my 25th year as a die-hard fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Most people usually can't pinpoint the actual date they became a fan of something or someone -- I can. I had a passing awareness of Bruce before this date and had bought the single for "Dancing in the Dark," but I had bought a lot of singles and they didn't always make me fans of the performer or band as much as the song.

June 29, 1984 was the date of the first show of the "Born in the U.S.A." world tour. And I was there. My high school best friend and I decided since Bruce had such a reputation for putting on a good show, we should try to get tickets. Long story short, we did. And the show was incredible. They played "Dancing in the Dark" twice, because they filmed the music video for it that night. Yes, I was actually in the St. Paul Civic Center watching Courteney Cox get pulled onstage to dance with Bruce -- twice.

For the record, the list of shows went like this:
(1) June 29, 1984 - Born in the USA tour#
(2) May 10, 1987 - Tunnel of Love Express Tour*#
(3) October 31, 1993 - Human Touch/Lucky Town Solo Tour
(4) November 29, 1999 - E Street Band Reunion Tour#
(5) September 30, 2002 - The Rising Tour*
(6) March 16, 2008 - Magic Tour*
(7) May 11, 2009 - Working on a Dream Tour

Shows indicated with an * were shows during which my favorite live song, "She's the One," were played.

Shows indicated with a # had unusual significance: Born in the USA tour show was the very first show of the entire tour that propelled Bruce from being a rock singer to an icon; Tunnel of Love Express Tour was the greatest rock show I've ever seen in my life, and trust me, that's saying something; the reunion tour was the final Springsteen show of the 20th Century.