The Boss

 Ah, finally. A post. Let me tell ya. I have been BIZ-EE! With the basement project going on, trying (yes, it's a dramatic story - more to come) to paint the exteriors of the front and two service doors, everyday chores & duties AND trying to keep it tight in general, I found myself whimpering over the kitchen sink last night, "I'm so tired." (Luckily I have an awesome husband who pulled back the bed for me, then told me to take a long, hot shower and go to sleep.) But enough whining! Springsteen!

We were lucky enough to find a Five Guys close to Auburn Hills! We never knew this one existed. It must be new, or we'd have visited it...many times...by now. We're convinced that the franchise is slowly moving closer to Grand Rapids and are convinced it's only a matter of time until we can make this heavenly refuge a regular eatery. Best. Fries. Anywhere. Hands down. I don't care what you say.

Mmmmm...Five Guys

 

 After gorging on hot dogs, burgers and greasy fries, we found ourselves at The Palace of Auburn Hills. (For all you non-Michiganders, which is pretty much everyone reading this, I'm sure, it's where the Pistons play.) We made a trip to the merchandise table, where we inevitably, in our pre-concert hype, found it reasonable to pay what, in hindsight, was a RIDICULOUS amount of money for two t-shirts. Matching, by the way. It's not our fault that we're both awesome, and hence, have the same taste. We got seated and settled and we realized Governor Snyder, along with some guests and a security team, was sitting three rows in front of us. Hm. Who knew?

Springsteen and the E Street Band, making magic

 

 Bruuuuuuuuuuce

 

The Boss, singing Thunder Road

 

Born to Run, letting the hormonal, middle-aged women in the crowd play his guitar

The encore, with house lights on. To keep it real.

If you know anything about the E Street Band, you know that they recently lost Clarence Clemens (aka Big Man), the larger than life saxophone player. He and Bruce were like brothers, and all night, you could tell that Bruce in particular was still struggling with the loss.

During the encore, they played Tenth Avenue Freeze Out. Right after the line, "...and The Big Man joined the band..." the raucous, upbeat music stopped suddenly and the arena was frozen. They played a montage of pictures on the big screen of Clarance that would've moved even the coldest heart.

Even if you don't care for Bruce Springsteen and/or The E Street Band, take look at a small portion of Bruce's eulogy at The Big Man's funeral...(The man writes songs for a living people. It's an easy, beautiful read. Go ahead. Take five minutes...)

"....From the first time I saw my pal striding out of the shadows of a half empty bar in Asbury Park, a path opening up before him; here comes my brother, here comes my sax man, my inspiration, my partner, my lifelong friend.  Standing next to Clarence was like standing next to the baddest ass on the planet.  You were proud, you were strong, you were excited and laughing with what might happen, with what together, you might be able to do.  You felt like no matter what the day or the night brought, nothing was going to touch you.   Clarence could be fragile but he also emanated power and safety,  and in some funny way we became each other’s protectors; I think perhaps I protected "C" from a world where it still wasn’t so easy to be big and black.  Racism was ever present and over the years together, we saw it.  Clarence’s celebrity and size did not make him immune.  I think perhaps "C" protected me from a world where it wasn’t always so easy to be an insecure, weird and skinny white boy either.  But, standing together we were badass, on any given night, on our turf, some of the baddest asses on the planet.  We were united, we were strong, we were righteous, we were unmovable, we were funny, we were corny as hell and as serious as death itself.  And we were coming to your town to shake you and to wake you up. Together, we told an older, richer story about the possibilities of friendship that transcended those I’d written in my songs and in my music.  Clarence carried it in his heart.  It was a story where the Scooter and the Big Man not only busted the city in half, but we kicked ass and remade the city, shaping it into the kind of place where our friendship would not be such an anomaly. And that… that’s what I’m gonna miss.  The chance to renew that vow and double down on that story on a nightly basis, because that is something, that is the thing that we did together… the two of us.  Clarence was big, and he made me feel, and think, and love, and dream big. How big was the Big Man?  Too fucking big to die.  And that’s just the facts.  You can put it on his grave stone, you can tattoo it over your heart. Accept it… it’s the New World. 

Clarence doesn’t leave the E Street Band when he dies.  He leaves when we die.  

So, I’ll miss my friend, his sax, the force of nature his sound was, his glory, his foolishness, his accomplishments, his face, his hands, his humor, his skin, his noise, his confusion, his power, his peace.  But his love and his story, the story that he gave me, that he whispered in my ear, that he allowed me to tell… and that he gave to you… is gonna carry on.  I’m no mystic, but the undertow, the mystery and power of Clarence and my friendship leads me to believe we must have stood together in other, older times, along other rivers, in other cities, in other fields, doing our modest version of God’s work… work that’s still unfinished.  So I won’t say goodbye to my brother, I’ll simply say, see you in the next life, further on up the road, where we will once again pick up that work, and get it done."

Clarence Clemons & Bruce Springsteen. So glad we got to see them in concert together, twice, before it ended.

  

Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball ends with one of the most unique tunes I've ever heard (style wise). It's beautiful and poetic and as weird as it seems, I want it played at my funeral someday. You can't help but think of The Big Man and from the bridge to the end...

 Let your mind rest easy, sleep well my friend
It’s only our bodies that betray us in the end

I awoke last night in a dark and dreamy deep
From my head to my feet, my body gone stone cold
There were worms crawling all around me
Fingers scratching at an earth black and six foot low
And alone in the blackness of my grave
Alone I’d been left to die
Then I heard voices calling all around me
The earth rose above me, my eyes filled with sky

We are alive
And though our bodies lie alone here in the dark
Our souls and spirits rise
To carry the fire and light the spark
To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart
To stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart
We are alive