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Bruce!

March 23, 1977 The Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts

It was the third day of Spring in my freshman year at Salem State College. I was a shy, awkward kid; ostensibly a Social Work major. In reality I had no clue what I wanted to be, and basically was drifting through classes high on marijuana or whatever chemical agent was offered that week. I sat in the back of my classes filling my notebooks with poems.

That night I was going to experience something special…

We got word that Bruce Springsteen would conclude his three year “Born to Run” tour with 4 shows on Boston. My best friend Paul “Buggsy” Moran got 4 tickets for the March 23nd show. For days we had worn the grooves off our Springsteen records and sang our hearts out getting warmed up for the big event. We were college kids from working class families and we identified with the rising star from New Jersey. Totally pumped up for the show we left Salem around 6:45 pm planning to take our seats in the Music Hall early. A flat tire gave us a few minutes of high anxiety before getting it fixed and getting back on the road. We arrived just in time and were treated to over two hours of Bruce at his best, Cheering on our feet for every song.

I had never seen a concert like this… Bruce Springsteen drew energy from the crowd and played his heart out. We left that night ecstatic and determined to see him the next time he came to Boston.

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Written by PaulPallazola