Dari--Tell Us the Bottom Line Story

[imabrucefan]

Dari,
I know you were at the legendary Bottom Line shows in 1975, but I never heard you tell your impressions of the experience. I would love to hear all about how you came to be there, what you remember about the shows, if you realized you were witnessing history in the making, etc. I would give almost anything to have had that incredible experience! Please tell us all about it!

[Perfect Size Seven]

OH yes, Dari, please tell! Almost every day for the past year I have walked past the Bottom Line, wishing that I had been there. Of course, I wasn't born yet, but you know, a girl can dream. So please, let us/me live through you!! http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/smile.gif http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/smile.gif http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/smile.gif

[BronxDarren]

Dari-
Gather round the campfire and tell please. I too, like perfect size 7 would walk past the bottom line from my apt. around the corner and dream of the past. I saw Dan Bern there but all I could think of was Thunder Road and Spirit in the Night. Please please!

[Rams]

If I could type the equivalent od a jaw dropping, this is it.

d http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/frown.gif )

I'll "raise my hand" to hear that one!

We're not worthy! We're not worthy !!

Rams
a cool rockin' daddy

[GoCartMozart]

I'll join the chorus, Dari. Please, please us!

Living vicariously through the magic of bootlegging is just not sufficent anymore, now that we know someone who can tell us about the experience firsthand!

[This message has been edited by GoCartMozart (edited September 07, 2000).]

[clevelandfan]

she wasn't there, she has no stories to tell.
we might as well forget it. http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/frown.gif

(reverse psychology)

[H&H]

come on dari, fess up! http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/smile.gif

keith

[69 Chevy]

http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gifDish! http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gif

[mrsports]

this is like when the band stops playing and bruce looks ahead motionless for what seems to be forever---the crowd just gets louder and he is still motionless......

[dudley]

maybe its a bedtime story...
maybe we all have to be
tucked in with our jammies on...

its only 5pm here - but if
dari speaks - i'll go find
some jammies and get in them
.....RIGHT NOW!!!

[Rams]

Actually I saw him do this once, and I was close enough to see his eyes. Without moving his head, he cut his eyes back and forth to each side ofthe arena. When he did, the side he was looking at would roar louder. It was amazing.

Rams..

oh, and Dari... please step to the mic !

[Asbury 1]

I've seen the future of storytelling....
....and it's name is Dari! http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gif

[GoCartMozart]

Talk to us,
Before the night is over.
Talk to us...

We got a full week's pay
And, Dari, we've been working hard all day
We're not asking for the world you see
We're down on our bended knees
We're just asking Dari, please won't you
Talk to us...

[imabrucefan]

Dari,
We came for you, for you, we came for you, but you did not need our urgency...

Listening to the Main Point '75 boot right now, which was from the same year. What an incredible version of Incident.

[wheezell]

(this is funny)


Dari! Dari! Dari! . . .

[dudley]

does
she
want
us
to
beg
?

[GoCartMozart]

Read her post again. I think we'll get the story sometime tonight.

[Dr.Rick]

I didn't see Bruce at the Bottom Line in 1975 but did see several early shows, circa 1973-1975, including the Main Point in 1974. Keep in mind that Philly, not NYC, was the hotbed of early Bruce interest. The Bottom Line shows were an industry event essentially. Shortly thereafter, Bruce sold out four shows at the Tower Theatre(3,000 seats) in Philly(including a red hot New Years Eve show). Down here we all felt the fanatics were here in Philly and that the hype was in New York City. And it was that hype, some might remember, that nearly derailed our train. Not the Bottom Line story you were looking for but another perspective on that era.

------------------

We're all riders on this train...

[Marsha]

Dr. Rick,
Wasn't at the Bottom Line either but I will back you up on Philly being the real birth place of Bruce Springsteen. And he knows it!!

Marsha,
I remember these days well!

....Growin up on 93.3 WMMR...

[This message has been edited by Marsha (edited September 08, 2000).]

[Crazy Davey]

The anticipation builds - perhaps she is waiting for a hundred responses before she hits the stage.

[dari]

christ no,i'm not playing coy...i'm waiting to finish my morning coffee. i wasn't home at all yesterday and i wake up to people chanting http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/redface.gif). wow...how cool. usually it's just people yelling at me. i promise i wasn't ignoring you, just not here physically yesterday or mentally now. if you know how slow i type (use one sometimes 2 fingers) you know that this will be slow so i'll be back.

dr. rick is right and philly and virginia were original strongholds. that doesn't mean that us ny folk who knew about the guy didn't love him. but there were not many of us. good to see another oldster on the boards though.

dari

p.s. got to get to work as this is taking longer than i thought. will post about it tonight.....

[This message has been edited by dari (edited September 08, 2000).]

[57channels]

It's hard to believe, but maybe she actually has a life outside this board...

[VTGIRL]

Can't wait to hear your story DARI!!!

[Rams]

Another hour passes by, waiting for Dari.

Meanwhile.. about the Philly connection...

The Mardi Gras originated in Mobile, Alabama, but now is centered/famous in New Orleans. Same parallel for Springsteen's popularity with Philly/NYC.

Rams
a cool rockin' daddy and 1978 MSG attendee.

[BADABING!]

bein a drummer in a band in 1969,n playin down shore every suummer for 15 years. bruce was a shore area celeb n that was mostly around musicians.he had a new band evert few months or spent alot of time goin solo to nyc to play and tryin to get a deal/ i remember in 73 tues.wed he played at msg opening for chicago,,,then on the weekend playin at a bar for the weekend.he gained a good rep in philly n virginia cause he played there alot. why he didnt bring the band to nyc to play who knows,but philly knew him 2/3years before nyc and the world

[imabrucefan]

Listen to your junkman
(s)he's about to sing...

[Belmar]

Let's say prayers for dari and her 1-2 typing fingers to help her get this story to us! If you could dictate it, dari, I'd be glad to type it. Can't wait to read it.

[Hazeleyes]

dari,

we're waiting.

[dari]

well i hope that you guys weren’t waiting for the reader’s digest version of this cause i figure it took me long enough to get home and write this up, i might as well go into gory details....
first of all, sorry if i sounded curt this morning but hey, before coffee no one should ever have to talk to me. i am not human (okay i can hear what you’re saying from over here so quit it). it’s ironic that i woke up to that thread this morning. i went with annie415 and carey415 to a screeening of “almost famous” last night (thanks for asking me guys) and it was a great movie. all rock lovers have to catch this one. on the way out, walking to our cars, i was telling them i am not gonna tell anymore stories on this thing as everyone is probaby sick of hearing them anyway and we are all beginning to repeat ourselves too much. then when i saw the topic this morning i thought how bizarre. not fed up yet. well okay, but remember...you asked for it!

i got into all of the bottom line shows because my friend’s father was going through a mid-life crisis. i know. you’re saying HUH???? what the hell does that have to do with bruce springsteen? well this is what. my friend mike and i knew each other because i used to hang with his sister. i met him before the rolling stones show at the garden in 1972 (the tour with stevie wonder as the opener) and hated him immediately. he was the kind of guy who would fight with you, and did,(still does!) about anything. nothing was a discussion. it was all an argument. he was the kind of guy i moved from the east coast to avoid and now miss terribly living here in california. it’s a charm lost on most other non-east coast women. anyway....in 1971 his parents were getting divorced due to his father’s huge mid-life crisis. his dad lived not far from me in the village on the corner of mercer and 8th st which is a few steps from the bottom line. so in the summer of 1975 i am working at this camp in conn. as the fine arts director and mike calls me and says “you have to come home....springteen is at the bottom line”. i wasn’t even all that familiar with the bottom line as i grew up on the fillmore and max’s kc. i had been out of the city when it opened and had never been there. okay. i can switch days off and come home for the night. “no...he’s playing for 5 nights/2 shows a night”. and do we have tickets? no way. but it turns out that mr. b, as we call his dad, has become fast friends with the bouncer at the bottom line(who works the door) and they go horse back riding together in central park every week and play softball there too. so i agree to come down on wed. the night of the first show. when we go to the bottom line it is walll to wall people everywhere. in the streets, on cars, everywhere. all of these people are waiting for the 50-75 tickets that are supposed to be released that night and there are 100’s of them (people not tickets). we go to the front of the line and sure enough mr. b’s friend jay mason is on the door and after waiting awhile lets us in for one of the standing room only places. it’s hot, humid and sweaty inside (august in the city...the exact reason i leave for the summer every year) and after what seems like forever the show starts. now let me just dispell one myth. it is NOT all industry people as everyone who was not there will try to tell you. supposedly there were about 1000 tickets given to industry people over the course of the 10 shows and being as the place holds around 400-450 people for 10 shows that is only 25% of the people who got in. the rest were either die-hards or people brought by them or really really lucky. now here is where it gets sticky only cause i wound up being able to go to all of the shows. a lot of the sets run together in my head. bruce opened with thunder road as you all know at the piano. i remember him looking as he would on the cover of BTR... very skinny wearing a tee-shirt and jeans and of course his sneaks and his hat(not the wool one the other one). most importantly his black leather jacket and as the spoonful would say "in the summer...in the city". i have some pictures we took another night (someone stole a few from me when i had them at my store unfortunately) but there is NO way that you can catch the intensity from the tapes you all have. they are great, of course, but i can’t describe how the feeling was in that room. i wish i had gizzy’s talent to do so. i just remember my heart being in my throat for the whole show as he tore across the stage and jumped on everything /table that was vaguely near him. it cracked us up to watch the faces of people who had never seen bruce perform, just follow him with their eyes with their jaws hanging on the floor for a couple of hours. you know how it is when a night is magical and conversely, when it is just another show? well this was not laid back like some of the shows i had seen. this was full on intensity like he had something to prove to the world. i think he was nervous the first shows. i don’t remember feeling that way for the other ones though. who can say? i was only in the audience. i remember meeting the 2 guys who owned the club on one of the nights and they were as blown away as we were. in fact i heard many years later that they said that those were still the best shows that were ever performed there. that’s not hard to believe.
after the first night i called the camp to tell them i wouldn’t be back for a few days....soemone in my family had died. hey...a girl’s got to do what she’s got to do. i will never regret coming back for those shows and even after the hundreds i have seen before or since, i still think those were the best ones ever. it helped that it was in my city in my neighborhood, like he was coming to my house. we walked out after the shows and walked around the village for hours not wanting the feeling to end. there were still some people who couldn’t get in hanging out and we talked to them for awhile. i remember feeling like something had changed but i didn’t really know what. maybe it was somehow knowing that this was it. we had lost bruce to the outside world. or maybe it was me. still not sure which to tell you the truth..... but you know the rest. to tell you the truth i could cry just thinking about it now. it was either yesterday or a lifetime ago......


in case you didn't know patter was there too so you might want to get her take on the shows. BTW...for those who don't know why we are called twins, we realized long ago that we were at all of the same early rock concerts so we decided that we were separated at birth.....

[This message has been edited by dari (edited September 09, 2000).]

[Toots]

Dari,

My great big sister...Great story. I'm so glad that someone asked for it. I still hope that someday you write that book about your experiences, even if it's just for the family. I never get tired of your stories. You did a great job of putting it into words. Sometimes just saying that you can't describe it is enough to imagine how it felt. Like one of those things that are so awesome you can't put it to words but everyone knows that it was something wonderful. I wish I could have been there.

Patter,

I would love to hear your version of the Bottom Line shows. If you won't tell it here remember I know where you live!

Love you both,

Toots

[dari]

you are, after all dr. rick, totally correct. rock and roll never solved my problems. we were born into the generation that wanted to believe that so badly. but it sure as s**t made them go away for a good long hour or 2 (or 4) when bruce was on that stage. i guess in the end that's why we're all here. trying to fill the emptiness when it all goes away for awhile.

dari

[VTGIRL]

Thank you Dari!!!

[Dr.Rick]

Great story, Dari. Having been "on the bus" back then too, the part of your story that resonated the most were the bittersweet feelings of losing Bruce to the world as others less fanatical thn ourselves were realizing something was going on down here. Going from seeing Bruce in tiny clubs and colleges to larger halls was taumatic. I actually boycotted the Spectrum show in 1976 because I thought Bruce was selling out. Returning to the fold for many of the Darkness shows, I realized the cult that we were originally part of remains the same; the throng that surrounds it expands and contracts depending on the pop culture moment. I felt tese same feelings after "hungry Heart" broke the second half of the River tour, the stadium mess of the BITUSA tour, and most recently at the MSG shows. For me the spirit of this tour ended that amazing night in Atlanta, where we were all still relaxed and peaceful. The MSG shows were another version of that hype: craziness about tickets, boycotts, drop lines that don't end, mean spirited stage rushes (where my 11 year old gets knocked to the floor and no one cares because they're trying to get to the stage),etc. All I'm trying to say here is that Having been to so many of the hyped shows (No Nukes, tour oppeners/closers, Amnesty, secret shows, all the way through the super hyped 7/1), the best shows, the most fun times are the unexpected ones or every one or for me, always the last one. Sorry if this is a bit crotchety, but when you get to be my age...

------------------

We're all riders on this train...

[dari]

personally dr. rick

i am thrilled to have more people "our age" here!!! it doesn't make me any younger but i sure hate feeling like the OLDEST walking bruce fan on the planet all by myself. (okay...an exaggeration but you get my drift!) besides some others on here would yell at me for that....they are just as old (thank god!)

i know exactly how you feel about the mean spiritedness out there. i read some of these other boards and think that one of the things i truly miss the most is that, in the beginning, we were all so busy trying to convince the world that this guy was the second coming that we didn't have the pettiness of the "who has been to more shows, etc. etc etc." that is out there now. not sure if i have told this story but even though he and i are friendly now i will mention it again. in the 80's i helped charles cross get a lot of his original mailing list for backstreets by advertising it in my store (on venice beach...250,00 people a day walking by) and encouraging people to subscribe. so after he gets going his associate editor erik flannigan ( i love you erik but you know it happened) walks in the door and starts doing what i call the "bruce factoid thing". he can name names and places and dates off the top of his head like no one's business. he was and is a brilliant journalist and a huge bruce/music fan. but here's the problem. erik is like 20-22 years old and he is telling me about concerts that i went to trying to prove that he knows more about bruce. well maybe he did cause he obviously had it all down. so i just looked at him and said "erik...how old were you in 1967?" don't remember his exact answer but it was in the under 3 category i think. well sorry but that is when i saw my first bruce show so please don't tell me about it if you weren't there. cause maybe you can list the songs off the top of your head and i can't, but i saw it. now really...which would be more important to you? if all of this sounds like i was too obnoxious well i guess i was. i will never understand however how trying to make another person feel less will make you feel more and i was trying to demonstrate that to him. to me it is far more obnoxious to read rmas and some of these other boards where making another feel like an a***hole is the local sport of the day. it makes no sense to me that that mentality is going to the bruce shows, listening to the songs and words, and still treating others like complete jerks. well that's my before and after morning coffee rant and i promise to shut up for a minute and ask some of the other oldsters on here who got to see shows in the early days to tell there stories...

dr. rick

i'd love to hear your version of the main point show.....

[Dr.Rick]

Dari, To shift our oldster ranting I offer my own mantra in the face of mean spirited/crazy spirited bull**** over the years--when the lights go down at 8:20 all is forgotten and that moment I am taken back to all my firsts: that first show at the Main Point, the first time I heard "Rosalita", the first time I realized that rock and roll would solve all my problems (naiive but hey when you're 16...). Which brings us to the Main Point show (my second Bruce show--I actually saw Bruce open for Chicago in 1973 I guess). I wish I could remember songs, set lists, all the funny nuances people talk about but i don't. All I do remember is encoded in my body getting triggered all those 8:20 nights, like clockwork. I came home that night transformed in some other state and called my best friend telling him words that predated but echoed Landau's prophecy: I've seen the future...From there I hit the road endlessly--the clubs, the colleges, the theatres, the arenas. Rock and roll never solved my problems, of course, but helps me dance all over them.

------------------

Have love will travel

[mississippi]

Thanks, Dari-- great story-- keep them coming!! I have to doubt anyone here would tire of them---

Bobbie

[imabrucefan]

Thanks, Dari! Loved your story. Tell us some more!

Dr. Rick, yes, give us some details of the Main Point show.

[Crazy4Bruce]

Dari - I was captivated upon reading your story. (May I say.. It was my 1st time!) But Dari... PLEASE don't ever stop telling your stories (I mean that sincerely). Keep in mind that there will always be someone out there willing to listen and wanting so much to go back to a time we will never ever be able to return to. I for one. Keep that spirit alive with your stories. You said it so well and put into words how I think a lot of us 'oldies' feel. Myself included. If only I was into this guy called 'Bruce' like my older sister was! (Man, it is so painful to think how much I have missed!!) ...But, stories told here such as yours, let me feel what it was like to be at the nuclius of the explosion of Bruce. We can never go back but thanks to stories like yours, we can experience it at a different level...

I know it must have taken a looooong time to write and a couple of cups of coffee later...Thanks so much for sharing ...

Mary Ann

[Belmar]

dear dari,

I'm one of the oldsters too (but not quite as old as our hero). Sadly I never saw him in concert until TOL. So many wasted years! Thank you so much for any and all of your personal eye-witness accounts (especially this one) because they fill in holes that all the bios & boots in the world can't quite do.

Thanks,
Mary

[This message has been edited by Belmar (edited September 09, 2000).]

[GEEBOSS]

Old is a realtive state of mind

http://www.thunder-road.freeserve.co.uk/Bruce07L.jpg

[NashCat]

dari - I'm speechless. You were so eloquent. Thanks for sharing your beautiful memories with the rest of us. God bless you!!!

[aurora]

dari,
for some reason i just kept putting off reading this thread...it definitely would have been MY loss.
great story and i loved your take on "obnoxious bruce fans" it was so "right on"!


dr.rick,
"Rock and roll never solved my problems, of course, but helps me dance all over them."
...exactly!!

[dari]

thanks to everyone who's posted on this thread for making me think about this again. it set me off on a course today of going through a lot of things i had packed away and reliving some really great memories. but there a lot of people who post here who didn't go the "well-known" shows but i'm sure had the same reactions. i know toots went to one in springfield in 1976/gee went to one because he saw some kids on a college campus lined up for something and it turned out to be bruce/marsha went to one in kutztown at around the same time etc. these weren't as publicized but sometimes the most amazing ones happen in a place where the press isn't sitting outside the door and the hype hasn't really hit yet. so if you guys have the time let's hear about those shows too...please....

dari

[imabrucefan]

Dari,
No detail is too small when we are talking about Bruce. Now I must ask (hope this isn't too much) for details about 1967 when you said you saw your first Bruce show. Wow! I think you must hold the record for the fan that goes back the farthest! Wow, Bruce would have been 18 years old in 1967! Was it the Castiles or Steel Mill then? Let's hear it. Did you ever think when you first saw him then that he would turn out to be one of the greatest rock and roll stars of all time?

[emsquared]

Dari,
Love the story.. I wish I had been there. I didn't catch on until 84 and my life hasn't been the same since.

GeeBoss, I totally agree with you, but my relatives think I'm old and in a state...(of confusion)...haha.


Monica(mm)

[NaughtySherry]

I went to a Houston show in 1975. Wish I could tell you about it Dari, but that was the one I slept through.

------------------
But that's just my opinion.

[Marsha]

I'll cut in!!!

Dari's first was at a private party, I believe. We never tire of that one, tell it again Dari!

I used to stay on the phone for hours with my friend Seth. He says to me one day,"have you heard this guy Bruce Springsteen yet?" I hadn't and at the time there was only one song getting airplay on the radio, Sandy. He puts the phone to the radio and something in me just went wow!

A few months later, two of my neighbors come over and they have tickets to Springsteen and one for me. I'm 15, almost 16, and I'm in!! Still at this point Bruce is vertually unknown.

July/75

The three of us take this really long drive to nowheresville, the boonies, way out in God's country. We were young and it was fun, while we prayed we didn't get lost.

We get to Kutztown State College and pile in to the gym. No seats. We are standing about 8 feet from the stage.

Band comes out. Scrawny and scruffy Bruce is at the microphone wearing black jeans, white tank undershirt, Jack Purcell's, hat and yes, the black leather jacket, in July. He's also bearded. He starts singing Incident, Dari don't be crying, what I remember the most was that he whispered (talked) the entire song. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He just reeled everyone in with this version. I walked out of there so amazed by the intensity of this band.

We talked about this night forever. Here it is 25 years later and I'm still talking about it. I had a term paper due right after this and I did it on the show. I do remember getting an A on the paper, but wish I could find it as it has every last detail. I don't know what happened to the ticket stub but I do have the T-shirt and wore it on 6/29.

I am also glad that I went to the Spectrum shows that were the next to follow. By this time Bruce was famous and I would seat hop all over the arena visiting friends. The tickets were still plentiful but we did have to stay out all night to get them. By the next tour, I was working in a record store and we would go in and pull tickets early. Well I have not missed a tour yet, although it's come close only because of how hard these tickets are to get.

I have come full circle with Bruce, taken my Mom, and last year taking my sons.

My favorite is to say to Mom, remember when you would say,"Who is this?". This nobody!
Who would have guessed???????

Dr. Rick, you've said it the best- Bruce has let us dance through our problems!

For this I am glad to be my age because if I wasn't look what I would have missed. My husband got to see The Doors because he has a sister 7 years older. I took him to his first Bruce show, but not until 1978. hehehe!!!!
I was already a veteran.

Marsha

[dari]

imabrucefan

i have mentioned this before on here that bruce appeared at the cafe wha? with the castiles as sort of the house band of the moment from
around dec 1967-jan 1968. that was our place to hang when we were kids. all of the "cool people" were there as most of the rest of the
places on that street were coffee houses (no starbucks at the time and not that kind of coffee house) or mainly folk clubs that had just started showcasing some rock acts. i loved folk too but the wha? was the place to meet some one "hip" ( the catch phrase of the moment) . it was this long skinny dark place where you had to go downstairs and could hardly see the nose in front of your face. the door admission was cheap enough but then they made you buy at least 2 drinks with names like pink elephants that cost around $2.50-$4.00 each and that was very expensive on my high school allowance/baby-sitting budget.
i can tell you only one thing. i was in that room at the same time as the castiles, probably on more than one occassion, but if i had to tell you one thing about who they were, what they looked like/sounded like etc. i absolutely couldn't. yes i can say i saw them but i didn't remember this til later on in life when i was reminded of it by a girl i hung with at the time. not me. probably too busy trying to talk to some guy sitting near me and trying to look as hip as everyone else did. (of course i didn't mention that to erik either...sorry erik!) now here's something else i recently learned from another friend who i used to hang with there. just to let you know how oblivious i really was.....she reminded me that we saw jimmy james and the flames there too. how i could forget his performance when just a couple of years later i'd be worshipping at his feet at the fillmore is beyond me. at least my excuse for bruce with the castiles is understandable in that he was very young and didn't sound like what you think of as bruce. but jimi hendrix pretty much looked and sounded the same and i had only a vague recollection of this after she mentioned it.

i realize now that i sound like my own grandmother and i am getting "bummed" as we used to say.......

dari

http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gif http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gif http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gif

p.s. hey marsh
we must have been posting at the same time. GREAT STORY!! you never told me the whole thing. and yes folks, she still fits into that tiny little tee-shirt from 1975.



[This message has been edited by dari (edited September 10, 2000).]

[Redrocks]

What a great way to spend a Sunday morning at work! I am siting here listening to the Main Point show reading these stories and thinking just how fortunate I am to have you "older" http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/wink.gif more experienced folks sharing such wonderful stories with us "younger" (yea right!) fanatics who did not discover the wonders of Bruce until later in life. I have no stories to tell (except that one over told story about Red Rocks in 1981), but I sure do appreciate living vicariously through all of you.

As much as I try, I simply cannot pull myself away from this board. Dari, Marsha, Dr Rick, Gee, Toots, Patter, and all of the others who share stories and knowledge with the rest of us, you are the reason why.

What a great community -- Thanks for sharing, and keep it coming folks!

Cheers!

[dudley]

ditto redrocks
and others...
its so nice to read
about these shows on
a sunday afternoon that
i'm having to work...
thank you so much -
never could get bored
with these stories...

sometimes dari - at least
around here and the people
we know it seems like we are
still trying to get people to
listen - i'm going to have to
print our lyrics, turn on the
stereo, line up friends & family
and hold them at gun point
- that's the only way we'll get
them to listen

[imabrucefan]

Dari and Marsha:
What incredible stories!!!!! I really, really enjoy hearing these types of stories. And yes, I was thinking the same thing--"she still fits into a t-shirt from 1975--geez". And here I was thinking I was one of the "old-timers" since I have followed Bruce since 1976, but....

I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!

Hope I get the chance to meet both of you girls someday soon.

[GEEBOSS]

http://tourphotos.com/imagesA-E2/BruceSpringsteen08219909.jpg

[Marsha]

I'm just glad they never sold jeans at the concessions!

Marsha

[dari]

trust me folks...

marsha would still fit into those too. she is tiny!

red rocks and dudley
you guys shouldn't be working today! i guess that will be me too when the season gets closer to xmas.

imabrucefan

since you started this whole thing YOU ARE OBLIGATED TO TELL US YOUR 1976 STORY. and EVERYONE is worthy...

geeboss

you must post your stories...PLEASE!!! i know you're a man of few words but we want o hear'em.....i think i feel a chant coming on...GEE GEE GEE GEE GEE GEE GEE GEE........


dari

[Rams]

My humble thanks to Dari, Marsha, and the rst of the "originals" for caring and sharing all the great details. I of course have read about those legendary shows in books, but to read personal accounts, too, is really special. Especially since it is done in an open and friendly way, not as a "can you top this" contest. That's a great thing about this board.

Me, I was a Connecticut kid in the 70's.
Catching on like most mainstream radio listeners in the beloved tri-state area, but somehow I did get to see Bruce at MSG in 1978. It's pretty unusual to see your favorite performer in four different decades, but a few of us have done it.

I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who were a few years ahead of me. Thanks again for sharing, and making my own knowledge and love for the man and his music a bit more thorough.

Rams
a cool rockin' daddy.

[Crazy4Bruce]

GEEBOS ... Just had to tell you... "heavy sigh"... Gosh, you must have some sort of scanner... Excellent excellent photo. I love coming across them. Such a pleasant surprise. PLEASE let us in on your experiences. We'd love to know...

Marsha- Loved your story...

.. Was it the No Nukes concert in '78 that was at MSG? I was at that too but it was too long ago to remember. Wish I paid more attention and 'memorized' what was happening. Went with my sister who's a total Bruce fanatic and at that time I was just tagging along. What ever posessed me to move from NJ?!

------------------
Regards,
Mary Ann

[FrontYard]

Thanks Dari, Sherry, Marsha and everyone else for sharing these great stories!

Imabrucefan, I can tell you that meeting Dari IS a very special experience - she's, wow, she's so many things to so many people.

SHE'S THE ONE!

[FrontYard]

Thanks Dari, Sherry, Marsha and everyone else for sharing these great stories!

Imabrucefan, I can tell you that meeting Dari IS a very special experience - she's, wow, she's so many things to so many people.

SHE'S THE ONE!

[Di]

Thank you dari and Marsha and all for telling your stories, and No we never get tired of hearing them. You give us the true essence of where all this love for Bruce came from. I wish I had been able to experience some of it then, but hearing about it is the next best thing.
My only old story is standing outside all nite in the early 80's for tickets. Finally it got closer dawn, and then later the line would started moving and then when you knew you were going to get a ticket, ah that feeling, that joyous feeling !!! Wow!! and then you got to go to the concert in 2 months!!!

[growingYoung]

Wow, I haven't been able to get on the board for weeks (ok maybe it's been months even) and then I get this treat! Thanks Dari, and all of you, for sharing your early stories. So much fun to read!

My first show was in 1977 in Milwaukee. Mr GY asked his dad to get us a couple tickets while he was downtown for work. We were way up in the nosebleeds but it was incredible nonetheless. Seeing Bruce walk out 15-20 rows into the audience during Spirit in the Night.. we were tearin our hair out not to be down there! They opened with Night; I love that song. I'm still trying to get a copy of this show...

[Mr GY's dad passed away 3 years ago Saturday. I miss him and wish he could know our little boy who was only 1 then.]

A funny thing about that Milwaukee show. Bruce kept yellin "Are you loose?!!" "Are you alive?!" all night. It was great and we screamed back every time. Years later I come to realize he doesn't say "Are you loose" at other shows, just Milwaukee, in reference to the infamous Bomb Scare Show of 76 or 75. I couldn't figure that out for years! LOL!

So good to see all the familiar names still posting. I miss the lake too. Just too damn busy these days. (not that that's a good excuse, but such is life)

-GY

[HazardFromHarvard]

Hey Growing Young:

I have both the 1975 Bomb Scare Show and the 1977 Milwaukee show (name of the boot is "Action in the Streets"). I don't have a CD burner, but I could tape them for you or loan them to you if you have a burner. Let me know....

Hazard

[HazardFromHarvard]

Great stories, everyone. I know the Bomb Scare story, but I'd rather let someone who was there tell it (I was 11 years old and 1500 miles away, so I only know what I've read, which Dari can tell you isn't always accurate). Growing Young, make sure you check your private messages.

[Dr.Rick]

oh i could tell some more of the old stories--like seeing bruce get booed in philly at the chicago spectrum show in 1973, what it was like seeing bruce in the clubs and colleges we'd travel around to (if you think your friends don't understand you for that now--imagine that then--plus just finding out tour dates was a major undertaking), or the funny bond that developed among the faithful then (all us misfits). but rest assured newbies the last bruce show you saw was the best bruce show you'll ever see. i've seen all the tours, multiple shows. and yeah the born to run tour was this and the darkness tour was that...but each succeeding tour and show was a culmination of everything that went before it, just as bruce is the culmination ofevery rock and roll performer that proceeded him. on this train, it's spirit that counts...

------------------

Have love will travel

[Marsha]

Crazy4Bruce,

What stands out at No Nukes was when Chakka Kahn came out and was booed.
You can see she's upset, she pauses for a minute and says,"Are you saying boo or Bruce?".
The crowd went wild and gave her the loudest "Bruuce!"
Then she said,"That's good, now I feel better".
It still makes me smile and I liked Chakka Kahn, even before her statements and I felt bad that she was in the wrong crowd.

More memories from Kutztown...
Bruce had the slow drawl back then, sounding a little wasted. He did a lot of giggling and joking with the band. The smile always killed me and that underbite. The band was not as in sync as you hear it today. Wish I could remember the stories we got that night.
The words were also different in some of the songs. I know there is a tape out there somewhere and someday I'll find it.

Another funny thing happened when I was working in the record store(1978). Peaches, for those of you from Georgia, you may remember it. They had a lot of famous people come through their stores. One day I see a guy wearing a black T-shirt that says Mad Dog on the back. I go up to him and said,"Mad Dog, who do you think you are?". He says,"Who do you think I am?". Well I was completely and totally embarrassed. It was Vini Lopez. I should have asked for an autograph but I felt really stupid now.


Marsha

[dari]

frontyard

you've got to quit taking ecstasy...even my mother doesn't like me THAT much.

imabrucefan

we're still waiting for you....

dari

[FrontYard]

Growing Young,

I've not heard about the Bomb Scare Shows - can you share that one with the Board?

And Dari - I think I've told you, yours was the first post I read on this Board; you've been supportive, encouraging, creative, defended those who needed help and given us all your wonderful insights.

How can I not say "SHE'S THE ONE"? http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/smile.gif

FY

[brucefanatic]

Dari: I read your posting and, dammit, I had tears in my eyes. You painted the picture so vividly and I could kick myself for not being there. To think that I am friends with one of the founders/owners and could have been at every show is a regret I will never get over. I just hadn't seen that light yet. Like someone else said, what a bunch of wasted years.
And until someone proves otherwise, I claim the "oldest" (in chronological years) brucetramp honor.
Dr. Rick: You said it so right - the last show you saw is the best....until the next time.


------------------
Esther
the power, the promise

[GoCartMozart]

Great stores, all. Dari, please do not talk yourself into not telling your stories. Not everybody has heard them, and those of us who have generally enjoy hearing them again.
I am very glad this clamor came when it did, if it made that point clear to you.

Now, patter, please, let's hear your description of this historic show!

[ForYou]

Yes, the only good thing about being old is having the opportunity to have been there. I have told some of this before but it was before some of the new people came on board.
As Dari said the other early Bruce mecca was Virginia. He was in Richmond on a regular basis starting with Child, then Steel Mill then B.S. Band and later with E Street but not often by then. Like Dari, alot of this has run together in my head, which shows were with which band name and what song was played first are a blur. Just think I had to keep track of everything the Beatles did at the same time. Hard job. Like Dari all I know is I was there. I can't go back to the Castiles though. One early concert was a free one at Monroe Park in '69 probably. This is a small park near VCU (then called Richmond Prof. Institute) The art and drama depts were a Southern verson of the Village and S.F.We went straight from Weejuns to flowers painted on our face. Steel Mill was there all the time and had developed a big following. They played at The Center, the VCU gym, the Battle of the Bands at the fairgrounds, The Hullabaloo Club where I and my girlfriends learned the latest dances from our friend James who later became Jay and then Jamie and then Wilhemina after a sex change operation! As the B.S. Band they played at Univ. of Richmond the Arena, the Mosque, the coliseum, a little joint called the Backdoor Club.
The show everyone remembers was the Parking Deck at 7th & MarshallSts. downtown across from the Federal Bldg where I later worked. It was 7 or 8 stories high, about 1000-1200 people. This was scruffy, skinny Bruce, cutoffs, tennis shoes long hair.The songs I remember at this and some of the others were Sweet Melinda, I Am The Doctor, The War Is Over, The Wind and the Rain, Sister Teresa and It's All over Now Baby Blue Send That Boy To Jail was a great one but I don't remember if he did that at the Parking lot show. I had forgotten Resurection until someone mentioned it the other day. There was alot of instrumental in these shows. He was very accesible then, would do his stories with his legs dangling off the stage, sit in the audience, etc. In answer to imabruce fans question to Dari about did she ever think when she first saw him that he would turn out to be one of the greatest R7R stars of all time? Absolutely!!!

[growingYoung]

OMG Hazard!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! I would LOVE a copy of Action in the Streets (Milw 77)! Of course, I'd love the Bomb Scare show too but I don't want to be greedy. I didn't see any PMs from you though. Oh happy day!! http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gif

Front Yard: I can't relate the Bomb Scare show as I wasn't there. If anyone was there please post your impressions of this famous show!!

(Hazard I'll PM you!)
-GY

[Toots]

I have to say this must be one of the best threads ever. What a great way to ease the Post Bruce depression!

Marsha....A friend of my brother's went to the Kutztown shows that you went to. We had just moved from Pa. to Massachusetts and I remember my brother's friend Gary driving up from Pa. and telling me all about the shows. I was 15 at the time and really loved Bruce, but had not seen him in concert. I hung on his every word. I probably seemed like an immature teenybopper to him. I did get to see Bruce in 76 in Springfield Mass, what a great experience that was. I missed the Darkness tour, I had just moved to Ohio with my parents after graduating from high school in Massachusetts, leaving behind my boyfriend etc. Small town Ohio really ****ed for me. Cleveland was only an hour or so away, but I couldn't find anyone who liked Bruce, and tickets to Bruce in Cleveland were not easy to come by in 1978. Especially if you didn't know anyone. Where the hell was the internet back then? I managed to see Bruce in 1980 in Hartford, (back with the high school boyfriend again) in the worst seats possible with a bunch of non Bruce fans along for the ride. After moving to California and then getting married moving to Alaska I totally missed the BITUSA tour. For the TOL tour I was pregnant in upstate NY with a 3 year old. But we caught two shows on the "bad band tour" (as Patter calls it), and did 4 shows this tour. Back on the Bruce track. I guess what I'm getting at here is that in looking back I wish I had been more daring when I lived on the east coast and that I had made it to more of those early shows. It was certainly more of a Bruce world back east than it was in California (depending on where you were) and Alaska. The Stadium tour didn't make it to Anchorage! I am so grateful for Dari, Dr. Rick, Marsha and everyone who were there at the beginning for sharing their stories with us. It means alot to me!

Toots

[dari]

foryou

loved your stories of the early days!!! god. now you brought back some more memories for me with the thought of bruce hanging on the stage when he had the really long hair. to this day between bruce and the beatles i still love long hair. the hard part to describe (but you did such a great job of it) is how accessible they were. when people say "wow you met him back then" it's like, well it wasn't too hard to do. imagine a really great local band playing in your high school and when they get off stage you go over and talk to them. at the time it would have never occurred to me that this was momentous. meeting the beatles would have been momentous but bruce was regular. he looked like half the guys in my neighborhood and he goofed around like the high school clown on stage half the time. told dumb stories that made you crack up and like foryou said they played these long jams in the early days. if you have heard the tapes you were sure the guy was stoned when he talked but that was okay cause most of us were too. it was a different world and though i don't like being older as i have said many times i wouldn't trade the music memories i have for anything. i really believe that i was (still am! http://talk.livedaily.com/docs/biggrin.gif ) the perfect age for rock and roll...all of it.

dari



[This message has been edited by dari (edited September 12, 2000).]

[Redrocks]

What a great thread to wake up to every day, even better than my morning cup of java (which most around me will attest is critical). The historical stories of bruce back in the late 60 and early 70s are fun because it does bring it all back around for me and shows me that what makes it all true (for me at least) is that from the beginning until now, the man has an uncompromised gift of story and of passion that really opens up my eyes to the joys and the wonders of my daily life. Only wish I could have been around it back then to have soaked it in.

Please keep them coming everyone -- just like Tony the Tiger used to say back in those days, "They're great."


Cheers!

OBTW, Growing Young, it is nice to see you posting again, welcome back and glad you got "your show" You meet the nicest folks around here!

[GEEBOSS]

http://www.thunder-road.freeserve.co.uk/Bruce43L.jpg

[Crazy4Bruce]

Redrocks... I couldn't have said it any better. This is the best thread yet.
... And to come across another beautiful from GEEBOSS.. Well.. just another heavy sigh.

P.S. I am fairly new to this board & I have to say (as a former frequent 'poster' to 'another' board).. This is the place to be. I am totally enjoying it and am so very thankful to the wonderful folks sharing their
thoughts/experiences with Bruce. That's what it's all about!

Thanks...



------------------
Regards,
Mary Ann

[flap]

Dari, I'm letting my hair grow out..
Oh, IT'S ALRIGHT TO HAVE A GOOD TIME.

[imabrucefan]

Wow, y'all have been busy while I was gone! Lots more great stories to read today. You know, when I miss reading this board for 2 or 3 days I feel a real need to get back and catch up with everything. I am also continually amazed by the generosity of spirit here, of how people are willing to share everything from stories, pictures (thanks Gee), boots, videos, support, prayers, and you name it here. I had searched the internet for a place like this but had not found it until this spring when I stumbled on it on the TM website (yes, Ticketmaster is good for something!) It may sound corny, but I feel like I have discovered a bunch of new friends, even though most of you have remained "virtual" friends. I do consider myself lucky to have personally met some of you during the past year. And I went from my plan to see only the Charlotte show to seeing 2 more (Atlanta and MSG) and having better seats than I have ever had before thanks to people on this board.

OK Dari, here is my 1976 story (actually, my memory is getting worse by the day, because I have actually followed Bruce since the fall of '75), and I remember the precise moment that I first heard the first notes of Born to Run. I had gone away for the weekend with my high school friends to a little chalet in the mountains (still don't know how we talked our parents into that one) and someone had brought a copy of BTR, and from that moment on, I was instantly and irrevocably hooked. There has never been anyone else whose music I have loved as much or for as long. Well, in March of '76 he came to Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte. Now, this leads up to one of my biggest regrets (yes, heartbreaking to remember) That's right, I didn't get to go!! I was working at some stupid after school job which I have since forgotten, making probably $3 an hour. I was scheduled to work during the concert, and I have lived to regret so many times not blowing off that job and seeing that concert! I have always been too damn responsible! And of course I wouldn't get another chance to see him in a small venue until 1996. So, my actual first time seeing him live was in August of 1978, on the Darkness tour. Like others, I do not remember details from the concert, but just an overall feeling of WOW! What a show!!! I did get to meet Clarence after the show at a restaurant that a friend of the guy I was dating owned. This guy knew Bruce somehow and had invited them over for a private party (Bruce never did show, which is just as well, because I don't know what I would have done or said--probably would have been struck speechless!) I have seen him on every tour since. I do agree with Dr. Rick, this past one is the best one ever! The band has never sounded better, and though Bruce's voice and stage antics have changed somewhat, he is still the man! Thank you all for sharing your wonderful stories with me!

[ForYou]

Hey flap..Is it going to be shoulder length?

[dari]

flap

i'm with foryou...sounds good to me bro!

dari

it's alright yea it's alright.....

[Zephyrs 23]

TOOTS-


PLEEEEEEEASE, tell me a story of Bruce history that takes place in my hometown!!! PLEASE! If it was at Springfield College, which i Suspect it was, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WAS 5 BLOODY MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE IN SUBURBAN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, AND I WASN'T BORN YET. I could kick myself. please Toots, let me live through your memory.

[The Music Traveler]

Hey Dari,
I know this is like posting old history, but I just happened upon this thread and had to ask you something....

Do you remember seeing Bruce at the RFK (or was it JFK) Stadium in Conn. back in 1975,6 or 7?

My cousin took me and a girlfriend up to New Haven for my first show. It was nearly 2 hours each way. I remember having nosebleed seats at one of the corners. I had been listening to an old 8track boot that my cousin had made me with Kenny Viola singing Thundercrack after Bruce's version. He introduced me to him at this show and I told him how wonderful I thought his singing was.
Before Bruce started, a stranger approached us and told us Mr. Viola had better seats for us. (He'd seen Bruce many times up close and wanted us to have the same experience) I don't remember exactly how close it was, but I'm guessing within the first 10-15 rows. I was 15 or 16 and not very tall. We all took photos back then too. I remember being blown away by the sheer power of Bruce and his band and his music. (I had been listening to boots - my cousin was friendly with Bruce in those days and had many to share.)He played the piano back then. He would sort of free-fall into the audience and we all passed him around, on his back. It was during the time when he was so tired after the 4 hour shows that he sort of collapsed and they would bring a stretcher out, put Bruce on it and start to carry him off (to thunderous applause) Then Bruce would hop off the stretcher and jump into another song....
There was no stage rushing. Security was there but not in your face. We stood on chairs alot of the show too. (this was 25 years ago so it's a little hazey)

Anyway, I asked my cousin recently (he flew in from Hawaii to join me 8th row in Anaheim - you might have met him at Gordon Birsch's with me) and he didn't remember much.

Do you remember the show I am talking about by any chance?
Did anyone else go to this one? I'd love to remember the date so I can find the boot...if there is one.

Thanks!


------------------
**Man, the dope's that there's still hope.**

[dari]

thought this thread was dead and buried..

sorry mt...

was not there. but i did look it up on brucebase for you and this looks to be it.

18/3/77 - MEMORIAL COLISEUM NEW HAVEN CT
NIGHT / DON'T LOOK BACK / SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT / IT'S MY LIFE (10.45)/ THUNDER ROAD (5.36)/ MONA - SHE'S THE ONE (10.19)/ 10TH AVENUE FREEZE OUT (4.14)/ ACTION IN THE STREETS (5.02)/ BACKSTREETS (CUT) (6.00)/ JUNGLELAND (9.20)/ ROSALITA (11.40)/ BORN TO RUN (4.24)/ QUARTER TO THREE (9.29)
Audience tape - incomplete, the first three tracks are missing

looks like a great show and very similar to the set list he did at one of my all time favorites 3/25/77 at the boston music hall.

what is so funny is that you know (or met)ken viola as one of my close friends is his partner in "thunder road" magazine lou cohan.

of course i remember bruce laying on his back and being passed around by the audience. this stopped only after john lennon was killed. then it became the tradition of him bringing someone up on stage to dance. i remember pretty recently someone talking about another performer and saying how cool it was that they did this amazing thing where they let the audience pass him around while he was lying on his back. i immediately thought "well we know where he got THAT from"....but hey if bruce can cop james brown's act to a certain degree than turn-a-bout is fair play i guess.

dari

[MeanGene]

MT: Did a quick check of BruceBase.

OOPS, never mind - Dari beat me to it...


------------------
"Beneath the city two hearts beat"

[This message has been edited by MeanGene (edited October 03, 2000).]

[The Music Traveler]

Thanks Dari,
I figured you'd know...

I thought it might have been earlier than that but I can't find any info. I tried an archives site but it started w/ 1978 and I knew it had to be before that because by the fall of 1978 I could have driven myself.

I am due to get that 3/25/77 (Born to Confess) cdr soon, thanks!
Now,if I could just make sure that 3/18/77 was my first show I'd have something specific to look for...

Where did you look again? brucebase.com?

[This message has been edited by The Music Traveler (edited October 03, 2000).]