Bruce Springsteen – Travels with Melinda

We planned our recent trip to Switzerland around going to a Bruce Springsteen concert, but this wasn’t our longest trip to see Bruce. That occurred in 2017 when I surprised my husband with a trip to see Bruce in Auckland, New Zealand on their last tour. It was a big birthday for Thom to celebrate and what better way to do it than far, far away with Bruce. Soon after that trip, we got to meet Bruce up close and personal when he did a book signing in Seattle. When I walked up to him, I told him he was cute, and he laughed. It was a moment. We also were lucky enough to catch his Broadway show in 2018, which was an intimate theater setting with just Bruce and his guitar talking and singing about his life journey. Special times with a true musical icon!

Arriving in Zurich a few days early, we went to the stadium the day before the concert to check it out. We had issues with our tickets when we ordered them almost a year earlier. Swiss Ticketmaster mails out paper tickets instead of living in this century and doing online tickets. Well, our tickets got lost in the mail, never to be delivered. After many, many emails to the Swiss Ticketmaster head person for assistance, he must have spoken to his head of customer service, who was already aware of me and my ticket issues, because they finally sent us PDF tickets to print and bring with us. Persistence pays off. Luckily, we had no issues using this form of tickets to get into the concert. Truly a miracle!

Once inside Stadium Letzigrund, we navigated the masses (30,000+ concert goers) and found our seats which were nicely padded and the most comfortable stadium seats I have ever enjoyed. However, this was a Bruce concert, and you don’t sit when Bruce sings. You dance! Well, at least in the US you do. No one was standing in our section except another US couple sitting right behind us. At breakfast at the hotel the day after the concert, we started chatting with a couple at the next table who had also gone to the concert. They lived in Germany and explained to us that if people pay for seats at a concert here, they expect everyone to stay seated. If you want to stand, you pay for the floor standing section, which is less money. Oh well! I’m sure all the locals sitting around us were talking about the crazy dancing Americans who wasted their expensive seats by standing for three hours. We had a blast!

I will say that the people in front of us were living the good life. They started out preconcert by eating open face sardine and salmon sandwiches with herb garnishes. Very fancy. Then they proceeded to pound back flute after flute of champagne. Cheers! Only during the encore when Bruce sang his most popular hits such as Born in the USA, Born to Run and Dancing in the Dark did these folks deign to stand and possibly sway a little with the music or maybe it was a champagne-induced sway? Good times.

The next day walking around Zurich we stumbled upon an amazing music store, Musik Hug, which had a vinyl recording of Bruce concerts in Europe from 1993. Thom has an extensive Bruce vinyl collection so it’s always fun to find a new addition!

All in all, I’m glad we turned the Bruce concert into a two-week vacation that took us through NYC, Milan and all over Switzerland. I would highly recommend seeing your favorite musical artist(s) in an unfamiliar setting. Enjoy the journey!

SELECTING CONCERT SEATS

We didn’t do much research in advance of buying our seats but once we got there and saw the stadium layout, we realized we need to take more care before purchasing concert tickets in the future. Here’s what we plan to do for any outdoor arena concert in the future: check the time of concert and the position of the sun. Then, go to the stadium website and look at the orientation of the stadium and where the stage will be located for concerts. Most stadiums also host sporting events which is a different story, but you can usually find by searching online how they set up for music concerts. Go to Google maps and check out the position of the stadium and look at the compass point. Their satellite view feature is good to use.

People on the south and southeast side of the stadium that we went to for the Bruce concert had the brutal sun on them most of the concert, making it hot and harder to see the stage and large display screens. We were lucky and had the sun at our back so we were in the shade the whole time but that was sheer luck. Next time, we will be ready to pick the best seats. Enjoy the journey!

One week ago, we were THIS CLOSE to The Boss. In Auckland, NZ. It was AWESOME!

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Travelling over 7,000 miles from Seattle to NZ to celebrate Thom’s 60th birthday with Bruce, we enjoyed a week on Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland before the big day. On Saturday we boarded the ferry to the mainland, picked up our tickets in Auckland and made our way to Mt. Smart Stadium. Along the way we dropped off a bag at our roadside motel, hastily booked when we discovered the damn ferry didn’t do a late night run to the island and we would no doubt be stranded sleeping on a ferry terminal bench if we didn’t take action. Those that have been to a Bruce Springsteen concert know that he has great energy and can play. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. When we saw Bruce in LA and Seattle last year, he played for four hours straight. Which is awesome if you don’t have a deadline to cross the ocean to your lovely airbnb cottage. Not daring to leave the concert early, we decided to grab a few hours rest at the “no tell motel” before going back to the island the morning after. Wise we are.

For this concert, Bruce had two opening acts which was unusual because he usually works alone with no opener. Arriving just in time to be one of the first 500 in line, we got the coveted pink bracelets and #’s written on our hands. The NZ stadium crew were very organized, walking in 100 fans at a time in order to avoid chaos. We got to know some lovely people while we waited in the shade of the trees outside the gates. Thom was even interviewed for a NZ podcast. While Thom’s sign didn’t get Bruce’s attention, it did solicit lots of comments from the crowd as did his “Icky Trump” protest shirt. My hubby-always ready to discuss politics-is not shy about voicing his opinions. Luckily this crowd was very anti-Trump so many lively discussions ensued when they asked us, “WTF-how did you elect that wanker?”

Finally inside, we were about three rows from the front of the stage. WOWOWOW! As many times as Thom has seen Bruce, this was the closest he would get. Ever. Fitting for a journey as long as ours. When interlopers without #’s on their hands tried to cut in front of us, the friends we made standing around us including a NZ policeman, joined voices in protests and summoned security to move them behind us. One entitled lady thinking she could just cut in front of me was cussed out by Thom and others, with the cop counselling Thom not to touch her to avoid getting kicked out of the concert. Wouldn’t that have been awful? But, properly restrained but still giving her what for, Thom did not get ejected. Standing firm, we “policed” our area and made sure we kept up close and personal with Bruce.

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The openings acts, Jet and Marlon Williams, were good but everyone had come to see Bruce and the E Street Band. Finally the 40,000+ fans got him as he strolled out in his trademark checkered shirt and belted out Darlington County. Steve Van Zandt was of course his usual crazy self with his head scarf and floral pants. When Bruce declared it was “ass-shakin time” they turned and let their bums do the talking. Impressive. Interesting, the crowd in the stands were seated and fairly quiet unlike the standing mob on the floor where we were. Bruce eventually ran to the sides and got them engaged but they were definitely more reserved than the US crowds that danced for 4 hours straight last year when we were in LA and Seattle.

Next to us all night was a couple from Italy who had planned their vacation to NZ to see Bruce at Christchurch and Auckland. Dedicated. Another woman also interviewed with Thom for the podcast had taken a 36 hour flight from India. Crazy. The gentleman in front of me helping with crowd control in our group was from Poland. Everyone had stories to tell about Bruce and the impact he and his music had on their lives, making it easy to bond quickly with complete strangers. I will always remember them fondly.

While he sang hit after hit, the moving rendition of “41 Hands” brought tears to my eyes as I saw everyone raising their hands and feeling the heartfelt lyrics so relevant to the tensions we are all feeling today in our world, whether in the US or NZ. The Boss ended his three hour jam with an acoustic version of Thunder Road. Brilliant. The concert of a lifetime.