{"id":44499,"date":"2014-07-01T12:30:31","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T17:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=44499"},"modified":"2014-07-01T12:58:05","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T17:58:05","slug":"when-scooter-and-the-big-man-busted-this-city-in-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=44499","title":{"rendered":"When Scooter And The Big Man Busted This City In Half"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was July 1, 1984.\u00a0 I\u00a0took off from Jamestown at around 5AM\u00a0in – what else? – my ’73 Monte Carlo with a 396, Fuellie heads and a Hurst on the floor<\/del>, and drove through a long, hot July day.\u00a0\u00a0 Poring over my Amoco map of the Twin Cities – where I’d never driven before – I got to\u00a0Saint Paul,\u00a0pulled off the Marion Street exit and\u00a0parked up by the Cathedral (where a friend of mine had parked the car when we drove down to see The Who in 1982), and made my way down Kellogg\u00a0to downtown Saint Paul around 2 in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

I wandered down to Saint Peter and then Wabasha street, back in the days when there were still stores between Fourth and Sixth streets across from Dayton’s and Ecolab, \u00a0dazzled by the hustle and bustle of downtown Saint Paul.<\/p>\n

I did mention I was from North Dakota, right?\u00a0 And that “hustle and bustle” were very relative concepts?\u00a0 Compared to Fargo – the biggest city I’d ever spent serious time in – Saint Paul was kinda hustly and bustly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In those days, anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of the landmarks from my wandering are still there; the Coney Island still has the exact same hand-scrawled paper “Under Renovation” sign today that it had back then, I think; I thought about eating at Mickey’s Diner, but it was too crowded and I wanted a damn beer.\u00a0 Others – the Burger King\/Taco Johns in the funny glass building on 5th, across from Daytons; Daytons itself; Brady’s Pub, where I stopped for a burger and a beer\u00a0for lunch, Gallivan’s\u00a0– are long gone.<\/p>\n

After lunch, I wandered down\u00a0Fifth to the Plaza in front of the old Civic Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"

The old Saint Paul Civic Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0It was getting toward three in the afternoon; I heard some noises inside,\u00a0and it sounded like the band was getting into its soundcheck.\u00a0 The plaza – including the long row of stairs leading to the endless rank of doors – was thronged with people, mostly looking for tickets.\u00a0 I walked past, listening to the sound of a bass guitar tuning up.<\/p>\n

And I figured “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.<\/p>\n

I walked\u00a0to the very leftmost of the long row of doors that overlooked 7th and Kellogg, and gave it\u00a0a furtive\u00a0tug, expecting to find it locked.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t.\u00a0 It pulled open a few inches; I could hear someone tapping on a drum set.<\/p>\n

Understand – I was never much of a rule-breaker.\u00a0 I was always terrified of being in trouble.<\/p>\n

But I checked to make sure nobody was watching, inside or outside, and slipped indoors.<\/p>\n

I hustled across the concourse to a gate, stepped inside…<\/p>\n

…and saw the E Street Band, down on the stage, a level below me.\u00a0 Nearest me was the Big Man, with his\u00a0sax, wearing sweats and a\u00a0cap.\u00a0 Danny Federici was on the riser behind him, checking registrations on his Hammond.\u00a0\u00a0Nills\u00a0Lofgren was warming up downstage.\u00a0 Max Weinberg tapped\u00a0drums as the sound guy rang out the room.\u00a0\u00a0Gary\u00a0Tallent played some scales; Roy Bittan noodled on the keyboard.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then they stopped, chatted, and then Max counted four, and they launched into an instrumental of “Glory Days”, as the sound crew adjusted levels.<\/p>\n

I grabbed a seat, and watched the band, and listen to the sound guys tweaking the levels, and just marinated in the whole wanton lawnlessness of it all.<\/p>\n

About the time the song ended, someone tapped my shoulder.\u00a0 It was a roadie, in a black t-shirt and jeans.\u00a0 I half expected to get my ass kicked – and it would have been worth it, honestly.<\/p>\n

“Excuse me, sir…”<\/p>\n

“Yeah, I know”, I responded, getting up.\u00a0 “I’ll leave”.<\/p>\n

The roadie nodded.\u00a0 “Thanks”.\u00a0 He was downright polite about the whole thing.\u00a0 “Hey, before you go – how did you get in?”<\/p>\n

I showed the roadie the unlocked door, and he thanked me as I\u00a0stepped back out onto the plaza. \u00a0 I walked down to Kellogg…<\/p>\n

…as a white Olds Cutlass with a “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band “Born in the USA Tour 1984″ Tour” decal rolled past.\u00a0 In the passenger seat was Bruce.<\/p>\n

I waved.<\/p>\n

He waved back.<\/p>\n

I walked down to Paddy McGovern’s for another beer.\u00a0 I had some time to kill.<\/p>\n

So technically that – and not the actual concert, still 5-6 hours away – was the first time I ever saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live.\u00a0<\/p>\n

———-<\/p>\n

Eventually – the doors opened at 7, I think – I got into the building legally, found my seat (row 59 on the floor),\u00a0 and waited for the show.\u00a0 And waited.<\/p>\n

And waited.<\/p>\n

And finally – right around 9PM – the lights went down, the crowd got on its feet, the band filtered onstage in the dark, and a spotlight picked out Springsteen at the mike.\u00a0 He counted off four, and Bittan’s skirling synths and Weinberg’s drums kicked off “Born in the USA”.<\/p>\n

The rest of the show?\u00a0 It’s a blur – and yet vast swathes of the show are as clear in my head as if I’d just seen the show:<\/p>\n