For thousands of fans who piled into The Summit in Houston to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Nov. 30, 1984 it was just another concert. However, for me, it was a night that changed my life. As soon as The Boss yelled “One, two, three, four” and went into a blistering version of “Born in the USA” I knew I wanted to be a singer in a rock and roll band.
The show was phenomenal. His energy was incredible. We heard everything that night; “Jungleland,” “Racing in the Street,” “Thunder Road,” “Johnny Bye Bye, “Cadillac Ranch,” you name any of his best songs and we saw them that night. I thought the roof was going to come off the building when they went into the “Detroit Medley.” It was the best the concert I had ever seen.
The next day my brother and I were in the garage with a couple of other guys putting a band together. I was playing drums at the time, but one day I decided to try my hand at singing. The first song I sang in front of people was “Dancing in the Dark.” While it wasn’t even close to great, it felt great. Since that time I have been in three different bands, and have been the lead singer for two. While I haven’t experienced 1/1,000,000th of the success of Mr. Springsteen, the experience of writing, recording, performing and singing has enriched my life in more ways than I can count. I thank Bruce for that night and for giving me the inspiration to do what I always knew I wanted to do, but never had the courage to try.
“Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
“Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
