If You Feel You Can’t Sing – Why Would You Sing in Front of 71,000 People?
In June 2013 I quit my job, realised I’d not been a great dad but had tickets to see The Boss and the legendary E Street at Wembley Stadium. I went down the night before, with my 12 year old son and given options he decided we should camp outside Wembley the night before to ensure we’d get into the pit! We met some great people in the queues and once we were given our wrist bands the following afternoon we headed off to the nearby Badlands party. We had a game of pool and bought some great T-Shirts depicting a single with the headline ” We learned more from a three minute record then we ever learned in school”.
They played an awesome set, including all of Darkness on the Edge of Town – could it get any better?
As Bruce worked the crowd during one particular song he pointed to Tadhg and I passed him over my head via some fans to a tattooed guy dressed in black. He popped him on stage next to Bruce Springsteen who passed Tadhg his microphone and the music dropped. Tadhg is the first to admit that he can’t sing but he went for it and sang the chorus of the song. The Boss whispered some encouragement and Tadhg went for it again. He called the E Street Band back in and Bruce picked him up and the crowd went wild. Tadhg was passed back into the crowd and then to me and Bruce handed him his plectrum.
Tadhg told me he had a choice to freeze or knowing that he couldn’t sing but to just to go for it. He took the plunge and came up trumps.
Over a month later at the first gig at the new Leeds Arena – lighting struck twice and Tadhg ended up on stage again. Despite hating seeing or more accurately hearing the video clips from Wembley – he went for it again. Sometimes if you go for things wholeheartedly and your audience are willing you can carry the day.
One question remained would he sing when interviewed by ITV following his second E Street Band performance?
http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2013-07-25/video-the-fans-that-rocked-alongside-the-boss/ Alas, this report has now been removed by Calendar! It featured the good, good friend of mine Steven and his family, who all ended up on stage during Dancing in the Dark.
****UPDATE***
Lessons from The Boss is my LinkedIn Post – some learning about leadership and success from his 50+ year career.
**** NILS LOFGREN at The City Varieties Leeds 23/01/2015****
Wonderful gig and had the chance to briefly meet Nils & Amy after the show – a real treat 🙂 – so good seeing Nils close up. His harp playing was simply beautiful, his guitar work stunning – so many great songs and highlights with “Miss You ‘C'” really moving and powerful tribute to the Big Man.
******** JULY 2016 UPDATE ********
We saw one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to, nearly 4 hours in the stunning setting of an ancient Rome.
Circus Maximus Rome Pit Numbers
Tadhg and I in the pit again, three years on, and met some wonderful people from all over the world. My highlight of the evening was the jaw dropping solo acoustic version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” – “For Italian social workers, doing God’s work on the front line…”
Met Life Stadium, New Jersey September 2023!
