Thank you E Street Band!

This year, almost as soon as Bruce and the E Street band packed their bags and departed our beaches, the world changed for me.

When I saw Bruce Springsteen in 2013, something changed in a massively positive and awesome way for me.  Then, somehow at the end of February this year, having taken an epic 4 week and 9 concert holiday around 5 states of this beautiful land, life just started nosediving.

The theory I like the most is twofold. One, after sooo much Bruce and E Street Band, I felt invincible and instead of taking on only a single thing (my health / weight / fitness), I started tackling ALL THE THINGS. I was like  the blogger who decides to be an adult and CLEAN ALL THE THINGS.  It was taxing. I collapsed under the strain a little bit. This combined with the fact that travelling if not 'with' a huge group of people outside of my normal 'bubble' was a bit of a rude shock. Travelling in such proximity to such a large group for such a long time, certainly threw me for a six on a number of occasions. I was spent before leaving, the tour was to recharge my batteries (which it did), but I found it difficult to take on a whole new group of strangers, I just didn't have the emotional gusto at that time.

And thus, life post tour has been quite odd. Weeks go by when I don't feel any of the empowering inspiration that lingered for so much longer post-2013 concerts. There are days when it all feels like a dream.  

And then there are precious moments like today, when putting my son to bed, when my phone is out of batteries (no Bruce setlist!) and he says to me "But Dad's phone has Dream Baby Dream!" and then "Doesn't Dad have Wrecking Ball?" The cute, it burns.  He fell asleep listening to Cadillac Ranch from a youtube clip of Sydney in the end :)

Which reminded me of just how grateful I am for the E Street Band, so I'm writing this thank you for them.

This was my view of the concert in Adelaide with my beautiful daughter, and delightful friend. We had the most amazing time!

To Eddie, thank you for the down to earth facebook posts, and your sense of humour. Thank you for thanking us in Perth.  Perth was so special for me, I met some wonderful people and you played such a big part in making it all feel lovely.  It was in hindsight quite funny to see you in Sydney, well, to barrel past you with my crazy loud family and not recognise you, not that I could think at all clearly at that point, a common state when running after 3 energetic kids. Next time, please jump in front of me and say "boo!"; I'll keep a lookout for men without saxophones leaping out from behind their beautiful wives. You continue to be an inspiration to me, your posts remind me that hard work is what achieves goals, what keeps us where we want to be in life, my thanks. I am glad that you have visited and enjoyed my country.

To Charlie, thank you for the winks and smiles in Perth, what fun! It makes such a difference to know that we're all having fun together :)

To Soozie, thank you for playing the Violin. You inspire my daughter whenever she sees you onstage.  Thank you for being friendly, for smiling, for not looking crossly in my direction when my poor tired, overheated daughter (same one who cheerfully survived 43 degree heat and insisted on staying up till 12:30 to see Bruce leave in Adelaide, who begged to be allowed to come to Brisbane too!) looked miserable and wilted. Thank you for smiling, not frowning!

Max, thank you for being the incredible backbone of the band. Last year you blew me away and I spent hours watching you mesmerised by the way you work your magic.  And I have a new respect and appreciation for drums, everywhere. You've opened up a whole new way of listening to music for me.

Stevie Van Zandt, thank you for being you. I was only on your side of the stage a few times, but your energy and cheekiness is amazing and so much fun. Thank you most of all for standing with Bruce and singing to my daughter. Thank you for waving to us in Sydney when we were way up behind you.  And thank you for Lillehammer! I have not yet watched it,and look forward to the chance to watch it all!

Roy, you legend. Thank you for every note played, including the ones played with Bruce's head. Thank you so much for the beautiful music.

Everett, thank you for those incredible drum-offs :)

Michelle, Cindy & Curtis oh my thank you for the fun! My girl and I thoroughly enjoyed waving to you during the Sydney show and she loved seeing how you work together at the back of the stage to give us such a wonderful night of music. The waves and smiles made her feel so special, thank you xxxx

Barry, Clark & Curt I love it when you all get to the front of the stage, your sense of fun is infectious, thank you!

Garry, you are such a dark horse hiding quietly behind your bass. Thank you for the moments when your smile lights up the room. 

Nils, like Eddie, you have been and continue to be, such an influence on me as a person. Musically I'm challenged, but your happy outlook, and the incredible vibe from you in 2013 especially made a huge impact on my outlook. Your accessibility to fans as people is incredible. You made me feel welcome on twitter, for which I thank you. I have enjoyed immensely learning from your example on stage and off, and wow, I love watching you play Because the Night. Thank you!

Jake, I have not sufficient words. I came to see the E Street Band for the first time with you already filling those big shoes. I think that not only do you do an amazing job, but you bring a young energy with you. Blessings and thanks!

And Tom, again, for me you are a part of the E Street Band as I know it.  But what a new and exciting influence on amazing.  I love to watch you, the juxaposition of your energy and personal styles with some of not-quite-so-Tom songs! Your face is a picture!  Thank you for standing up for those who need a voice! Thank you for the hours of fun in Perth particularly, your smile is infectious. Thank for for your contribution to The Ghost of Tom Joad, which now makes me cry. 

Bruce Springsteen, thank you for singing to my daughter, so very much. It means so much to her and made my night to see her shine with happiness both in Adelaide and Sydney. Thank you for meeting her, and for the hindsight-object-lesson-in-parenting that sometimes Mums just need to shut up and listen!  That one is going to be a challenge for me.  Thank you for the challenges! Since seeing you in concert for the first time in 2013, my life has changed. You are this person who opened the door into your soul in a concert and who in doing so exposed my own inner self. The magic has rubbed off a little differently this year, but I'm sure it is still there, no excuses to be so sick, no excuses not to exercise, no excuses for not being the best of me in this life. All that matters in the end are our family, our health and the little piece of us we pass along to others through our actions. Have a good time in this life right now, because it is the only one we have! Thank for, and the whole E Street Band for that lesson.

Most of all thank you for the chance to share this experience with my daughter, we have the happiest memories together!  Be warned, next tour my son insists he is coming along too!

A Tale of Two Hats - my first GA queue so far...

It has been a beautiful day in Perth, glorious sunshine, a touch on the warm side at 37 degrees.  My head is spinning from the 'double life' I've been leading for the past two days. That of wife and mother on a family holiday, uncomfortably juxtaposed with that of a Springsteen fan whose dreams of getting a close to the stage pit number have come true.  Firstly, I am extremely shocked at my apparent success at achieving number 36 in line, despite the good planning and careful consideration that went into my decision making.  I traveled across the country, with a plan in mind to make an effort for this one, it was clearly a good plan, and yet I remain stunned and somewhat stupified at what is about to happen tomorrow!

But to continue with the story thus far....

Our family holiday began with a late afternoon drive to Brisbane airport, followed by what I suppose ought to be called an uneventful and successful flight, although what stands out in my mind is the unprecendented level of distraction, vague and disorganisation on my part.  I left all the nappies in the checked baggage!!! For a 5 hour flight at night this is absolute insanity.  Luckily there were two toddlers on the plane and the couple beside me who clearly thought we were stark raving mad for the capacity to forget something as simple as the nappies were nice enough not to say so, and generously handed over one of their ample supply.  So we survived the flight pretty well after that, I got to watch half a movie (The Butler), after starting 3 others without much success, while sitting perched on the edge of my seat while my very tall toddler stretched her little toes out behind my arse.


After landing things got weird.  My hubby and I have travelled a reasonable amount together with children. We have some routines. Arriving in Perth changed it all, right from the beginning. We had a non-Bruce fan collecting hubby and children - I deposited them in the car and told them I'd see them soon, and myself was collected by Karen, a long time Bruce fan and local.  I was suddenly ripped from the quite demanding familiarity of family travel into 'lone woman concert-going queue forming' mode.  I think I spent the whole trip from the airport to the city in a daze of disorientated unfamiliarity at the sudden right turn my holiday took, before I'd even arrived at my hotel!  Which is my reason for not getting a happy snap of the midnight moment (or 2 am for those of us still working on Qld time) when I received the nikko number on my hand of 36.  This number apparently will get you up against the stage, provided you don't want to be in the middle. Apparently that is where the first 15 -25 people fit.  This information is important I'm sure.  Stunned I let the explanation wash over me, this was the beginning of the slow creeping of the hugeness of this number business.

And then I spent until 4 am Brisbane time, or later resettling tired but excited children, one by one into bed again before collapsing in a heap myself. To be woken only 3 or 4 hours later by one excited boy, ready to start his Western Australian adventure!

I did pretty well all day yesterday considering my sleep of less than 4 hours. A lot of quiet conversations with my children about holiday ettiquette (not hollering every little thing like we do at home for example). We found the shops to stock up on food. I scooted off to roll call on the way back, momentarily immersing in the world of Springsteen before a visit from a childhood friend, then suddenly another roll call!  A long gap between 1pm and 8pm meant that we were able to spend some family time, but it went quickly between napping (baby and hubby, not me) and dinner.  Suddenly there were 3 awake tired children (after a late afternoon play in the water fountain!) and I was again out the door to this 'Bruce thing'. That is how it was feeling at that point.

While the other fans wandered away in groups to have drinks and late dinners, I rushed back to take in hand the sleep situation for little folk.  Grab a bite to eat and then finally blessed sleep.

Until 6am again.  Today I was better prepared and the big kids went with hubby to the water fountain first thing, as well as a bit of other exploring in the city.  Then I was trying to join them with the toddler, but suddenly it was roll call time, and my baby and I just rode a bus there and back again in the end - we got close to meeting up with the family, but had to turn around to come back to the Arena.

By which point I didn't care much about where I stood in the pit, as long as I got to do something that gave me an indication I was on the opposite side of the continent. I was impatient to 'holiday'.

A change to roll call times interfered with this, momentarily, but I rose to the challenge and between hubby and I we made new family plans between roll calls for the afternoon. We even got some schoolwork done!

Excited I left first for 2pm roll call, and even began to think about this 'front row' position thing a little bit. Enough to be scared of it!  Or thoroughly alarmed at the proximity to Bruce and the band.  And the length of time without a toilet break.  Also there was a rumour about no water bottles.  Which might sound like a good thing, given my other concern, but having a water bottle when a concert gets into its second hour without pause is about when taking small sips from a water bottle is necessary.  I do not see a little cup of water lasting 2 hours plus in a pit full of excited fans.  I see us all having dry throats and wet feet.  Ha! that's my big prediction for tomorrow, right there.

Things seemed timed to perfection when hubby called me to tell me he was on the bus about to go past the arena!  I quickly hopped on and our little family were on an adventure to the Museum.

We stopped to take a look at the recreated wetland area and frog habitat, and to play music in the amazing playground outside the museum entry.  These were wonderful, impromptu family moments.
Inside the museum was one of those times of enduring the torture of having three children.  It is glorious and insane.  One was desperately unhappy with her inability to weave a spider's web (sounds funny when you read it, but you'll have to trust me it was not); another declared about 3 rooms of Western Australian History, Rocks and Minerals and bird life 'boring'; and then there was the showdown over the interactive educational game.  We all survived, and amazingly even saw things.  Just not very many!  The highlights were watching the frogs be fed crickets, seeing a Mummified Tasmanian Tiger from the mainland over 4,000 years old and coming face to face with a taxidermied American Bison!  Many other things may have been highlights, given the opportunity to see them!  Given the chaos, I'm quite chuffed that we managed to salvage what we did!

A wardrobe emergency saw me return to the apartment with hot exhausted children while hubby shopped, followed by him BBQing our dinner while I cooked veggies.  The moment he was done cooking outside though, it was roll call again!  I rushed out before dinner and made it to the line.  Then rushed back to get children tired out and to bed.

This was one of my favourite parts of the day.  As they'd already eaten while I was gone, as soon as I cooled down a few degrees, we went out to explore. It was 7:15 and the free CAT buses had stopped, so we took a walk to the park across the street.

Expanses of green grass gave us an enjoyable shoes off run, the children found a challenging playground, I really enjoyed helping them conquer new equipment that stretched their physical limits and helped them overcome fears and uncertainties.  The most generous gift from hubby today was 15 minutes mostly uninterrupted in this park so that I could do a set of Tai Chi. Usually on a Tuesday I do 2 two hour classes, so one set while away was a luxury. The weather was just gorgeous and the grass soft and ground flat.  I felt the inner peace coming back.

We are geocachers from a long way back, so given a city park of this size we decided to look and see if we could find our first Western Australian cache while we were there.  It was hilarious watching our eldest two children with the very bouncy inaccurate GPS walking in circles and cutting jagged corners trying to find this cache.  Even more amusing was the loud and bumbling way all 5 of us stumbled across 3 innocent looking folk quite close. None cachers are called Muggles and we'd just run into some while two children are yelling about the cache and where it was!  Lucky for us, they were not muggles and were kind enough to give the kids a few big hints about how to find it!!

We all had a terrific, relaxing time just hanging out together on that walk and it really set the tone for a relatively easy routine to get to bed, although I was still cutting it very fine running out the door at 9:40 with a phone charged to only 20%.

Tonight was my first non-queuing Bruce socialising with a quick drink across the road before the role call (I walked fast and the drink was imaginary!)  Then another tiny bite of socialising afterwards and back to here I came, approaching the unit door to the sound of high pitched wailing from the littlest wanting her Mummy.

And there is still tomorrow to get through!!!