Jessi Roti writesThe Power of The River: Bruce Springsteen and the Ties That Bind

written by Jessi Roti

I’ll admit it –I’ve talked my fair share of trash regarding “Dad Rock.” You know “Dad Rock,” or Arena Rock, Classic Rock –the older, white dudes who still do their best to reclaim that youthful exuberance they had in the late 1960’s – early 1970’s, but come off more as caricatures of themselves. Dads eat that up, trust me. I grew up with it with my parents driving my sister and me around blasting the best of Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, you name it. As a younger person, I didn’t get it. As a woman, I really didn’t get it. But that has all changed, and I owe it to Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band.

After becoming obsessed with Bruce’s Born to Run album during my senior year of college, I didn’t hesitate to buy tickets when a tour in support of Springsteen’s latest box-set release The Ties that Bind: The River Collection. The band was to play The River album in-full along with other Springsteen classics. Yes, sign me up and over-charge me with those fees, Ticketmaster.

On March 3, 2016, my sister and I made it to the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI to be “transformed,” as Bruce says, by The Boss and the E-Street band themselves. Transformed may be too strong of a word, but I was moved in a way that I didn’t expect. For the first time in a long time, I was reminded of why music is one of the last art forms that can truly stand the test of time from generation to generation.

I go to shows all the time. I used to joke that I had been to more shows than days of school (which I still believe to be true). Yet there’s something to be said about the stadium show that makes you feel like you’re at the local venue/bar, a much more intimate setting, experiencing an artist you love. I’ve been to plenty of big, classic rock shows, from the aforementioned Tom Petty, Peter Frampton, to Robert Plant and Bob Dylan. But there was something about this show that truly transcended age gaps, gender gaps, social class, and race that made me feel I was a part of something special.

Bruce Springsteen referred to The River as his “coming of age” album numerous times throughout his three-and-a-half hour set. Narratives on the album explore everything from the disheartening realization that your family members aren’t the infallible heroes you thought they were when you were young, first crushes, first heartbreaks, waking up halfway through your life and realizing you were just living to work instead of working to live, and everything that lies in the middle. Surely “common” themes, particularly in Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues, but experiencing those feelings and reflecting on those memories with thousands of strangers who also bought a ticket because they too felt the same way when they listened to The River alone in their rooms or in the car, is much more inspiring than it is saddening.

For those three and a half hours, Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street band were my family. We danced when they danced, we sang when they sang, we were quiet when they got quiet, you get the picture. During “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” a video montage of The Big Man, saxophonist Clarence Clemons, whom Bruce referred to as “the heart and soul” of The E-Street Band played on screen and I saw people around me cry. I won’t lie, I cried. It was if we all knew him personally and we all knew we had to celebrate the life of our beloved brother, but in reality we were there for a rock concert.

For three and a half hours, I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be at that very moment in my life. The show was one of the greatest, most energetic, and ferocious shows I’ve ever seen in my life, but there was one moment when it all clicked.

When Springsteen introduced “Independence Day,” he spoke eloquently and honestly about what inspired the song –his dad. Bruce Springsteen then, like so many young people (but particularly men), didn’t want to become his father, the working man, the 9-5 guy who only has enough energy for a meal and maybe a beer when he gets home before going to bed just to do it all over again, because that’s what’s expected of him as a man and going against that grain, even in the slightest, is so unforgiving (something anyone who follow their true path knows all too well).

The venue lit up with cell phone lights and lighters as Springsteen’s raspy croon swept over the crowd. The lights came up and I saw grown men of different walks of life cheering like their truth had just fallen from the sky. I even saw one man get his entire row to hold hands and thrust them high into the air like they all crossed the finish line together for the win.

I will never forget seeing Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band on the 2016 River Tour because it reminded me, or showed me for the very first time, that people have the ability to connect with and understand each other on a very real level –regardless of age, class, race, gender, etc. I don’t care if you were born in 1950 or 2015, you’re going to know what it feels like to feel alone, to have a crush, to promise yourself every night before you go to bed that you’ll never end up like your mom or dad, that you’re going to get out and do what you want, how you want to, and know that somebody some day is going to love you and take you to a damn rock show to remind you of all of this when you think you’ve forgotten.

With so much hate permeating the world lately, with racism, sexism, ageism, and classism rearing their ugly faces, making those of us who see the damage fear we’re headed towards a fascist society, it was beyond reassuring to be in one space, with thousands of strangers, who made me feel like hate would never win. Moments like this and music like this have the ability to shape the culture, shape it for the better, and that should never be taken for granted.

So I admit it, I was wrong. Long live Dad Rock and long live Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band.

comments powered by Disqus