Editor's Note
Editor’s Note: After last month’s back-to-back behind-the-scenes first-hand accounts from Sandi Pederson and Kevin Doyle, I figured it would be a long time before I’d have the privilege to feature another exclusive “I was there” report.
Enter Mark Cunningham. Mark first wrote to me last year to share a pair of experiences any Springsteen fan would drool over. Now, a year later, he’s graciously offered to share the first of those stories with us below.
And if you’re looking at the dates in the title and thinking to yourself, “Bruce didn’t even play a show on those dates,” you’re correct. That’s what makes Mark’s story so special.
In mid-July 2002, I was home job-hunting. I had left a job in the music industry in April and needed to find work.
My friend with whom I had worked previously reached out to me. He had scored a job working for Bruce and the band, and they were rehearsing at Ft. Monmouth for the Rising Tour. They needed a production assistant, and I knew exactly what that meant, having done it at the Garden State Arts Center in the early nineties.
My first day was July 18th. I arrived there in the late morning (rock and roll hours I guess!), an excited life-long fan eager to see behind the scenes, and I met up with Kevin Buell.
My job was to run errands for Bruce and the band. Bruce’s cousin had been doing this for them, but he had personal obligations for the three days that I was to fill in for him. Happy to do so!
Each day, I was sent out to pick up food, supplies, instruments, etc. My down time? Sitting on the side of the stage watching the band go through the songs–an uber fan’s dream come true!
Everyone was so genuine and nice. Bruce really surrounds himself with people like himself. Seeing Bruce and Steve on stage for the first time in many years was a joy to watch. They were really enjoying themselves, lots of laughs and back slaps. A true friendship there.
Standout memories:
- Sitting right next to Danny as he was working on his organ part on “You’re Missing,” using a small boom box with the CD playing.
- Nils Lofgren being as gracious and kind as anyone I’ve ever met. I ran the most errands for Nils.
- Watching Clarence in a side room working through the bagpipe section for “Into The Fire.” It was just me and the Big Man in the room. He was great, too.
At one point, I had to pick up a gentleman from Staten Island who had some of Bruce’s guitars that he had repaired. The gentleman met me at a local diner, and I drove him into the fort–with Bruce’s guitars in my back seat.
Kevin Buell was also just tremendous. He ran the show, and he is a tough guy on the crew. He was firm but nice at the same time.
The guitars…whoa! The row of guitars stretched 30 feet, with an amazing variety.
It was a very relaxed atmosphere during those three days. I got a “hey” from Bruce as he walked past me, sipping a smoothie.
On July 19th, I had to drive Bruce’s guitar, harmonica and capo out to Terry McGovern so Terry could bring it to Bruce to his house in Colts Neck for his interview with Ted Koppel. Those items were in my car!
The final day (July 22nd), they didn’t have much for me to do except run out and get a stopwatch. They ran through the whole set and timed it. I was on stage right and watched the entire performance.
After that third day, the band was headed to Convention Hall to set up for the Today show appearance on July 30th.
I went back to my life of searching for a job. In those days, I had The Today Show on in my office while job hunting, and the Today Show Bus to Asbury Park contest was airing. It was a trivia contest: answer the trivia questions and all of the people with the correct answers would be eligible for one spot out of 35 on the bus to Asbury. I entered the contest just on a whim, not thinking anything of it.
A day later, I got a call from someone at NBC… I won a spot! Awesome! But… I had to take a bus from my home in Lincroft (a 15 minute drive from Asbury Park) to Rockefeller Plaza, hop on their bus and drive back down to Asbury.
I pleaded with the girl, can’t I just meet the bus in Asbury? No go. I have to travel to NYC and get on that bus.
So, that’s what I did: I took a 3am bus and landed in Rockefeller Plaza around 4:30am, where I hopped on the bus with the other 34 winners and Billy Bush. Bruce music playing, Billy Bush interviewing people.
We got to the venue and were the first ones let in. We had our own section right up front, roped off from the rest of the crowd. As the crew prepared the stage for the show, they recognized my face and were perplexed on what I was doing there. I explained to some of them that I won the contest and here I was! Funny stuff…
The rest we all know… Bruce came out early, did an acoustic set then the band later on.
My first of two stints with Bruce and The E Street Band.
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One n. 😉