My Night with Springsteen

I swore I would never be one of those fans, but last night everything changed.

It's like my animalistic instincts kicked into high gear and I was on the hunt for my prey: Bruce Springsteen. And while this might sound crazy, let's just say I wasn't the only one on the prowl.

First, some backstory:

Chris, Jake Ryks and I had general admission tickets for the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Xcel Energy Center on Nov. 11. The Xcel was conducting a lottery system to allow 650 into "The Pit" — an enclosed area closest to the stage on the floor. And of course, we wanted to be part of that magnificent group of people who would be closest to The Boss.

As luck would have it though, we were not selected. So instead we remained in line to get as close to the pit barrier as humanly possible (each of us wore wristbands with a number on it and everyone had to stay in numerical order). During this process — which was pretty organized at first — some dimwitted security guard decided to just let everyone through the figurative gates to get inside. And just like that a ravenous mob was set loose.

Pushing, shoving, kicking and biting Chaos ensued as everyone clawed their way to get to door leading to our precious arena. Instead of acting like calm adults (and many of these people were in their 40s, 50s, 60s and even 80s), people began to act as if it was Black Friday and they were making their way to the discounted tupperware aisle (you'd be surprised how important tupperware is).

This is when we encountered the She-Beast — a roughly 45-year-old woman who was convinced that she "still has it." This cougar (going with the animal reference, not the fact that she is probably dating an 18-year-old boy) felt entitled to shove herself directly in front of me and Chris as everyone was forced to form some sort of line before entering the arena.

When we politely said, "Excuse me?" she responded, "Oh, you don't want to mess with me." I'm sorry, but does she really think that two young people are going to be frightened off by some middle-aged woman who's trying to re-live her Glory Days (pun intended)?

This ferocious being didn't stay in line long — she continued to make her way toward the front, destroying anyone in her path.

Fast forward to when we are finally in the arena. The show is about to start and we happened to be about four rows behind the pit barrier. The lights went down as the Bruce and the E Street Band finally arrived on stage. My jaw dropped and the night had only just begun.

About three songs into the set Bruce made his way into the crowd toward our barrier. It turns out that the "barrier" is a mini-walkway stage for him to stride across. As he climbed upon the walkway and started making his way toward us I snapped. Something in my brain was triggered and suddenly I wasn't myself. All I knew was: Me Want Bruce (yes, for some reason I became some sort of cave woman/animal).

I lurched forward grasping at his legs and finally his beautiful and sweaty hands. I reached for the star (pun intended again) and actually grasped one of the most legendary people on this planet. Of course I began hyperventilating after touching The Boss. As he moved on from our little group of people the fog   in my head began to clear. As I started to come back to reality I realized that I was right in front of the barrier. Apparently I don't remember shoving myself past the four rows of people who had been in front of me.

And from there the night only got better. Bruce returned to our walkway and the most magical moment happened: He kneeled down in front of me, made eye contact and pointed at me as he sang his heart out. In a nutshell: For one brief moment Bruce Springsteen actually sang to me and me alone.

For 63 years old, Springsteen's still got it. That man poured out more energy than that time I won charades.

That might have been the best night of my life — excluding, of course, my wedding night and the day I was born. I mean, how can you beat the day where you go from some dark, slimy womb to freedom and fresh air?