Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ Tour Comes To Philadelphia
In this Every Picture Tells A Story piece, Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Born in the U.S.A. Tour Comes To Philadelphia
September 18th, 1984
I’m the guy on the far right with that “Can you even believe this?” look on my face. As for the hoodie, well, it was the last night of the engagement and I had run out of cool clothes after seeing the first five. Plus, we were all exhausted. Pictured left to right: WBCN’s Bob Kranes, WMMR’s John DeBella, Bruce Springsteen, WTPA’s Bruce Bond, and yours truly.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band brought their Born in the U.S.A. Tour to Philly in September of 1984. Following a June release, the album exploded on FM radio nationwide, nowhere more so than in Bruce’s ‘home away from home,” here in Philly. Shows happened on September 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, and 18th at The Spectrum, the best arena this city’s ever had.
The funny thing is, although most of my career has been spent at WMMR, I was not working for the station during this period. I was at The Friday Morning Quarterback, a magazine that reviewed new releases from record companies on a weekly basis. On this night, it was Philly’s Columbia Records rep and local legend Herbie Gordon who rounded us up and invited us to meet Bruce post-show. And it was Herbie who took this picture.
Backstage at the Born in the U.S.A. Tour:
Bruce was gracious but subdued. He asked us our names, (‘Gunner’ I told him) and he signed autographs as well. I was amazed at how accommodating he was after having left pieces of himself all over that stage for the last week.
Suffice it to say, I don’t end up in that picture without the aid of many thoughtful and very kind people. But it’s a testament to the possibilities and the power of rock n roll. “Hey there Mr. DJ, won’t you hear my last prayer, hey ho rock n roll, deliver me from nowhere.”