STACK #249 July 2025

FEATURE MUSIC SHAKE SOME ACTION

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN … BORN TO BE NICE Words Stuart Coupe

R ock ’n’ roll stars aren’t as a rule all that accessible and prepared to engage with mere mortals. You know, people like you and me. It’s the nature of the beast. They need to be single-minded, focused and removed from the myriads of people clambering for their time and attention. I’m sure Bruce Springsteen has his moments like this, too. But let me tell you a story about just how incredibly giving he can be. I’m taking you back to the very end of 1995 and Springsteen has just released his eleventh studio album – the stark and powerful The Ghost of Tom Joad . There are no plans for Springsteen to bring the album tour – one that he’s doing solo – to Australia, so his record company, in their boundless and wonderful wisdom (and being fully aware of my obsession with all things Springsteen), decide that they’ll send me to America to see one of the earliest performances of the album. The shows in New York City are sold out and tickets are as scarce as all get out – even for the Australian arm of the company – so poor me: I’m being sent to Philadelphia to see a concert. But before that, there are other things. I land in Philly and the label have a car waiting to drive me straight to see Silverchair who are playing that night – but that’s another story. The next day I attend a gathering of Springsteen nerds who’ve all arrived in Philadelphia from around America and the globe. I win an award – really, just lots of applause – for being the person who’s

travelled the furthest to see the show. It’s a no brainer really. The guy from Germany had no chance, baby! Later, I watch the show. It’s incredible. But there’s no interviews. I’m told that I might get the chance to meet Springsteen again in New York a few days later. There are definitely no tickets for the shows, but I can attend a smallish party afterwards that Bruce will be at. Now at this point I need to take you back even a few years earlier to when I was contacted by a young woman from regional Victoria who was confined to a wheelchair after a medical procedure mishap. I’ll call her Sharon to protect her identity. Sharon lived for Bruce Springsteen. Listened to him constantly. Watched his concerts on VHS tapes obsessively. Read every word

Springsteen before he was moved on by his minders. I left the party and as I walked into the street I thought of Sharon. I pushed my way back inside the nightclub, semi-politely interrupted a conversation Springsteen was having, and with a little bravado and determination – I’d had a couple of drinks – told him a garbled version of Sharon and my relationship with her. I asked if he’d sign a napkin that I’d grabbed from a table. He did and wrote: “Happy Christmas Sharon – Bruce Springsteen.” I brought the napkin back to Sydney and mailed it to her mother in time for Sharon to receive it on Christmas Day. Needless to say, nothing else mattered that day beyond the signed napkin. As a postscript, the next time Springsteen came to Australia I helped organise for Sharon to meet him backstage

Bruce Springsteen

Photo credit: Danny Clinch

the head of the record company later told me it was one of the most moving moments of his career

she could about him. And befriended – via the very rudimentary email we had in those days – anyone in Australia who’d met Springsteen, as I had in 1981. I cannot overstate how important Springsteen was to her very existence. Why am I telling you this? Well, I went to the party in New York and managed to spend about two minutes saying hello to

at a concert in Melbourne. I wasn’t there but the head of the record company later told me it was one of the most moving moments of his career. So, in case you were wondering, Bruce Springsteen is officially a very good human being. And not too bad at that songwriting, singing, guitar playing and performing stuff either. Long may he reign.

JOHN CALE POPtical Illusion NSW: JUL 10 | SA: JUL 12

DOPE LEMON Golden Wolf WA: JUL 22 | VIC: JUL 25 - 26 | SA: JUL 27 | NSW: JUL 31 | QLD: AUG 2

TOUCHÉ AMORÉ Spiral In A Straight Line QLD: JUL 10 - 11 | NSW: JUL 12 - 13, 15 | VIC: JUL 17 | SA: JUL 18 | WA: JUL 19

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