He says Bruce gives everything at his concerts, often playing for four hours or more in front of fans who hold up requests for their favourite Springsteen songs — and he plays as many as he can.
It means his E Street Band has to be ready for anything, taking their cues from his opening notes and chords to work out what The Boss intends to play next — and it’s a huge repertoire.
There’s also crowd surfing, where Bruce falls into the audience singing into his microphone, confident he will be held aloft. Many of his fans know each other — they follow him across countries and around the world.
My Boss insists that Bruce The Boss has always “hit the spot”. Maybe that’s why he’s got under The Donald’s skin with some blunt comments on his latest UK tour.
Opening the tour in Manchester last Thursday, Bruce told the audience that “the America I love, the America I’ve written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration”.
He added: “Tonight we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.”
The Donald, presumably bored with nothing interesting to him happening in the world, responded quickly overnight on his social media channel, calling Springsteen highly overrated. “Never liked him, never liked his music or his Radical Left politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — just a pushy, obnoxious JERK.”
The most powerful leader of the free world went on: “This dried out prune of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied) ought to keep his mouth shut until he gets back in the Country.”
The next night in Manchester, Bruce repeated his criticisms. He referred to “an unfit president and a rogue government” who have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.
On Monday, The Donald weighed in again, bringing Beyoncé into the fray, suggesting she and Springsteen should be investigated to see if appearances they made on behalf of his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, represented illegal campaign donations.
Bruce was brought up in New Jersey, on the west side of the Hudson River — where The Donald has his Bedminster Golf Club, and often stays, although he was born in Queens, east of Manhattan — which seems to bother the president. They are both in their 70s, of course, and both brim with huge energy, though sourced from different motivations.
There is nothing else they have in common. Bruce is unlikely to stay quiet. While he is wealthy enough not to have to worry about Trump impacting his audience, my Boss notes that Bruce is one of few famous Americans willing to speak up at a time when you would think the country needs it.
He stands in stark contrast to the obedient flock of snivelling billionaires from Silicon Valley and elsewhere, kneeling before Trump in humiliating fashion — not to mention most of the country’s top law firms, Wall Street titans and Republican members of Congress — all keeping quiet so as not to irritate the president and damage their prospects.
Who else is standing up? Neil Young is one — asking on Tuesday a simple question: why is The Donald more concerned with what a few musicians think of him than “dyin’ kids in Gaza”. Why indeed. Woof!
