Wow- talk about a serious and completely mutual, non-egotistical love relationship with your audience! I finally attended my first Bruce Springsteen concert ever last Sunday night at a packed Madison Square Garden. After about 30 years of live performing in concert, I was expecting him to come across as a bit jaded, bored, or narcissistic like many other rock-n-roll stars I’ve seen over the years, but I couldn’t have been more mistaken. He sang for almost three hours without a break, went offstage several times into the crowd, where he was once actually passed along over the audience’s heads until they placed him back onto the main stage, both smiling and singing the entire time this was being done to him. I believe most performers in a similar situation would have been too frightened, distrustful, or simply overwhelmed by their audience to pull a stunt like that. There were no flashy lights or special effects whatsoever, just Springsteen, his wife, and his band, all dressed simply in black.
Nevertheless, this was a phenomenal concert. Springsteen was as inspired and energized by the audience as we were by him. What a great mix! Everybody was on their feet, singing along, clapping and waving their arms for almost the entire concert. Seriously, my husband and I spent the evening in a gigantic feel-good love fest, and we still had silly grins on our faces when the alarm went off far too early Monday morning. I’ve never seen anything like it.
How on earth does Bruce Springsteen continue to maintain this type of relationship with audiences of thousands for decades on end? What’s his secret? Here’s what I observed:
1. Everyone in his audience has experienced some of the stories he sings about with such strong emotion at times that people connect to them in a very personal and emotional way.
2. Springsteen is an authentic and generous performer who does not take his audience for granted despite his incredible fame, and his audience recognizes this, if not fully consciously, then subconsciously.
3. He has a great time performing, and his audience has a blast watching him and participating.
If I ever found myself in a relationship like that with a tribe of my own, I think I will have reached my life’s goal! Wouldn’t everything else follow?
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