"My Jesus your gracious love and mercy
Tonight I'm sorry could not fill
My heart like one good rifle
And the name of who I ought to kill."

--"The New Timer"

Me and Ande Parks (writer of the terrific UNION STATION and CAPOTE IN KANSAS) saw Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Sprint Center here in Kansas City last night. As big a Springsteen fan as I am (and I'm a big one, in case you didn't know) this was actually the first time I'd ever seen The Boss live. Why the hell did I wait so long? I got to hear some of my all-time favorite songs, like "Born to Run," "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out," "Youngstown" and "Candy's Room," as well as tour firsts like "Devils and Dust" and "Cynthia." Bruce played for over 3 hours and looked like he could've played for 3 more when he finally ducked back into the darkness with the crowd still roaring (no way is that man 60 years old). And eventhough there were about 20,000 people there, it was an incredibly intimate show, with Bruce shaking hands with pretty much the entire front rows and even crawling atop the crowd at a couple points. It was unquestionably one of the best shows I've ever seen and probably as close to a religious experience as I've ever come at a concert. Definitely got inspiration for at least another 30 issues of SCALPED just being there. Thanks, Bruce.