Part of my absence here lately has been related to a couple of rock and roll road trips that have sucked up my weekend time. And as for during the week? Well, work took care of taking the rest of THAT time. But hey, that’s cool – it’s nice to have a roof over my head!

My first rock and roll road trip found me heading down to Cincinnati for a date with THE BOSS himself, Bruce Springsteen. Little did I know, the soon-to-be controversial show that lay ahead.

As we walked out of the show, my friend Tony said to me “I can’t WAIT to see what Backstreets has to say about THIS show!” And as it turns out, when I got home in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Backstreets opened with the words a disappointing night in Cincinnati….

WTF? Were we at the same show?

Back to the show. Tony and I worked together in Cleveland about 10 years ago, and formed an instant bond over our love of Springsteen. Even though he is no longer in Cleveland, we make an effort to schedule annual summits anytime that Bruce is in Cleveland, and we hold other meetings elsewhere in the Ohio area as they pop up. Cincy was my 10th Bruce show, and we noted that I have seen 7 out of those 10 shows, with Tony. Pretty cool.

Bruce and band hit the stage, and I just about JUMP out of my skeleton when I hear the opening notes of Darlington County! Not Night, not Radio Nowhere, Darlington-frickin-County!

Patti’s at home tonight, which is just fine. You don’t need Patti + E Street Band. In fact, E Street Band – Patti is pretty awesome in my book. I wait and hope for that every time Bruce takes the stage.

It was apparent to me from those opening moments that not only were Bruce and the E. Street Band on fire, but the energy level of the Cincy audience was at a CRAZY level from moment one. It really made for an incredible night, and I don’t see how you can begin to question a setlist that gives you Darlington as an opener, AND Lost in the Flood, AND Kitty’s Back. LITF and Kitty in the same set? Unreal.

The appearance of Kitty was an event worth the price of admission all alone. Show is over, lights are up, crew starts tearing down the stage, and all of the sudden, Bruce and band come strolling back out. Crew is now scrambling, one crew member runs up to put Bruce’s microphone back, which has already been removed for the night. The opening moments of Kitty’s Back are unrecognizable as the crew collectively scramble to put the pieces back in place.

It might not have been a 2 1/2 hour show that night, but the show that WAS delivered, was incredible.

I had thoughts about going down to Columbus a couple of nights later, it was so good. And if you saw the setlist, I really should have gone to Columbus. Incident On 57th Street, Sherry Darling, Rosalita, etc. – it would have been up there for the most amazing one-two punch since the two Cleveland shows I saw back to back on the reunion tour in 1999.

But, I didn’t do that. *sigh* A rock and roll blunder on my part for sure. Hopefully I’ll get out to catch one of the stadium shows this summer. That’s a “haven’t done that yet” Bruce Springsteen thang that I need to remedy!

Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band – Kitty’s Back (live on Conan)