A very wise band from DE-troit, Michigan once said, "The time has come for each and every one of you to decide whether you are gonna be the problem or whether you are gonna the solution."  (I fully realize that adage may have originated elsewhere - like Voltaire, or Benjamin Franklin, or a Marvel comic book - but being a West Side rock & roll boy, I only know it from The MC-5.)  I thought of that quote last Friday when Bruce Springsteen cancelled his North Carolina show over the issue of LGBT rights, and reminded me of those long-lost days when rock stars cared more about social issues and less about how many of their tunes they could peddle to car company commercials, in order to sell their souls to the highest bidder.

So, as a kind of preview to Tuesday's E Street Band show at Value City Arena (there's that highest bidder thing, again) we at Pencilstorm thought we'd post links to our five favorite Bruce stories we've run in the past.  (Later in the week, sometime after the Willie Phoenix show Thursday at the CD 102.5 Big Room Bar during the Pencilstorm Hall of Fame festivities, Ricki C. will be providing his review of the show, which is taking place exactly 40 years & 1 week after the first time Ricki saw Springsteen, April 5th, 1976.)  

Click here to read "The Perfect Age For Rock n Roll Pt 2"  - Ricki C. describes seeing Bruce for the first time in 1976. This whole series is a must, must read. 

Click here to read "My Chance Meeting With Bruce or His chance Meeting With Me" - Colin G. once hung out with Bruce, one on one, for about 45 minutes. Go figure.

Click here to read " A Review of Bruce Springsteen Cincinnati 2014" - Ricki C reviews Bruce 38 years after seeing his first show.

Click here to read "In His Passing, Clarence Has Given Bruce the Gift of Music Everlasting" - Before there was Pencilstorm. Colin wrote this review of the dazzling new E Street line-up on the Wrecking Ball tour for Colingawel.com

Click here to read "Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Veteran's Memorial, 1978" - Ricki C on his favorite Springsteen show ever.

a little video action from the current tour