When Springsteen walks in the room

Magic happens.

Yes. Real, bonafide, red, white and blue, Jersey magic.

I was fortunate to be in attendance at two of The Boss’s surprise appearances in the last couple of weeks. The first occurred on a “hello sunshine” kind of Saturday afternoon in Asbury Park, New Jersey when the Bruce Springsteen, unexpectedly, strolled onto the Paramount Theatre stage during the 2019 Asbury Park Film Festival.

You truly need to be there to experience the kind of electrifying buzz Springsteen creates when he first walks in a room- especially, when it’s an unannounced entrance. It’s hard to imagine I could write this about another man, but whenever I see Bruce, the hair on my neck rises and my blood pumps wildly.

In this particular pop-in, The Boss surprised a sold-out Springsteen-centric crowd to discuss never before seen live-concert footage, specially prepared by his personal archivist, editor and film director Thom Zimny- the same Thom Zimny who brilliantly captured Springsteen on Broadway for Netflix. While the hour plus clip compilation was the day’s…