Morning Meeting with THE BOSS

NBC's Today Show broadcasts from Rockefeller Center, about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. All summer I've watched the morning show as I get ready for work, and stars like Reese Witherspoon, Ellen Degeneres, Robin Williams, etc. have greeted fans in the Plaza while I stand in front of the TV brushing my teeth and berating myself, "I should get up earlier and go out there!" But since I never know which celebrities will be there until day of, and - let's face it - I'm not a morning person, I just watch from the comforts of home a few blocks away.

For the past several weeks, though, Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann have made sure America knows Bruce Springsteen will be performing live on the Plaza. So, I jotted it in my calendar and made a point to get out there this morning.

My good intentions of getting up early and being there by 7 AM didn't pan out. Instead, I watched the coverage on TV to check out the crowd and walked over by 8:30 - just in time for his 30-minute concert. My efforts got me a front row seat...at the big screen opposite the stage. I never offically saw Bruce in person - the top of drummer Max Weinberg's head was the most I could see on the actual stage - which made me wonder how my living in New York made the experience any better than my friend watching the show from Yuma, AZ.

I noticed the flags waving in the breeze around the Plaza, looked up at the towering GE Building in front of me, felt the bass boomboom in my chest and vibrate my feet, and the mix of people all around me - businessmen in suits, tourists with fanny packs, construction workers in hardhats, younger, older, American, foreign...everyone swaying to the music and singing along with the band. Only in New York can you enjoy a rock concert with "The Boss" on your way to work!


The preparations at the Plaza Thursday night. I should have spent the night there for a spot in front of the stage! Funny enough, this is about where I stood this morning.


Pictures from the big screen of Bruce playing harmonica and Bruce with Matt Lauer.


Left: My vantage point of the actual stage (in between the two buildings). Right: An aerial picture of the crowd displayed on the big screen during a commercial break (the stage is on the left - not visible - and the screen I was watching is on the right of the picture).


The band gave a final bow, but the crowd chants of "one more song!" brought them back to the stage!