For weeks I looked forward to going to Croke Park for the Bruce Springsteen concert. It had been a particularly busy and challenging spring and those four tickets were in the drawer as an incentive to keep the shoulder to the wheel. The reward would come.

Tim had purchased four tickets back in January. The morning took the usual pattern when there’s a concert in the offing. Both of us were poised at screens – Tim on the farm computer and me on the laptop. The search for tickets began. It’s at times like this that I curse slow broadband. Inevitably, I had to close the laptop and head into school. Before I got there, Tim was on the phone saying he was processing four tickets high up in the Cusack stand. He wanted to know if he’d complete the transaction. Of course, my answer was “yes”.

There was a great feeling of satisfaction knowing the tickets were in the bag. The cows hadn’t started calving yet and it would be lovely to look forward to the event. Julie and David had also secured tickets. Philip had a long face because he would be in Lebanon on that weekend.

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HOTEL RIP-OFF

We’ve lots of friends who like to go to concerts but we’ve two in particular that we partner up with on a yearly basis – Rob and Sally. We are going to concerts together for nearly 20 years. Sally and I reminisce about the artists that we’ve enjoyed together: Beautiful South, Meat loaf, The Waterboys, Christy Moore, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, The Stones and both Leonard Cohen and Rod Stewart several times. Top of the billing is Springsteen. We’ve seen him in the Point, RDS and Cork and lost count of the number of concerts. So, it’s fair to say that we know a good Springsteen and E Street band concert. We’ve been on the pitch, seated and even in the last row in the RDS.

Bruce is known for a passionate and value-for-money gig. On Friday evening, we knew that he would play for well over three hours. Traffic was manic. Having allowed plenty of time, Rob picked us up from the hotel.

That’s another story. It took ages to find accommodation that had a somewhat reasonable rate. Many of the hotels had their prices hiked up to €500 and €600 for the night. One I was trying was quoting €149 and just when it came to putting in the credit card number, the price suddenly changed to €305. I actually did it again to make sure it was the case. It is a disgraceful practice and a direct hit at people travelling to the cities if there’s anything big on. It does leave a sour taste.

So, we were on our way. A short walk had us going in just before 7pm. We could hear that Bruce was arriving on stage as those first electrifying notes of the E Street band rang around the stadium to Darkness on the Edge of Town.

SOUND PROBLEM

Up we climbed into the Cusack Stand. The first few songs were familiar and we looked forward to the next few hours ahead. But it was not to be. For a while, I wondered if it was me that was the problem? At times I was hearing Bruce muffled and distorted. What a let-down.

I started to discuss what I was hearing with Sally. We weren’t exactly sure until we were trying to figure out what song Bruce was singing.

“Is it Sherry Darling?” I asked. We did finally hear the words “Sherry Darling” on about the third chorus. Then I knew for sure that we were in for a big disappointment.

This was a song we both knew well and still couldn’t make it out. Part of the problem was that Bruce played an awful lot from The River album and we were unfamiliar with a lot of that material that was released in 1980. So, not knowing songs was a complete disaster when the sound clarity was not delivered.

He did intersperse these songs with some of his greatest hits and knowing the songs was a huge help. I grappled with trying not to be disappointed. But the reality is that the sound quality was a disaster high up in the stands. It really is not good enough to charge €100 plus for tickets and have some patrons disappointed.

Surely in this era of advanced technology, the sound engineers could have got it right. A few targeted speakers around the area should have been employed. I know it is a tough job to deliver to 80,000 people, but maybe closing off the areas that cannot get proper sound should have been considered and should be protocol in the future.

MUSICIANS NOT AT FAULT

The reality is that we did not get on our feet until the last two songs. There was traffic of people in and out, up and down all night. This would not be the case if people were engaged. We weren’t!

It was not the fault of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was obvious that some areas were having a ball and that the musicians did their part.

It is cited as a problem with the stadium. If that’s the case, the organisers should not ignore that some concert-goers are being ripped off.

I will never take a seat high up in Croke Park stadium again for a concert. I bet the Boss would be unhappy with this situation, too. I remain disappointed.