And then the music stopped...
I was on my way to the Sprint Center last night when I got an e-mail from TicketMaster. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's concert scheduled for October 26 at the Spring Center in Kansas City had been canceled due a death in Springsteen's immediate family.
I was shocked. My thoughts were racing: Was this real or a hoax? Was this a mistake?
I quickly went to his official web site and saw the following statement:
if (preg_match('/Oh my God. That's terrible! What happened? Who could it be? Please don't let it be Patti or one of his three children!
I was mere blocks from the venue. I continued on and saw people walking away from the arena. I didn't quite know what to do. There wasn't a concert. I was in a strange city, far from home, and my mind wasn't responding quickly. The only thing to do was to turn around and go back to my hotel.
In the hours since the cancellation, rumors and speculation swirled around the internet. First, a local news station broke news of a death of a member of Springsteen's road crew. Later TMZ reported that Lenny Sullivan, Bruce's cousin and assistant tour manager, passed away this afternoon. I was skeptical, until it was confirmed on Bruce's official web site. Lenny was 36.
So my journey to the heart of rock and roll nirvana ends unfulfilled, displaced by tragedy. Thousands of us were coming from near and far, hoping to participate in the transformative power of an E Street Band show. It was not to be. Our disappointment is real, and it is completely trumped by the tragedy that brought it to a sudden, unexpected halt.
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