I've never been a huge Springsteen fan, but that's one of the songs I like.
Vic
On 9/8/16, Rosemarie Chavarria <knitqueen2007@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Wow, this is a great story. Thanks for sharing it with us.You are subscribed to Ourplace (
On 9/8/2016 1:20 PM, Linda Gehres wrote:
Born to run . . . on stage with The Boss; Young fan's handmade poster
caught Springsteen's eye
Rebecca Eckler
The Toronto Star
<http://newspapers.web.ca/news/nr/en/The%20Toronto%20Star>, Sept. 8,
2016
Ten-year-old Maddie Abbott of Toronto is "The future of rock and
roll," according to the legendary Bruce Springsteen, who yelled it out
at a recent concert.
Maddie quite literally took over the stage from The Boss at a Bruce
Springsteen concert at the United Centre in Chicago at the end of
August, during his U.S. tour.
After Springsteen noticed Maddie's decorated handmade bristol-board
poster, on which she wrote, "It's my 1st Show and I'm Waitin' on A
Sunny Day," the superstar performer brought her on stage.
She hugged him, then he put her on his shoulders and walked across the
stage, before the confident girl took the microphone out of his hand
and sang the chorus to "Waitin' on A Sunny Day" solo, pumping her
fists to a roaring crowd of more than 20,000 Springsteen fans.
The Boss, meanwhile, looked on, astonished, and gave Maddie's mother
two thumbs up.
"It was one of two best experiences of my life," gushes Maddie, who
wants to be a performer and takes singing and acting lessons. "The
first best experience of my life is that I was born. The second was
being on stage with Bruce Springsteen," she says. "But if I wasn't
born, then that would have never happened!"
For the Abbott family, who live in Forest Hill, it was a much-needed
pick-me-up.
Her mother, Nicole, and father, Allen, who has seen Springsteen in
concert 26 times, had originally planned to go together. But Allen was
unable to travel as he is recovering from a surgery related to
longtime kidney issues. So Nicole, a freelance makeup artist, took her
daughter instead.
"When my mom told me, I acted really calm, but inside my head was
beating with excitement," gushes Maddie, who has been a Springsteen
fan since she was 4. "I did feel sad for my dad."
She called her father right after the concert. "He was crying. I could
hear him sniffling, like 10 times!"
Her father chimes in, "I was sitting in bed when it happened, and
Nicole kept sending me photos and videos and it completely perked me
up. With everything I'm going through, to see Maddie on stage with
Bruce was unbelievable. We always say that with something bad comes
something good."
"Dad, you need to shave," interrupts Maddie. "You look like George
Clooney!"
While in Chicago, Nicole and Maddie made a glittery sign for
Springsteen, who is known to collect signs from fans. "I spent about
an hour on it," Maddie says. "Then I took a bubble bath and curled my
hair before the concert."
About 20 songs in, Springsteen announced, "I have to sing with this
little lady," and motioned for Maddie, sitting in the fourth row, to
come on stage. She went running. "I almost started to cry, I was so
excited, but I made myself stop," Maddie says.
"That's also when I started to cry," adds Nicole, who still tears up
while showing the video from her phone.
Maddie hugged Springsteen after high-fiving some fans.
"I touched his back, it was gross. It was like a lake on a Wednesday!"
she laughs and shudders.
Then she took the mic from Springsteen and sang the chorus of "Waitin'
on a Sunny Day" while The Boss looked on.
Springsteen yelled, "Sign her up!" and, "This is the future of rock
and roll."
"This is something that I can tell my children and they can tell their
children until the sun explodes!" says Maddie, who made it to the top
10 for a part in the Mirvish production of Matilda, now playing in
Toronto.
A YouTube video of the experience has had thousands of views.
Not only is Maddie still in shock - "My mind is just, like, blown
away!" - but she nods eagerly when her dad says, "Bruce always makes
us feel good. He always gives us strength."
