After a five-year Bruce Springsteen drought, I had to pinch myself when I heard that the rock icon would yet again thrill the world with an international tour.

The long-awaited news means that I can finally resume my worldly travels in the pursuit of basking in the glory of Springsteen after last seeing him perform in New York in 2018. I’ll be front of stage, elbows on the rails, on May 5, 7 and 9 (yes, that’s three nights) in Dublin, Ireland, where I will again be transformed by Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Bruce and his band of merry musical makers start their world tour on February 1 in Tampa, USA. But before I elaborate on my total and utter devotion to The Boss, I have to confess something – I also have tickets for July 11 and 13 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and others may be added, but who’s counting anyway?

My overwhelming fascination with one of music’s best live acts (as described by the influential Rolling Stone magazine) has been described as somewhat, how shall I put it, ‘intense’ by certain people. According to them (and ‘them’ are family and long-time friends who certainly don’t get this ‘Bruce thing’), it borders on stalking.

I see it like this.

The stars and planets have been aligned from the beginning for my path to cross with Bruce’s and for his words and tunes to become the soundtrack of my life. It cannot be a coincidence that I was born in the same year that Springsteen released his first album (Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ) in 1973, or that the album with my favourite song (almost impossible to single one out, but it’s Brilliant Disguise, for those who were wondering) was released on my 14th birthday – October 9 in 1987.

I am not alone in my obsession. There is a global network of people who, at the merest whisper of a Bruce concert, spring into action. All it takes is one loyalist to hear: “I heard on good authority from this one’s brother’s cousin’s mother’s grandmother who moves in the inner circles that…” and a message is sent out into the world: Something big is coming.

This propels me and other Bruce devotees to check at which stadium the concert will be held, to book a number of rooms in nearby hotels, and to check for flights from wherever. Credit card details are swapped in case someone gets stuck on the day ticket sales start and checks are done to see that everyone has enough devices to sign in at the same time. On highways and back roads, on streets and train tracks, on planes, trains and automobiles, we all ride this rollercoaster together.

The day when all those have-you-heard stories are confirmed and platforms get ready to receive thousands of applications for tickets, a fully prepared team is ready in all corners of the world; nothing can stop us now!

This is what Bruce Springsteen means to me and his countless other faithful and devoted fans and followers – a camaraderie of souls, without reservation. It’s about so much more than just the music, the words and the notes – it is the man in the middle of the stage who holds it all together.

Bruce speaks to our hearts and not to our heads and he forges bonds across borders, across cultures and nationalities, between like-minded souls and spirits. It is in this recognition that ordinary people, like me and Áine, Caroline, Antoinette, Jenny, Nick, Brandi, Chris, Hannah, Danny, Martin, Tim and thousands of others (I don’t know all of them, okay!) are willing to believe that with every note and every word, the man with the harmonica and the guitar speaks only to them.

This community of Bruce-like-minded people has to be experienced to really understand what it is all about and how deep it truly goes.

I’m not trying to say we are unique, but if someone has a great appreciation for his music, you don’t need to know anything else – that’s it, friends for life. The man himself says it best in Blood Brothers: The stars are burnin’ bright, like some mystery uncovered, and I’ll keep movin’ through the dark, with you in my heart, my blood brother.

And then there are all the things we will do in our pursuit of the music therapy and magical powers of ‘Dr Springsteen’. The thirst, the hunger, the sun, the rain, the heat, the cold, the blisters on the feet, the lack of sleep, the running, the standing, the sitting, the waiting. And then you do it again and again and again! I wouldn’t trade it for anything. As someone once said: “It may just be rock and roll, but it sure feels like love.”

My travels in pursuit of Bruce Springsteen:

1999:

London (England)

2013:

Kilkenny (Ireland)

2014:

Cape Town (x3), Johannesburg

Atlanta (USA)

Fort Lauderdale (USA)

Tampa (USA)

2016:

Dublin x2 (Ireland)

Glasgow (Scotland)

Coventry (England)

Wembley (England)

2017:

Christchurch (New Zealand)

Auckland (New Zealand)

2018:

New York x3 (USA)

 2023:

Dublin x3 (Ireland)

Copenhagen x2 (Denmark)