Will Bruce Play Atlantic City?

You may have heard us talk this week about the browbeating Bruce Springsteen took from Governor Chris Christie. Christie used an opportunity to publicly try boxing Bruce Springsteen into a corner and into performing at Revel over Labor Day weekend. In my humble opinion it was pure bullying to make statements like, "I think Bruce, if he's true to his lyrics, would love the fact that the state used taxpayer funds to invest in this place to create jobs for working men and women." IF  HE'S TRUE TO HIS LYRICS? So in other words, if Bruce doesn't do what Christie wants him to do then Bruce is a hypocrite. That's clearly the pressure he chose to put on Springsteen and that's really sad. Christie claims he's a fan. A true fan wouldn't try to publicly push someone into what would almost amount to a charity performance by using such tactics. I say charity performance because to play a full show with the E-Street Band in a small 5,000 seater would either mean raising ticket prices far beyond the working man's reach or slashing their own take to almost charity donation.  And in the middle of a busy world tour mind you.

Their politics are polar opposite. And there's a documented history of Bruce not playing in Atlantic City, and the one time he did it wasn't connected with a casino. So you'd think there'd be little chance of this happening.

Then there's this cryptic moment from the show at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Wednesday night. With Governor Christie in the audience, Bruce played his 1982 hit "Atlantic City". He never made any direct reference to Governor Christie, but he changed a line in the song. The normal line is sung "I met this guy and I'm gonna do a little favor for him".  He changed it to "I met this guy who wants me to do a favor for him." Some are wondering if this was a message one way or the other. Who knows.

Meanwhile, Christie tweeted throughout the entire performance, sending updates like "Getting ready for the Bruce show in Philly.  Crowd is very excited."  "Lights still on - crowd getting anxioius for 'We Take Care Of Our Own' ".  " 'Thundercrack' for a girl in the audience requesting it for her dad in Iraq.  Bruce does it for them". So no matter the outcome, looks like Gov. Christie will still call himself a fan.