Tulsa World: Scheme at Boss show is kid stuff

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Scheme at Boss show is kid stuff

By PAUL TYRRELL Assistant City Editor
Published: 4/13/2009 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 4/30/2009 2:51 PM

If you're wondering who the lucky kid was who got Bruce Springsteen's harmonica during Tuesday's big show at the BOK Center, it was my 10-year-old. Concert-goers also were treated to my 12-year-old's debut as a rock vocalist when the Boss put the microphone in his face during "Waiting on a Sunny Day."

This did not happen by accident.

My wife and I have seen Springsteen and his E Street Band a time or two. We had a pretty good idea that a well-placed kid at the front of the stage would get a concert experience most Springsteen fans only dream of.

For those of you who were sitting in your comfy BOK Center seats wondering how that gaggle of people ended up in front of the stage, the answer is pretty simple — you have to be willing to stand for, oh, about 3 1/2 hours before Bruce takes the stage.

Describing how the lottery for the promised land of Springsteen shows works would be as numbing as standing in the line, so I'll cut to the chase. My wife had dreamed up a scheme that involved getting one of our kids to draw the lucky number for the right to be the first into "the pit," with the thought that whoever was in charge wouldn't let a kid draw and then not let him get down front.

It didn't work out that way, but my family still got lucky enough to be among the 400 souls who made it to the front of the stage.

Once we were in, we knew the spot we needed to stake out — stage right, near "Big Man" Clarence Clemons' position. We started out a few rows back and began

chatting up the other waiting faithful about great Springsteen shows we'd seen. In no time, we had managed to get the 10-year-old to the front row.

The 15,000 or so folks who were at the BOK Center already know the rest of this story.

I have been surprised how my kids' 15-second brush with fame has been received. After the show, people in the pit were stopping my son to take pictures of him and the harmonica. Somewhere in England, a guy who came all the way to Tulsa to see Springsteen has a snapshot of my son on his cellphone. Go figure.

News of our triumphant night made it into the office Wednesday morning before I did. The people I had told about our plan before I left for the show greeted me in amazement that we'd pulled it off — with a few threats that DHS should be called about the way I had shamelessly used my children.

People are now asking what we plan to do with the harmonica. Put it in a case? Sell it on eBay?

Are you kidding?

"We have his DNA and fingerprints," my wife said at the kitchen table after our big night.

I have no idea where to drop Mr. Springsteen a thank-you note, so I'm going to abuse my privilege here as a person with access to ink and newsprint. If anybody reading this can get word to Bruce, tell him my family says thanks for an unforgettable night. By PAUL TYRRELL Assistant City Editor

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	Report Comment Ardent, (4/13/2009 6:33:55 PM) I never thought I would see a story that made both Wayne Greene's and Jay Cronley's self-indulgence seem merely boring and idiotic. At least Jay has some goofy dogs to add a splash of color to the story. If this is an example of the Asst. City Editor's work, it's no surprise that you readership is plummeting. What's next, another puppy mill expose?
	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, small town (4/13/2009 11:15:07 PM) Your kid deserves it. great work and good for you.happy for you all.
	Report Comment Okie-Pokie, (4/14/2009 9:42:20 AM) Are you freakin kidding me? Deserves what? He scammed his way to the front of a concert by using his kids as shills. He should be ashamed of himself. It's bad enough to plan and execute his 'scheme', but to be proud of what he did is beyond belief. And he could use a new haircut.
	Report Comment observer, TULSA (4/21/2009 11:28:31 PM) Deserves to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, perhaps? You really think the kids are going to need therapy for the way their parents abused them and used them as shills? Get a life. Jealousy doesn't become you.

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