Meet the Bruce Hornsby

On June 10, 2001, Bruce Hornsby had an outdoor concert at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City. Although I have expected him to come to Japan for touring for more than ten years, I'm afraid I have never been to his concert in Japan. So I finally decided to go to the US to see his performance; bought a ticket on-line at ticketmaster.com. As I could finally enjoy his concert for the first time in my life, that day was indeed a special day for me. More than that, it's also the special day in that I could finally meet the Bruce Hornsby in person! So, I would like to tell you the whole story of how it happened on that day.
 

 

 
On that day, I arrived in front of the venue at about 3 p.m., for I did not feel completely at ease elsewhere. As some people were already queueing up in front of the gate, however, I followed the line.
 

 
At about 4 p.m., Bruce Hornsby and the band had a two-song ("Hot House Ball" and "On The Western Skyline") rehearsal at soundcheck. During soundcheck, I went to see him through the wire netting. Yes! Bruce Hornsby was actually THERE!! After a while, I returned to the queue and enjoyed listening to soundcheck. The soundcheck finished at about 4.30 p.m. When I went to see him through the wire netting again, surprisingly, Bruce was just over there beside the fence. As I just thought Bruce might be reluctant to talk with anyone, however, I asked another fans of Bruce around there if Bruce would respond to my call. "You came here from far away. If you call him, at least he should shake hands with you," they told me. So I called out, "Bruce! Bruce! I came from Japan just to see you!" Then Bruce looked over his shoulder and said, "I don't believe you!" So I said, "It's true. I came from Japan just to see your concert. Because you never came to Japan for touring for more than a decade. I cannot wait anymore. So I finally decided to come here!" As Bruce walked up to me, I took out a CD and a felt-tip pen; said to Bruce, "May I have your autograph?" "OK," replied Bruce. When I handed him a CD over the fence, I said, "My name is Taka!" Thus, Bruce signed his autograph like this:
 

 
On that time, I was so excited about the fact; was in a kind of a panic, actually. In fact, my legs were shaking with excitement. After that, anyway, Bruce said, "Shake hands." So we shook hands with each other over the fence. Then I said, "I want to have my picture taken with you." I asked another fan of Bruce around there to take a picture of us; the guy was willing to do it.
 

 
So I said, "Thank you!" Bruce waved a greeting to me. After that, another fans of Bruce also congratulated me on my results.
 
But soon after the happening, Bruce came out through the gate with J.V. Collier. So I ran up to him again; called out, "Bruce! Bruce!" "Hey, Taka," replied Bruce. Yup! Surprisingly, Bruce already remembered my name!! So I said. "I'd like to ask you to have my picture taken with you again." But nobody was there except for Bruce, J.V. and me. So Bruce and I tried to take a picture of us by ourselves at first. But we asked J.V. to take a picture of us; he was willing to do it.
 

 
After that, I said again, "Thank you!" "Shake hands," said Bruce. We shook hands with each other. I said, "See you later!" Bruce waved good-bye to me.
 
Thus, this impressive meeting with the Bruce Hornsby in person was over! Well, it was one of lifetime's dreams for me to meet the Bruce Hornsby in person; to get his autograph was always my wish. As I could finally achieve one of my big dreams in my life, anyway, I would like to express my gratitude to Bruce and the others kindly helped me.
 
By the way, the concert itself was indeed superb. The show went on for nearly three hours. As I could sit on third level of steps, I could fully enjoy watching/listening to a concert in the open air. Bruce's performance as a virtuostic jazz improvisationalist was indeed spectacular. Besides, I could hear all my favourite songs, such as "The Way It Is," "The End Of The Innocence" and "Mandolin Rain." Incidentally, the set list is as follows:
 

 
On that night, the audience was also wonderful. In fact, the venue was like the cheerful mood of the garden party. As for the latter half of the show, especially, everybody danced to Bruce's music with joy. When he noticed me while he was playing "Jacob's Ladder" on accordion, besides, Bruce poked a finger at me like he signed, "You are there!" Of course, I responded to his sign with a wave of my hand. Thus, the show continued enthusiastically on that night. Yup! It was indeed a great show! I shall never forget the happenings of the day at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City.

Concert photos - Red Butte Gardens, Salt Lake City, UT .. June 10 2001