Epic night in Des Moines

My tenth Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band show, on Monday in Des Moines, unseated April's Denver show from the top of my concert rankings. Just hearing "Incident On 57th Street" live for the first time would've been enough for me. But the whole experience, from start to especially the finish, was epic…

• This was Rachel's fifth show, but the first she's experienced in the pit. Only 255 people showed up between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to enter the lottery for access to the area directly in front of the stage. (I've never seen fewer than 500 show up.) So, all of us got in. As you can see from the photos, we were 5-10 feet from the stage all night.

• I almost never say this about a concert venue. But kudos to the Wells Fargo Arena staff. Nice people all the way around. From the ticket takers to concessions to security.

• To those who wonder why anyone would see a performer ten times, here's my explanation. I could point to the value one gets for the money (this show went almost three hours without a break) or the fact that bands like this just don't come along very often. But the biggest reason is simply that every show is different. I don't just mean the crowd reaction is different or the songs are ordered differently. I mean I've heard at least two different songs at every show I've attended. In Des Moines, I heard four—"Satisfaction," "The Wanderer," "Into The Fire" and the aforementioned "Incident." (Granted, two of those were covers. But I can't tell you how cool it was to see that band play "The Wanderer.") In total, I've heard 70+ different songs at ten shows.

And for the cherry on top…

The show ended just after 11:15 p.m. and we decided to let traffic clear out before heading for the car. We saw a handful of people, most carrying Springsteen memorabilia, standing near a loading dock. So, we thought that must be where the band exits and we may as well catch a glimpse.

About 10 minutes later, an SUV creeps out, the window rolls down and there's Springsteen. (As total luck would have it, I purchased a tour poster as we left the arena. They sold out of them at the Denver show and I got the "display model" here after the guy in front of me bought the last of the main supply.) Springsteen motioned for the waiting throng to come on over and he started signing autographs.

I have to say it was a pleasure to see the lack of pushing, shoving and general poor behavior that I would've expected in this situation. I waited at the back of the group, fully expecting him to meet a few people, wave goodbye and be on his way. But, as the crowd thinned out, I thought, "Holy crap, I might actually meet the guy." Sure enough, my turn arrived. I think I thanked him for putting on a great show and I think he thanked me for coming to see it. All I'm sure about is he asked my name and I responded correctly, because my poster was signed "To Chris" when it was all over.

Others used their audience with The Boss to tell him how much his music affected them. But I'm afraid I didn't get to ask about his writing process or any other interesting subject. I figured the poor guy probably just wanted to get back to the hotel and go to sleep.

Frankly, I had the same thing in mind, after eight hours in downtown Des Moines. A long, epic day.

Kids should stay in school, right?

In 1980, my first grade class held a mock presidential election. Ronald Reagan vs. Jimmy Carter. I voted for Reagan. There was an R next to his name, which I loved because my last name begins with that letter. And his name was in red, then my favorite color, so that sealed the deal. Little did I know I’d been indoctrinated.

At least, that’s what I think happened. Nearly 30 years later, I’ve learned those sneaky Republicans pulled one over one me and my classmates, tempting us with bright colors and a smiling candidate. They did the same thing in 1991, when President George H.W. Bush delivered a nationally televised speech about the importance of saying no to drugs. Now, the shifty Democrats have the same thing in mind, as President Obama plans to address the nation’s students on Tuesday. He intends to encourage young people to work hard and stay in school.

This speech, many parents, politicians and commentators have noted, is a potential travesty. As Oklahoma Sen. Steve Russell said, “It gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality…something you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.” Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer says, "The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans ... is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power."

Timeout.

Is this really what our country’s going to be? I understand arguing about health care. (Though I’m starting to think most Americans don’t realize there are two houses of Congress.) I get the immigration debate. I can see sniping over social security. But, the president encouraging kids to stay in school, that’s a problem? Really?

Harris Mirkin, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, told The Kansas City Star, “It shows the polarization and suspicion. It’s basically saying the president of the United States isn’t a legitimate person to speak to kids.” I’ll take him one further. It shows the fear. A lot of Americans are paralyzed by fear. Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, writes of the U.S. in “The Post-American World”: “It needs to stop cowering in fear. It is fear that has created a climate of paranoia and panic in the United States and fear that has enabled our strategic missteps…To recover its place in the world, America first has to recover its confidence.”

This blog isn’t about politics. I couldn’t give a flip whether you think President Obama walks on water or if you long for the return of President Bush. What I do care about is how scared everyone seems to be. It strikes me as quite irrational that some parents fear the president will “indoctrinate” their children on Tuesday. About 1.2 million students drop out of school each year. Let me say it again. More than one million students drop out annually.

If the president can “indoctrinate” our children with the idea that they should stay in school, I hope we'd applaud, regardless of our politics. Instead, people worry he'll try to slip something into the speech about health care reform, the auto bailout and who knows what else. (As if the nation's schoolchildren would listen to and/or care about those things.) Lots of Americans are scared, by a speech about staying in school.

And that’s kind of scary.