Bruce Springsteen meets with fans late this afternoon before tonight’s show at the Basie.
Franco Figari came to Red Bank from his home in Milan, Italy this week solely to see Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band take the stage at the Count Basie Theatre tonight.
But he a got a bonus with his $1,000 ducat when Springsteen emerged from a rehearsal and stopped to chat with about 30 fans gathered near the theater’s stage door late this afternoon.
“This is quite special,” said Figari, a landscape photographer. “I’m not really here to have autographs, but it’s nice to have this feeling — to see him at his home with just a few people around.”
Franco Figari, left, and Little Steven Van Zandt.
Springsteen emerged from the theater with his wife and E Streeter Patti Scialfa and first waved off fans from a distance, but was persuaded to sign a few autographs and pose for a few photos. He and Scialfa departed in a dusty Range Rover.
Guitarist and actor Little Steve Van Zandt waded into the scrum afterward.
Chris Bruno of Wall Township said he felt “something like relief” after meeting Springsteen, a musical idol. He’s wanted to meet him since getting turned onto Springsteen’s music in 1977.
“My girlfriend called two minutes after it happened, and I told her what happened,” he told redbankgreen. “She said, ‘I told you it would happen if you’d be patient.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it only took 30 years.'”
