Page Two

The most disconcerting part of the otherwise inspiring Bruce Springsteen concert at the Erwin Center was encountering a block full of limos when I left. Most were either black or white, some stretch, stacked up on both sides of the street, in some places two rows thick. If ever the artifice of a cultural experience was torn away before the intoxication had settled in, this was it. Leaving early intensified this because there they all were, lined up and waiting.

This is not a mindless bash-the-rich exercise. The left's great failure of imagination is their hatred of the wealthy. Listen to KOOP radio sometime, and you'll realize that for some commentators, social justice and economic reform are not nearly enough; we have to tear down those who are better off. The sense of equality at the heart of Springsteen's work is thus denied.

A Springsteen concert is about inclusion -- his songs detail the dreams, failures, successes, and lives of a range of Americans. The American distinction is crucial; his work is a celebration of the core values at the heart of the American idea and a questioning of how they've been realized. Certainly there is a passion for economic and social justice and an anger at the ruling class' indifference to the working class, but these songs are about the greater community. And there were all those limos, the ugly truth of the new Austin culture. Limos certainly make traveling to and from a show a lot easier, and I'm a fan of comfort, but limos are also, inherently, a symbol of wealth. As much an idea as a mode of transportation, they are about exclusion.

It's hideous of me to suggest that just because I drove, parked, and walked to the Springsteen concert, I somehow had a different experience (and think what Amy Babich would say). But to come out of a Springsteen concert to your chauffeur and limo is to define Springsteen as merely entertainment to be enjoyed. As brilliant as the music is, the impact comes from the embracing vision. Certainly Springsteen is an explosion of excitement that is a way for the audience to be reminded of their youth. Who we are now as we watch the show is connected to who we were decades ago. The journey of the music evokes our own journey. These songs can be treated as perfect rock & roll, divorced from any greater meaning. Or they can be an affirmation, acts of vision and passion that inspire and resonate within our everyday lives.

And my point may well be pointless, the remnants of a still-simmering, self-righteous moral indignation. I may be missing the point, which has to do with the new ways the culture makes sense of itself. This might just be an old lefty's hysterical reaction. Regardless: Write a check to the Capital Area Food Bank not because it would make Bruce Springsteen happy, but because they make our community a better place.

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No report on the Chronicle volleyball tournament except to say that the bad guys are winning, and once again evil is being rewarded.