Bruce & The Cleveland Boys

Bruce played Cleveland on Tuesday and he dedicated "Bobby Jean," his
song about the bonds of friendship, to the Cleveland Boys--four guys
from Cleveland who fell for Bruce's music, decided they had to meet
him and ended up hanging out with Bruce and the band as friends.
One of the Boys died recently but the remaining three were in the
pit, right in front of the stage during the Cleveland show. It's
becoming apparent that the band will be taking a lengthy break from
the road after the final show on November 22nd in Buffalo. These
shows in the die hard areas (Jersey, Philly, Boston, Cleveland, NYC)
have poignant moments of sorrow punctuating the ecstatic nature of
the music--people coming to grips with the fact that we will not be
getting together with each other and the band for some time.

I'd never heard the full story before, just vague references to the
Boys every once in a while--http://talk.livedaily.com/showthread.php?
t=121389 here's a great article on the full story of the Cleveland
Boys, published in 1999, on the eve of Bruce's E Street band reunion
tour hitting Cleveland. It ranks up there with the story of Bruce
going home with a fan to have dinner with the kid's mom in St.
Louis. The fan had met Bruce at a theatre showing Woody Allen's
"Stardust Memories", a movie where Allen reams out his fans. The kid
asked him to visit just to prove that bruce didn't view his fans in
the same jaundiced light as Allen portrayed his fan base in the movie.

It looks like I will not be going to Buffalo for the tour closer
(damn the job, lack of money and family commitments!) and I'm
starting to get a little misty-eyed myself about no upcoming Bruce
shows. The rumors are flying about what will fill the void of
Bruce's hyper-active artistic muse without an E Street Band tour to
fill his days. A new album would probably be out of the question
since bruce plans tours around albums. Another solo acoustic tour?
Another Tracks release from the vaults? (like the rumored Streets of
Philadelphia-era beat and loop heavy collection?) A tour with a
revamped Sessions Band (that's my preference!) maybe taking on
another roots performer or delving into his undisputed love for R &
B? Apparently, the heaviest rumor is that he is writing his
autobiograhy. I will, of course, purchase and read the sucker on its
publishing date--but I'd prefer some new tunes.