Every country, or every place rather, seems to have that one day or one moment when things shut down and all of it is worth while. It doesn't matter that your train was delayed, or that you walked six hours, or that your hostel bed was unmade, or that you got lost in the middle of another plaza, all that matters is what is happening at that point in time.
For Italy, this moment happened at the Bruce Springsteen concert in Milan. Months ago, in the dreary days of England's February I bought tickets with a friend for the show in June. Then about two weeks ago I found myself sitting in the nosebleed sections of a huge soccer stadium, singing along to every word in broken English with an enthusiastic Italian crowd. The seat section, which made Bruce look like a distant miniature toy army man, didn't matter, the fact that no one around me spoke the same language as me didn't matter, and the struggle of finding our seats amongst the fans didn't matter. All that mattered was that despite the obvious language and cultural barriers, a group of people came together to relish in some good music and good fun. The most suprising part of the experience for me was the universality of Springsteen's music. When born in the USA came on the entire crowd yelled, shouted and applauded in excitement. American flags were on hand and American merchandise populated every kiosk outside the venue. It was as if the American dream had landed, face first and sprawling, into a stadium parking lot of Italy.
Springsteen himself seemed to bask in the cultural appreciation. He started promptly on time, played for three hours straight, showed no sign of his 63 year old age, took requests from the audience at will, and even made a few people's days by bringing them on stage to sing along. Although I wasn't one of those lucky fans, I still felt like one of the luckiest people there.
For a complete set list of his show in Milan check this out
http://brucespringsteen.net/shows/06-03-13-milan-italy
And for another interpretation of the concert here is a good read
http://brucespringsteen.net/news/2013/notes-from-the-road-milan
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