During a Nov. 13 concert in Auburn Hills, Mich., rocker Bruce Springsteen mistakenly referred to his audience as Ohioans, greeting the crowd with “Hello, Ohio!” before realizing his mistake, according to the Detroit Free Press. “That is every front man’s nightmare,” said Springsteen after guitarist Steven Van Zandt apparently corrected him. Springsteen’s current tour is scheduled to continue until next August, with stops across America and Europe.
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Doh!
I’m surprised that he didn’t get booed. I guess the people there were real fans and hadn’t just been dragged along.
Had I been there, I’d have been dragged along, so I probably would have booed.
BING – wanna get away….or maybe stop drinking
Oh …. no biggy. What is the difference? One is north of the other.
Wow. Condescending much?
Laura, just how is that condescending? pt is not disparaging either state. More appropriate word choice is needed here to voice your disdain.
Well, you’d have to be getting senile to confuse the two. Considering that Michigan and Ohio are two of the largest and most important states in the US, there’s a pretty big difference.
To each their own, Laura and Tarc. I’ve lived in both and there’s not a huge difference.
Of course, there is a significant difference that Michiganders and Ohioans would see as self-evident. More inportant, Springsteen was at the Palace, which is pretty unique (and a pretty impressive venue). Springsteen is losing it.
Michigan is a gorgeous state made of two peninsulas, one almost total wilderness. It borders all five of the Great Lakes, and is known for Motown, fudge, it’s summer cherry harvest, gorgeous sand beaches on its western coast, and ultra conservative Grand Rapids. Ohio has the Cavs and Cincinnati and gave birth to Guided by Voices. Any time anyone decides to group states as indistinguishable, they come off as ignorant and condescending. So you’re wrong, acaseofgeo. It was condescending. And ignorant.
if Bruce had bothered to open his eyes, he’d have noticed the plight, the cr@ppy economy, the embarrassment of a governor, the terrible football, baseball, and basketball teams, the terrible weather, the desolate downtown, etc….and he would have KNOWN he was in Detroit.
Michigan does not border Lake Ontario. That’s right. I’m that guy in the comment section.
“Senile…” or on tour and sleep-deprived and stepping off a tour bus only to go from one stadium to another. They must all run together after a while. I’m sure he meant no offense.
“Largest and most important states”???? Really?????? Not a chance in hell. That’s funny though, good job.
Yes, Laura needs to look up the word ‘condescending’ so that she can learn its definition. It does not apply here.
You are obviously not from Michigan or Ohio.
Yeah, anytime I’ve ever been to Michigan, I’ve been in denial about it, too. OH-IO. Go Bucks!
Basing your opinion on *football* kinda negates any point you have.
‘Bucks’ is also just another way of greeting an Ohioan, since Ohio is the Buckeye State (not just a football team).
Ohio and Michigan aren’t nearly the biggest or most important states in the country (unless you’re counting the countless TV shows that ‘place’ themselves there). The ‘big deal’ is that they’re such huge rivals. Ohio’s unoffical slogan is “At least we’re not Michigan.”
There is a HUGE college football rivalry between Ohio and Michigan. No opinions negated – cultural awareness noted.
He’s Bruce Springsteen, he can call Michigan, Toronto for all i care
absolutley! I was at this concert, and he made a mistake! He has been on tour for the better part of 2 years, in a different city each night! He is allowed to make a mistake once in a while!
Yes, yes. Bruce Springsteen is surely like unto a god.
I went to an *NSYNC concert at Iowa State University and they called out “Hello University of Iowa!” which is, of course, they’re interstate rivals (and coincidentally where I went to school). The resounding boooo from the crowd drown out my laughter.
can I boo the fact that you went to an *NSYNC concert?
Ha!
Just to show anyone can make a mistake… Bruce’s tour ends in about a week in Buffalo, NOT (as this article states) in nine months!!!
Actually, after a four-month break, the tour will pick up again in March (in Asbury Park, of course) and then continue through August. http://www.brucespringsteen.net/live/index.html
Surprised it doesn’t happen more often.
It does…to a lot of band and artists. Why EW chose to make a big deal out of it I have no idea…guess its a slow news day. Nobody’s perfect; mistakes happen. Move on.
If you get upset at this, you are probably one of those people who naively believe them when they say your town rocks the best and how much they love playing there more than anywhere else.
Believe me, any Ohioan south of Toledo would have booed if Bruce said “What’s up Michigan” at a concert here. It’s just a gut reaction ingrained by years of football-based hatred. Shizz happens.
Doesn’t really matter does it? There ain’t much difference.
Almost every artist who tours a lot has done this at least once. Considering how much they travel and how little they see of each city, they could be anywhere.
And considering the vast amount of cash they are getting, the acts should (at least) get the city/state straight.
Oldtimer’s disease is setting in. He’s performing Born To Walker in it’s entirety next week.
“Not much difference”? Bull. Yes, the Blue is going through rough times but we’re resilient. And we have a sense of humor. I thought the Boss faux pas was pretty funny.
I love the Boss, but it’s not hard to figure out that The Palace is in Michigan. I’m sure he’s been there several times throughout the past two decades.
I’m sure he’s played places called the Palace in other cities. It’s a common name for older theaters.
I saw Huey Lewis and the News in Glascow, Scotland, and Huey yelled out “Hello England!” That was ugly.
Yes, it was a mistake, but does it really matter in the whole scheme of things? People were at the concert to hear him perform, not to hear his knowledge of geography.
As someone who travels a lot, I’ll cut him more than a little slack. When you’re on the road for an extended period of time, it’s hard to remember where you are at any given time, especially when the ony thing you usually see is the hotel.
I agree old timers is setting in but wait it is a new type called Cox blockers or in short DDN.Ihis sickness started in a college in Dayton ,Ohio stay clear to be safe.
lol he knew he was in detroit… bunch of detroit songs on the setlist, and he made a Piatons reference… this is hilarious
Bruce isn’t touring until next August. Where does EW get its information?
he forgot detroit was in michigan.cause he said hello ohio hello detroit.in the song he referenced the pistons..it actually made the show better..he said it might be early alzheimers.he was self depricating and then did 3 michigan based songs..rambling gambling man by seger…detroit medley(mitch ryder), and becasue the night that he wrote for Patti Smith who lived here for a while,here late hubby Fred was in the legendary MC5..the show was great even with the faux pas..who else plays for 3 hours these days
My mother (83) asked me if Lady Gaga is a man.
She does act like a drag but she kinda changed her image after her bad romance video.
Non-story. Slow news day?
To be fair, he did play in Ohio earlier in the week, which may have caused a bit of confusion.
Whatever, had I been there, I highly doubt that would’ve made me enjoy such an amazing show any less.
I was at the show, and I thought he was making the Spinal Tap “Hello Cleveland!” joke. He mentioned the Pistons early on as well, which wouldn’t be hard to do with all the Pistons signs and banners in the Palace.
Honestly, I thought it was a goofy joke, but if he wants to say it was legit, I guess I’ll go along with it.
Give the Boss a break! The guy’s 60 years old, he’s been touring for months now, and at each concert he’s been giving 110% for 3 hours with no break (take that, Britney!). He acknowledged his slip-up and handled it with good humor. End of story.
yes! and he doesn’t lip sync!!!
I should also add that I read somewhere that he’s performed around 128 different songs on this tour, including entire albums that he’s never performed live from start to finish. Roughly 30 songs a concert, some of which he sings on the fly upon request. It’s a miracle he hasn’t lost it by now.
The tour concludes on Nov. 22. Bruce and the E Street Band have not announced any plans for a 2010 tour yet. Not sure where EW is getting its facts, but shouldn’t there be at least one E Streeter in that office? Doc Jensen seems like a big Born to Run guy.
Dream Out Loud….When is the last time the Indians have won a World Series, the Cavs have won an NBA championship or the Browns have been to the Super Bowl. Case Closed.
Oh Yeah…COLUMBUS has an NHL team????? Oh….PUHleeeze.