It was a bit before 8 p.m. on a warm weekday in Milan this past June, and the sun was still shining brightly as fans worked their way inside the city's famed San Siro soccer stadium. As the stadium filled to near capacity, the atmosphere inside was simply electric: that night was not just a concert but an event. And like the flick of a switch, as strains of the epic walk-on song began to blare from the speakers, the 55,000-strong audience was whipped into a frenzy. Hundreds of small Italian flags were waving on the floor, while the crowd's cheering rose to a fever pitch. In the stands, thousands of fans created a massive sign that spelled the phrase Our Love Is Real" in the Italian colors. So just what exactly was the cause for all this commotion?
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Yes, that Bruce - the American rock icon who reached massive levels of success with his 1984 album "Born in the USA." Beyond that commercial peak, Springsteen is known for writing character-driven songs that often explore political and class struggles in America, like on "Darkness on the Edge of Town" (1978) or "Nebraska" (1982), making him a sort of icon for the working class. Though some of his most successful albums are approaching 30 years old, Springsteen is anything but washed up. In fact, he has actually experienced a late-career surge in popularity since the early 2000s thanks to a series of strong new releases, and continues to be a major touring force in North America. That Springsteen is extremely popular in certain parts of America certainly isn't surprising
