Following a very enjoyable listen to the brilliant bootleg of Bruce Springsteen at the O2 I noticed a dedication before Born To Run for “Mike and Charlie Smith”. Naturally intrigued, I searched the internet to find out more.

Somewhat predictably the Mike Smith in question was not myself but Mike Smith of the Dave Clarke Five. Remembering that he had recently died (again catching my eye because of the name) I kept reading.

Turns out that he had been in a spinal cord accident 4 years ago and that was the consequence of the pneumonia that caused his death. Alas pop stars of that era don’t all have the £800m+ of Macca. Smith was short of money and Springsteen and Van Zandt amongst others chipped in and helped him out.

Reading the story and Mike’s blog post (with pics) of his night at the gig made me respect The E Street Band. The sort of kindness and generosity they demonstrated shows they are much more than stereotypical rock stars.

As an aside Mike’s late arrival was the reason for the gig starting later than expected. Somewhat amusing that it was Mike Smith that caused Kyle to be incorrect.