"In 1985, Bruce Springsteen was in Japan for the first time and I was asked to come along and take some photos. He played in three or four different cities and this photo was taken in Kyoto. On this tour, the venue where he played that day in Kyoto was very, very, very small. It was maybe 3,000 or 4,000 seats, something like that, and I found out that it actually was. A high school gym.

The photo was taken during a soundcheck where Bruce walked around the venue listening to the acoustics while the band played on stage and he was still hooked up to the amplifiers. Wireless, so he could walk around and still play. As if he were on stage. He listened to what the sound was like in the hall. This was the second or third day I spent with him, and I didn't feel like I knew him well enough to just walk next to him as he walked through the hall. So I tried to keep my distance. And then I took this picture.

I like the backlight and the guy on the right standing there looking at it, and it just shows what? What someone is like when they really care about the sound and the show and want to make sure everything is right. And that's exactly what he does in this picture." - NEAL

 

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The Story behind the Picture – by  Neal Preston