Local teen performs on stage with Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia

Thursday, September 15, 2016
Local teen performs on stage with Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia
Local teen performs on stage with Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia

SPRING, TX (KTRK) -- There are Springsteen fans and there are the Aucoins. A father, fan for almost four decades, passed down his love for "The Boss."

"When Matthew got into Bruce --- he knows every song, every word, every note," said Pat Aucoin.

The Spring family has seen Bruce Springsteen many times, but they hadn't seen him near his old stomping grounds in the northeast.

Matthew, a Texas A&M sophomore, currently in school in College Station said, "I heard Philly and New Jersey were the best places to see him in the U.S."

A twist of events, including a wrong subway ride in Philly, landed them in luck with seats right at the stage Friday night. Pat described waiting for tickets with a laugh and said, "I'm going to be 60 years old, and I'm thinking I'm going to be standing for nine hours."

What happened about an hour in got the crowd roaring. Matthew held up a sign at just the right time, the chords to the song "No Surrender" written at the bottom.

The boss looked it over asking Matthew's dad if he can really play the song.

"As soon as he stopped and was reading it, it was game over," Pat said.

"I had the initial stomach drop feeling like oh, he just gave me the go-ahead to go on stage,"

Matthew said. "Then a switch flipped and I was like let's do this."

Surprisingly he had just gotten a guitar last Christmas. "He just killed it, I never knew he knew all that," said Pat.

The two jammed, looking like a couple of longtime bandmates, wowing the crowd. Matthew said it was the biggest few minutes of his 19-year-old life. "I didn't expect to get on stage, it was incredible," he said.

The encore of attention has been a bit of a distraction for the Aggie business major.

Now, the father and son share a "Glory Days" story they'll never forget. "It was a dream, I'm so happy for my son," said Pat.