Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen will be appearing at the Free Library to visit with fans after releasing his memoirs.

Are you a fan of The Boss, Bruce Springsteen? Would you like to see him in person? That’s too bad for you, unless you were one of the lucky few who nabbed tickets to the musician’s meet-and-greet at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Central Branch before they sold out in a matter of short minutes. Springsteen is coming into town on September 29th to promote his new memoir, Born to Run. Tickets to the event went on sale at 10 AM last Friday on the Free Library’s Events page, which promptly crashed under the overwhelming server demand of so many people trying to buy tickets. Once the dust settled, all 1,200 tickets available had been claimed. Tickets were $33 and included a pre-signed copy of the book.

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen will be appearing at the Free Library to visit with fans after releasing his memoirs.

On the day of the event, which starts at noon, the line will open at 10:30 AM. Ticketholders will be issued a wristband, which will allow them access to the line going back to the back room of the first floor, where government publications used to be housed. Springsteen will not be giving a talk, but he will meet fans, shake hands, and take selfies and other photographs with them. The library noted that Springsteen will not be signing any memorabilia.

Library spokeswoman Sandy Horrocks said that the demand for the Springsteen event was unlike anything else that the Free Library had experienced before. She admits that the website had trouble Friday morning, and that library phone lines were tied up with people trying to inquire about the event. Other patrons will be allowed in the library during the event, she confirmed, but they won’t be able to go near the room where Springsteen is situated.

Springsteen and his E Street Band just finished two shows last week at Citizens Bank Park, the first of which broke the musician’s record for his longest concert on U.S. soil, coming in at 4 hours and 4 minutes. Now that is some kind of endurance!