Scott Glovsky and his son Xabi headed out to the Bruce Springsteen concert Tuesday night with a homemade poster in tow.

Little did they know that the sign—“Bruce, I will be late to school tomorrow. Please sign my note. :)”—would result in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this Claremont nine-year-old.

“I have been singing Xabi to sleep with Bruce Springsteen songs since he was born,” Mr. Glovsky shared.

A die-hard fan, Mr. Glovsky has attended more than 100 Springsteen concerts in the last three decades. At Tuesday’s show, Mr. Glovsky and his son were sitting behind the stage at the LA Sports Arena. As Bruce wrapped up his three-and-half hour performance, he looked up and saw Xabi’s sign. Mr. Springsteen then pointed out the father and son to one of his bodyguards. A few minutes later, a security guard came to the seats and escorted them backstage.

After a short wait outside the dressing room, Mr. Springsteen appeared and invited them in.

“Although there were many musicians and celebrities at the concert, we were the first people to see him after the show. Bruce said ‘There’s the big guy’ to my son.”

Mr. Springsteen then invited Xabi to have a seat.

“He asked him for the name of his teacher, and how he spelled his name. He then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. As Xabi sat next to him on the couch, Bruce thoughtfully created this beautiful note.”

The note read: “Dear Ms. Jackson, Xabi has been out very late rocking & rolling. Please excuse him if he is tardy.”

Xabi and Mr. Springsteen talked for a few minutes and, according to Mr. Glovsky, Bruce was incredibly nice, caring and gracious.

“I imagine that idols rarely live up to your expectations. Bruce lived up to every expectation a nine-year-old boy could have—or a 48-year-old boy could have,” Mr. Glovsky related.

Incidentally, this wasn’t Xabi’s first exchange with the Boss. On his sixth birthday on April 27, 2012, the family attended a Springsteen concert at the Sports Arena. Mr. Glovsky’s wife, who previously taught at Sycamore, made a sign that read, “Today I am six.”

“The Ticketmaster Gods gave us first-ow tickets on the side of the stage at that show,” Mr.?Glovsky said. “While singing ‘Waiting on a Sunny Day,’ Bruce saw the sign, came over and waved to Xabi and sang to him for a short period.” 

The tardy note came in handy because, according to his dad, young Xabi woke up at about 10:45 Wednesday morning “with a big smile on his face.”

—Kathryn Dunn

editor@claremont-courier.com