Vineyard 6th grader lives Springsteen dream 

Jul 25, 2023

An 11-year-old Vineyard Haven boy had a dream-come-true moment this weekend, at a Bruce Springsteen concert at Gillette Stadium.

River Loughman comes from a family of Springsteen superfans. After all, he’s named after the 5th studio album of the rock legend, “The River.”

And on Saturday, in front of thousands of adoring fans, the Boss tossed the incoming Oak Bluffs school 6th grader a harmonica.

“It’s a dream come true,” River’s mother, Jil Matrisciano, told The Times Monday. “With all the planning and hoping, the stars aligned.”

As his mom says, River grew up listening to Bruce partly because he didn’t have a choice — because his parents were such big fans — but he also grew to like the music at a young age.

This weekend, River and his mother got to Gillette on Friday morning in order to get in early for Saturday’s show; they had standing-room-only seating in front of the stage and came to get a low number on the entrance list (the stadium hands out numbers for early entrance).

Matrisciano said that on Saturday, after standing for 10 hours, River and his mother were admitted as guests number 10 and number 11. They walked in with River carrying along a sign that read: “Hi, I’m River. Growin’ Up on E Street. First show.”

By the third song in the set, Springsteen and his band went into the song, “Ghosts.” And mid song, Matrisciano said that Bruce locked eyes with River. River leaned in to give a fist bump. But instead of a fist bump, Bruce gave him a pick.

And then later in the show, as Springsteen went into the end of “The Promised Land,” a harmonica-heavy song, Springsteen stopped in front of River, pointed him out, and then tossed the harmonica. Matrisciano said that River was able to catch the instrument over his head.

River was captured overjoyed on the jumbotron, smiling ear-to-ear.