The Boss At Bobby Q’s

Bruce Springsteen is from New Jersey.  So is Frank Bergonzi.

The similarity does not end there.

Frank Bergonzi

Frank — a long-time Westporter who commutes every day to the Garden State (he’s a BASF executive) — spends his spare time fronting Lost in the Flood, a Bruce tribute band.  They’ve been playing the tri-state region for years, developing a following almost as fanatic as The Boss’s.

Tomorrow they come to my hometown.  They’re playing a 9 p.m. show on Bobby Q’s roof.  The dancing in the dark promises to be great — but even greater is the cause.  For the past 5 years Lost in the Flood has donated funds from this gig to the Westport Fire Department — which passes it along to the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation.  Last year the benefit passed the $10,000 mark.

Like a good Jersey boy, Frank grew up listening to Bruce.  (His 3 good Connecticut kids have done the same.)  Frank also performed in musicals in high school — a fact that surprises those who know him as a jock.  At UConn he was in a southern rock band.

Shortly after 9/11, Frank and fellow Westporter Steve Goldstein played an acoustic set to benefit the fire department.  They included tunes from Bruce’s post-9/11 album “The Rising.”  Two years later Frank auditioned to be Lost in the Flood’s vocalist.  It’s been glory days ever since.

9/11 still resonates with the entire band.  The bass player’s wife lost her 1st husband in the Twin Towers.  Frank often dedicates “The Rising” to her and her children.  Frank thinks about him throughout the song — “and others like him who lost their lives, just going to work that day.”

See you tomorrow night, on Bobby Q’s roof.  You’ll love the spirit in the night.