A+E Networks "Shining A Light" Concert

Bruce Springsteen's new tour sold out immediately and tickets are being resold for hundreds — even thousands — apiece. The money would be better spent investing in New Jersey music's future. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for A+E Networks)

( )

Three acts unfold in a matter of seconds.

A fevered hope mounts, in the moments just before Bruce Springsteen's new tour goes on sale; then, a rush of desire as hundreds of thousands of diehards click "buy," and are at once thrust into Ticketmaster's seat-searching purgatory, left stranded and staring at the endless churn of the loading screen.

And finally, a disgruntled plunge into anguish as the concert has sold out in what seems like a blink. "Sorry ... no tickets match your search."

"Why do we even try?" was the consensus among Boss fans earlier this month, as droves of unlucky New Jerseyans did not score tickets to any of the four, approaching area performances with Bruce and his E Street Band. All passes went on sale the morning of Dec. 11 at 10 a.m. and sold out in a matter of minutes.

Predictably, tickets were immediately available on secondary market websites and being sold at sinfully high markups. The cheapest seat listed Thursday for Bruce's Jan. 31 Prudential Center show in Newark was $299 before fees -- and that's for a spot located in the mezzanine behind the stage. Adele's U.S. tour, which sold out immediately Dec. 17, is seeing similar price hikes.

But you can bet your '69 Chevy that a Boss-lovin' Jersey sucker will break down, snag that $299 ticket before the show, and satisfy some desperate compulsion to hear the 66-year-old singer belt out "Hungry Heart" for the umpteenth time.

Such is the nature of Springsteen's wildly devout local fan base, known across the globe for their undying support of the state's most significant rock star. These are the people who purchase every re-released vinyl and repackaged box set -- like the new "The Ties That Bind: The River Collection," released Dec. 4 at $90-a-pop -- and snatch up tickets for other artists' concerts where Springsteen may appear, only to try and sell them off for pennies on the dollar once Bruce confirms he's not coming.

All of this, of course, swells the paycheck for the inconceivably wealthy icon, who's still doling out tunes about the rigors of factory work and the turmoil of a blue-collar existence. Springsteen earned $81 million in 2014, Forbes reports.

For the love of Mary (and Wendy, and Rosalita, too), stop wasting exorbitant amounts of cash to sit in the upper deck of an arena and watch a scowling speck play music you've been listening to for 35 years.

And once you've re-stashed your credit card, take a good, hard look at the rest of New Jersey's musical landscape.

An overwhelming swath of the culture -- the folks whose careers are not defined by their friendship to Springsteen, or their stints as a member of Bruce's backing band -- are in great need of a helping hand.

Several of New Jersey's most revered venues have either fallen into disrepair or are struggling to stay open. Without a shift in mindset -- and the financial support that goes with it -- the state's musical legacy threatens to remain fossilized in Springsteen's amber.

What makes this all the more vexing is Springsteen wouldn't be the legend he is if it weren't for the local support he first conjured, gigging around Freehold and the Jersey Shore in the early '70s.

But the days of talent scouts perusing the now-defunct Fast Lane in Asbury Park, searching for the next Bruce, or the all-night jam sessions at the Upstage Club on Cookman Avenue are long gone, as are New Brunswick's once-thriving locales of the '80s and '90s. The Hub City's Melody Bar, Roxy Grill, The Plum Street Pub and Patrix, which all regularly welcomed alternative music, closed years ago.

And while a crop of determined young talents still gig frequently around Asbury Park, New Brunswick and Hudson County, the state's most faithful live music hubs have not entirely recaptured the exuberance of decades past.

Today, venues like The Saint feel the sting of apathy. The Asbury Park spot -- which for 20 years has dedicated itself to musicians and has hosted Incubus, Jewel and Springsteen himself -- is presently struggling to raise money for what's described as "necessary renovations."

New York rockers Cymbals Eat Guitars play at The Saint in Asbury Park in 2011. (Jody Somers/For The Star-Ledger)

Since launching a GoFundMe.com donation page last month, one of the beachfront city's most respected rock locales has raised just $9,100 of the $25,000 it needs to revamp its "structural, technical, and visual components."

That pair of the $5,000 Bruce seats being sold on StubHub right now would go a long way toward The Saint's goal. And frankly, if enough patrons came by and paid the cover charge to see a few scraping-by rockers every once in awhile, the venue wouldn't need to panhandle in the first place.

New Jersey's spotted fandom has dealt tougher blows to The Court Tavern in New Brunswick, the city's last true bastion of live local music. The Church Street club closed in July due to a downturn in sales and poor turnouts, even within the prime location of New Jersey's largest college town.

Ironically, when the doors shut, an outpouring of support for the place -- which most had abandoned -- flooded social media.

"It's great to hear all these memories, but at the same time, where were those people Saturday night when we had a killer show here?" said frustrated Tavern manager Rocky Catanese at the time. The Court Tavern reopened in September, under new management, and continues to book local bands.

The Court Tavern, a rock club and bar in New Brunswick, which closed in July only to reopen in September. (JERRY MCCREA/THE STAR LEDGER)

Now, it's easy to counter this "support your scene" tangent with the fact that most music fans are not going gamble and relinquish their Saturday night to a lineup of bands they've never heard before.

But that attitude, of sticking solely to what you already know, is the problem. Tickets to these shows are not $299. They are $5 or $10 -- live a little.

And if a smaller place like The Saint or Court Tavern -- or even the larger, historic Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, where cracked plaster and broken seats surround Springsteen's Light of Day rock-a-thons each January -- drew a more dependable crowd, promoters would be willing to take a chance of their own, and book more name-brands act. Everyone could win.

By no means is this solely a New Jersey issue. Every state has its hierarchy of a few beloved acts at the helm, some in the middle who may make ends meet, and then the list of no-names scrounging in hopes of becoming the area's next big thing.

And around here, "beloved" is an understatement among Springsteen fans, many of whom so deeply associate Bruce with their Jersey-fied youth. That's what drives someone to pay $300 to see 1980's "The River" played in its entirety, as it will on this approaching tour.

But that nostalgia can also be quite toxic. Like Billy Joel's standing monthly gigs at Madison Square Garden, these Springsteen shows will provide nothing new -- no furthering of the rock art form he's previously worked so hard to progress. Yes, a greatest-hits sort of show is a fun night out, but when it's bloated into a 25-date tour set to rake in tens of millions in revenue, the ripple effect looms larger, especially in regard to performances tied to tunes written 35 years ago.

Bayonne punk rockers The Scandals play the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, opening for The Bouncing Souls in September 2014. (Steve Hockstein | For NJ Advance Media)

Back on the local front, Brittney Dixon, better known as popular Central Jersey promoter Brittney On Fire, took over booking at The Court Tavern in September and is among those who works daily to push local music toward the millennial generation.

"I can't imagine a better job than giving The Court Tavern a new hope," Dixon told NJ.com in August. "Maybe this was the wakeup call that everyone needed."

More notably flying the next-gen Jersey flag, and seeding that sort of community, is fun. guitarist and Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff, who in September orchestrated his new Shadow Of The City festival at The Stone Pony Summer Stage. The all-day romp was dedicated to highlighting Antonoff's home state. With his electro-pop band leading the bill, Shadow proved one of the year's most exhilarating music events.

In able hands like these, there is hope, to draw more New Jersey music lovers to local venues and perhaps stifle the Springsteen maniacs who are about to spend four digits as opposed to $4 to see a quality performance.

The ardent backing Springsteen enjoys seems to be how the rest of the world views New Jersey's musical support system as a whole. Whenever I ask visiting artists -- who have only stepped foot in the state a handful of times -- how they view the area's fans, they are quick to compliment their passion, and Jersey's rich rock tradition.

But the out-of-towners didn't see the well-traveled North Jersey rockers The Gay Blades play to a mere fraction of capacity at Asbury Lanes in August. The guys were sensational nonetheless, and singer Clark Westfield was electrifying on the small, sweaty bowling alley stage. The crowd was sparse enough where he was able to jump down onto the floor and wail without being mobbed by the audience.

In spite of the dozens of arena and amphitheater concerts I've reviewed this year -- with seats packed full of paying New Jerseyans to see national acts -- this show, which I attended on a whim, was one of my favorites.

Perhaps if so many eyes weren't turned away from the future, in preference to Springsteen and yet another gaze astern, more could have seen what I did.

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier. Find NJ.com on Facebook.