Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band rock The Q

Nils Lofgren, left, captured during a 2012 performance with Bruce Springsteen, center, and Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band. Springsteen will be in town Feb. 23.

(Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On Tuesday, Feb. 23, rock superstar Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are scheduled to play Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The show sold out quickly.

Over the holidays, attending various get-togethers, I picked up on a spontaneous phenomenon I call "Bruce-bragging." It's when a group of people compete to establish their Springsteen cred over that of their friends.

It can quickly spin out of control.

Allow me to give you an example of just what I'm talking about. Imagine you're at a family holiday party with lots of middle-aged guests. Listen in.

Party-goer A: "Got my Springsteen tickets! Tenth row on the floor. Paid $125 each."

Party-goer B: "Got mine, too. Tied up the office phone for more than an hour, but finally got through."

Party-goer A: "Office phone? I called in sick so work wouldn't interfere with buying the tickets."

Party-goer C: "You paid for tickets? I got mine free. My friend's sister works for the Cavs."

Party-goer A: "This is my 20th Bruce Springsteen concert."

Party-goer B: "This is my 25th."

Party-goer C: "I've seen him a dozen times."

Party-goer A: "Only a dozen?"

Party-goer C: "Well, a dozen times here in Cleveland. Across the country and around the world, more like 75."

Party-goer A: "I heard my first Springsteen album, 'Greetings From Asbury Park,' in 1973 in my dorm room in Johnson Hall when I was a freshman at Kent State."

Party-goer B: "I saw Bruce open for a Columbus band named Blood Rock at the Allen Theatre in downtown Cleveland in 1972. No one there had ever heard of him. He rocked the crowd with a three-hour show. Nobody stayed for the headliner."

Party-goer C: "I saw Bruce play a show at the Stone Pony in New Jersey when he was with his first band called the Castiles. He was 16 at the time. He'd just gotten his driver's license and had started writing songs about cars."

Party-goer A: "I just got back from Ireland and caught two shows in Cork back to back. The set lists were completely different each night. The next day, we ran into Nils Lofgren in a local pub and had a Guinness with him and his wife. Look at the photos on my phone."

Party-goer B: "My cousin is the Springsteen family vet in Connecticut. He and Patti have two chocolate Labs named Mick and Keith. Keith was just treated for worms."

Party-goer C: "My ex-wife's mailman's brother's mom was Bruce's fourth-grade math teacher in New Jersey. He got a C+ for the year. Couldn't get the hang of long division, because he spent all his time in class writing lyrics."

Party-goer A: "In a previous life, when Bruce was Napoleon, I was his second-in-command at the Battle of Waterloo. I tried to warn him to guard his left flank. But nooo. He kept saying he was 'Le Boss.' "

Party-goer B: "You know that giant brick mansion on Lake Road in Rocky River near my house? My Realtor said Bruce bought that house so he has a place to stay when he goes to the Rock Hall. She also said he's buying the Rock Hall."

Party-goer C: "In a parallel universe, I AM Bruce. And I never released the 'Nebraska' album because I thought it was too depressing. The music critics in the parallel universe unanimously applauded that decision."

Teenage nephew of party-goer A: "Who's Bruce Springsteen? Is he the new coach of the Browns?"