Bruce Springsteen kept it casual in Portland on Friday, slipping into Jackpot Records on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard ahead of his Moda Center concert, quietly flipping through vinyl before heading back out with a Jackpot-logo beanie in hand. Word spread fast inside the small shop as staff and customers fumbled for their phones to capture the blink-and-you-miss-it moment.
Store worker Kim Conyers told KOIN that Springsteen bought a beanie with the Jackpot Records logo during the quick pop-in. The visit came as he was in town to headline the Moda Center that night on his Land of Hope and Dreams U.S. tour, according to the tour schedule on Wikipedia.
Why Jackpot matters to Portland music fans
Jackpot Records, which opened in 1997 on Hawthorne Boulevard, has long been a neighborhood hub for vinyl, reissues and intimate in-store shows, according to the shop’s About page. Over the years, the store has drawn acts like Deerhunter, Sleater-Kinney and the Black Keys for performances, as reported by Willamette Week, and it also touts a nod from Rolling Stone among its bragging rights.
Fans and staff reaction
Photos posted by shoppers and on Reddit quickly documented the Boss roaming the aisles, and the images made the rounds on local social feeds in short order. Staffers described the visit as relaxed and straightforward, a vibe that KOIN also noted in its account of the stop.
The store says it plans to mark Record Store Day on April 18 with exclusive releases and live DJs, and Springsteen’s low-key detour added one more story to a shop that has been woven into Portland’s music scene for decades. After the brief visit, he continued on to the Moda Center for the night’s performance.
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