THE BOSS--FROM IDOL TO SYMBOL

Bruce Springsteen’s escalating popularity has enabled him to graduate from playing 15,000-seat arenas to 50,000-capacity (or more) stadiums since his last California concert a year ago.

But Springsteen hasn’t allowed that increased success--including a second Newsweek cover story--to soften the social or artistic vision.

In fact, Springsteen’s tone Wednesday night at the Coliseum Stadium here was more insistent than ever about the need for exercising social compassion.

Without discarding the uplifting “reach for your own dreams” message of such early tunes as “Born to Run,” the acclaimed rock star expresses in songs like “My Home Town” the obligation to help others achieve their dreams.

“We just came from Pittsburgh, where they’ve gone from (employing) 22,000 steelworkers (in a nearby town) to less than 3,000 in five years,” the muscular singer-songwriter told the audience Wednesday when introducing “The River,” a song about shattered aspirations.

“That means there (are) a lot of (unemployed) people . . . there feeling like the America they believed in sailed away and left them standing on the dock.”

But his most striking statement came just before a slow, prayerlike solo version of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”

“This . . . is the greatest song ever written about America,” he said, standing in the glow of a single spotlight holding his guitar.

“What is so great about it, I guess, is that it gets right to the heart of the promise of what this country is supposed to be about.

“As we stand here tonight, that promise is eroding every day for many of our fellow citizens. . . . If you talked to the steelworkers, I don’t think they’d believe this song is true any more. . . . I don’t know if it is.”

The irony--at a time when rock ‘n’ roll is once more under attack as a corrupt influence--is that Springsteen’s compassion and artistry have established him as the most powerful contemportary symbol of American idealism.

Asked about the positive nature of his shows, Springsteen said briefly backstage after meeting with representatives of local food banks, “I’ve seen some things (on the tour) that obviously give you encouragement. But you also learn some very disturbing things when you meet with people and talk about their problems. I want the shows to be positive, but I also want them to be about what’s really out there (in the country).”

Most of the 50,000 fans here Wednesday were already inside the stadium by 7 p.m. waiting for Springsteen and his E Street Band to begin the four-hour concert.

But a few dozen devotees remained outside--huddled on an elevated walkway that crossed over the backstage area housing the band. They were hoping for a close-up glimpse of their hero.

“Look, there’s his mom and dad,” one fan said pointing to Springsteen’s parents as they headed from the backstage area to their seats. The couple, who live near here, usually attend all their son’s California concerts.

Several of the fans made an even bigger fuss when Springsteen’s wife, Julianne, was seen briefly, greeting backstage guests. The walkway brigade also pointed and shouted as members of the band, or Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager, or concert promoter Bill Graham walked by below. But they were puzzled when a man and two women walked out of the compound just before the beginning of the show. None of these Boss aficionados could identify them. Finally, suggested one of the fans, “Maybe they’re from the food bank.”

Bingo.

As representatives of the Alameda County and San Francisco food banks respectively, Bob Dilg, 28, and Bonnie MacGregor, 42, were invited backstage to meet with Springsteen for a half hour to discuss local conditions. They also presumably were given checks by the performer. In the last year Springsteen has quietly donated more than $1 million to such organizations.

Dilg is a longtime Springsteen fan from Philadelphia who saw the performer a dozen years ago in New Jersey clubs. However, MacGregor was only vaguely familiar with Springsteen’s music. But they--and associate Marsha Argyris--were equally impressed by him during the meeting.

“He seemed very open and very concerned,” said Argyris. “He said he’s concerned with things like this because it keeps him close to people and reality. He doesn’t want to get caught up with fame and all that nonsense. He told us, ‘Fame can give you strange perceptions.’ He really seemed to want to know our problems. He told us about his family and the trouble his father had getting jobs . . . .”

MacGregor added: “He lived what he sings about. He knows what it’s like not to have enough money to make it through to the end of the month. It’s important to him to stay in touch with that reality. If he is going to put all this energy into the world, he wants it to be something that is real. He wants to support the people who need it the most.”

Though both Dilg and McGregor welcomed Springsteen’s donation, they believe his most important contribution was simply lending his name to their projects.

“We’re going through a financial crisis,” MacGregor said. “The government keeps saying the poverty level is going down, but we are finding more and more people need food. It helps to have someone like Bruce Springsteen say, ‘This is real, folks. I know it.’ That gives credibility to what we are saying.”

Barbara Carr, who is part of Springsteen’s management team, helps Springsteen select which organizations to support in each city. She also screens the requests of organizations and politicians who want his endorsement. She said that Springsteen is constantly receiving invitations from city officials and other politicians who want to give him keys to the city or award him proclamations so that they can be identified with him. But he has not shown any interest in these overtures, preferring to operate on a more personal, grass-roots level.

After a second scheduled concert here Thursday, Springsteen was due to move on to Denver for shows Sunday and Monday (his 36th birthday), and then end the worldwide tour with four shows starting next Thursday at the 80,000-seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Though the recent, enormous rush for tickets has led many to assume that they are no longer available, only the Sept. 27 and 29 Coliseum shows are sold out. A spokesman for Avalon Attractions said Thursday that “a few thousand” seats still remain for the opening show and closing Sept. 30 date.

What’s next for Springsteen? Though there’s been considerable speculation about the singer making his movie debut, someone close to him said he expects Springsteen to concentrate in the coming months on a new album. “It has been 15 months since Bruce spent any real time in the studio, and that’s a long time for him.”

What about Springsteen’s concert future? Will he continue to play stadiums or go back to the arena level?

“I don’t think he’ll get into the trap of trying to top himself,” said the Springsteen aide, who asked not to be identified. “He’ll probably let the nature of the next album dictate where he’ll play. If it’s a reflective album like ‘Nebraska,’ for instance, I’d suspect he would do small venues, where if the album were more like ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ he’d probably want to do larger places.

“What I’m saying is that it’s all open . . . . The only game plan ever with Bruce is to let the music dictate what he does.”