Classic Concert: Bruce Springsteen – Largo MD Aug 15 1978

“The screaming intensity of those ’78 shows are part of rock and roll legend in the same way as Dylan’s 1966 shows with the Band, the Rolling Stones’ tours of 1969 and 1972, and the Who’s Tommy tour of 1969: benchmarks of an era.”
– Dave March (1987)

A concert perhaps best known for the outstanding video footage available. “Backstreets” has some lines from “Pretty Flamingo” in the ‘Sad Eyes’ section. Tremendous versions of “Quarter To Three” (particularly the video) and “Prove It All Night” with the cab driver intro and an outstanding guitar solo. “Jungleland” cuts after Steve’s guitar solo, and the start of “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” is also missing – presumably due to tape changes. The show features a particularly loose and active Bruce, maybe because the next day he was going home to New Jersey for the first time in a year. (from Brucebase)

Bruce Springsteeen’s tour of 1978 is legendary, a lot of the shows were broadcast for Radio and some were filmed as well. This show is a classic, Largo August 15 1978 sometimes referred to as Landover August 15 1978. All songs are good to fantastic, and it is in color!

The tour ran from May 1978 through the rest of the year, in conjunction with the release of Springsteen’s album Darkness on the Edge of Town. Like most Springsteen tours it had no official name, but this is the most commonly used; it is also sometimes referred to as the Darkness on the Edge of Town Tour or most simply the 1978 Tour.)

The tour has since become viewed as perhaps Springsteen’s best in a storied career of concert performances.

”I remember….it was after long series of tests ….in the basement….of my brother-in-law’s mobile home…..that we discovered….when I was 13 years old….that I….was a teenage werewolf……and this was ok for a while…..(?) 13, full moon….but the novelty soon wore off…and as the years went by, my mother and the sisters….at the school decided that I needed psychiatric attention…..so they sent me down to the doctor…..

and I laid on the couch and the doc got out his book, said ‘Son….when did you first…. start acting like this ?’….I said ‘Well, Doc….let me think back….oh, I remember very well…..it was around 1965….I was down ‘long the boardwalk…I looked up one night ….there was a full moon…..the sky full of stars…..all of a sudden this hair started growing all over my face, my fingers got longer, my pants got tighter, a gold guitar stuck out of my left side…..(?)…and I remember, Doc…before that I remember ‘, I said ‘I felt like….I was nothing….and after that night….I knew…..that I was nothing with a whole lotta hair (chuckles)(cheers)….

(….) This went on all through high school….and it was then that my parents…and the local police decided that I was more than nothing with a whole lotta hair….I was definitely… a big pain in the ass (cheers)….so they decided to hunt me down….and they knew that time I was haunting the arcades of Asbury Park (cheers)…and one night, they cornered me up on top of the ferris wheel….I jumped down onto the roof of the Palace Amusements (cheers)….jumped down out on the Kingsley Avenue (cheers)….hit Asbury Avenue and started making a beeline…..to Route 35 Circle (cheers)….and by this time I had Asbury Park police force after me….I had the state cops….finally I got on the New Jersey Turnpike (cheers)….I was hustling down the road…and they called out…like….they called out the National Guard…I think they called out, they called out….the army too….and navy, the marines….and any cub scout they could find (cheers)….I had ‘em all on my trail, they were getting on me, they were getting on me and all of a sudden….up around Exit 109….a black Sedan pulled over….and I looked through the window onto the frontseat….and laying on the floor…..was a saxophone…. I remember he rolled down the window….he said ‘Hey, kid…..what did you do ?’

…. I said ‘I’m a werewolf, man…..teenage variety’….he says ‘Well, I don’t know what that is but I like your style ….and if you need a ride….hop in’ (cheers)….so I hopped in…. I said ‘Man, put this thing to the floor’….Clarence jammed to the floor and man, we must’ve…..we must’ve…..we must’ve been doing 55 (cheers)….tearing it up…..and all I heard from behind me…..was the chief of Asbury Park police force….sticking his head out the window of car number 1….with a megaphone saying ‘Stop that man with a gold guitar !’….”
– Bruce Springsteen (intro to Growing Up, via Brucebase)

The show (part1):

Liner notes from a fantastic Watchdog bootleg DVD (part1):

The show (part 2):

Liner notes from a fantastic Watchdog bootleg DVD (part2):

1978-08-15 – CAPITAL CENTRE, LARGO, MD

01 Summertime Blues
02 Badlands
03 Spirit in the night
04 Darkness on the edge of town
05 Factory
06 The promised land
07 Prove it all night [With long guitar intro]
08 Racing in the street
09 Thunder road
10 Jungleland
11 Paradise by the C
12 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
13 Sherry darling
14 Sweet little sixteen
15 Not fade away
16 Gloria
17 She’s the one
18 Growin’ up
19 Backstreets
20 Rosalita (Come out tonight)
21 Born to run
22 Because the night
23 Quarter to three

 

Check out:

• Bruce Springsteen posts @ Alldylan.com

– Hallgeir