Tag Archives: Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen concert, Bruce Springsteen video, Music Calendar

Today: Bruce Springsteen played Agora Theatre and Ballroom (Cleveland, OH) in 1978 – 35 years ago

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Bruce springsteen agora 1978jpg

I consider Bruce’s Darkness Tour of 78 to be one of the greatest “tours” ever….

This concert is one of the best from the tour I’ve heard.. and Yes, it helps that it was broadcasted on the famous rock station: WMMS-FM…

Springsteen agora 1978

One of the reasons the 1978 Tour is so well-remembered, and often viewed as the peak of Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert, is that several complete shows were broadcast live on radio stations.

springsteen agora 78

Setlist:

  1. Summertime Blues
  2. Badlands
  3. Spirit in the night
  4. Darkness on the edge of town
  5. Factory
  6. The promised land
  7. Prove it all night [With long guitar intro]
  8. Racing in the street
  9. Thunder road
  10. Jungleland
    First set:
  11. Paradise by the C
  12. Fire
  13. Sherry darling
  14. Not fade away
  15. Gloria
  16. She’s the one
  17. Growin’ up
    here is Growin Up & Backstreets:
  18. Backstreets
  19. Rosalita (Come out tonight)
    Second set (“round two”):
  20. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
  21. Born to run
  22. Because the night
  23. Raise your hand
  24. Twist and shout
From Brucebase: Soundboard and radio broadcast tapes (WMMS) available – great show. It’s interesting to note that this show was remastered by Bruce’s management and given to KSAN in San Francisco who broadcast it as a replacement for a scheduled Winterland rebroadcast sometime in 1979. The remastered show has fantastic stereo separation and coupled with the fact that this is a good show in the first place, it has to rank as one of the best of the available shows in 1978. Clarence’s intro during “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” contains a snippet of The Village People’s hit “Macho Man”. Released on LP and CD. The most recent (and best quality) CD releases of this show are ‘Agora Night’ by Crystal Cat and ‘Just In Time For Summer’. ‘Agora Night’ is from the Pre-FM reels. Also available on CD ‘Agora 1978’ from Supersonic.

 

 

 

From brucespringsteen.it:Max Weinberg, many years ago said this was the best show the E Street Band ever did. Broadcast on WMMS and about 9 other FM stations It was a free concert for WMMS’ 10th Anniversary as a radio station. The introduction by Kid Leo and the final chords of Twist and Shout.

Springsteen - Aug9-78

From Wikipedia:Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Darkness Tour was a concert tour of North America that 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. Biographer Dave Marsh wrote in 1987, “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.”

 

 

 

Other August-09:

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Bruce Springsteen, Unreleased

Unreleased – Freehold by Bruce Springsteen

bruce_tj_tour

I was born right here on Randolph Street in Freehold
Here right behind that big red maple in Freehold
Well I went to school right here
Got laid and had my first beer
In Freehold

Today we have found a great “story-song” from Bruce Springsteen that has never been officially released.

This is a sweet and funny song that appeared for the first time live on 8 Nov 1996 in Freehold, NJ. Freehold/ In Freehold is never officially released and I think it has only been played live (not recorded in studio). It is a song in the same vein as Growing Up, but set at an earlier age and in a less serious tone.

The debut of the song was at The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour (Freehold 8 Nov) and it has been played around 20 times after that. It is speculated that the song was written specifically for this event. It was a sort of homecoming show in the sense that he grew up in Freehold, but hadn’t played there since 1967. Bruce Springsteen left Freehold in 1968.

Freehold (first performance, audio):

 

springsteen tj_tour

In 1999 he added a verse based on true events:

Freehold (1999 version):

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Today: Bruce Springsteen played Roxy LA in 1978

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roxy 3

“…all them bootleggers out there in radio-land, roll your tapes!”
– Bruce Springsteen (Roxy, 1978)

One of the best concerts in the history of rock took place at the Roxy 7 July in 1978.

Some of you may already be familiar with one of the many bootlegs from this show, but for those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure. I would strongly recommend you to seek it out, they are fairly easy to find on the web.

Roxy 2

When I first got a copy of “Roxy Night” I played it constantly for four days. In the house, on my discman (google it, young folks) and in the car, I couldn’t get enough. It was and still is the best bootleg I have ever heard.

Roxy 6

It’s a radio broadcast of a show Bruce Springsteen did at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles in July of 1978, 8 songs from this concert were used on Bruce’s official Live 1975-85 album, albeit in an edited form (and too extensive editing in a song or two, a 5 and a half minute long “Sad Eyes” interlude was cut out of the version of this performance included on the Live 1975-85 release). Once a person hears the unedited version of “Backstreets,” they realize how much that is missing in the released/edited version. This show must be heard in its unedited entirety.

Full Concert at The Roxy 1978:

Roxy 5
I have more than 300 hundred Bruce Springsteen shows/bootlegs on CD/Vinyl or Hard-disk (and I’ve heard a lot more!) and this is one of my all time favorite shows.

roxy78 crowd

It’s from the so called Darkness Tour. The atmosphere is electric throughout due to the intimacy of the venue (The Roxy only held 500 people) and the fact that those who did get in are really big fans (he apologizes at the start of the concert to those poor unfortunates who had queued up all day in the heat and were still unable to get in).

Roxy 7 vinyl

The performance is incredible, and though it is true that there are bootlegs from later on in the tour that collectors often prefer because the songs from the Darkness on the edge of town album are more full, more fleshed out (such as the radio broadcast of the Winterlands show in San Francisco from 15-12-78 or the Passaic shows), but they don’t have the electric energy that runs through this set, it is a perfect Bruce Springsteen concert.

roxy 9 cc
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Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen concert, Bruce Springsteen video

Bruce Springsteen – San Siro Stadium – Milan, Italy – June 28, 2003 (Videos)

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Bruce Springsteen Milan 2003

10 years ago today!

Remarkable show played in remarkable weather. The rain begins to pours down during the full band “The River” and continues for several songs, punctuated with incredible thunder and lightning. A unique “Follow That Dream”. Many other highlights – an Italian story in “Growin’ Up”, the rain sheeting down in “Waitin’ On A Sunny Day”, “The River” and an impromptu “Who’ll Stop The Rain”. Jon Landau plays guitar on “Dancing In The Dark”. First ever performance in Italy of “Follow That Dream”. “Born In The U.S.A.” from the soundcheck is solo acoustic. Released on “Once Upon a Time in Italy” and “San Siro Night” (Crystal Cat). Several DVDs available, including the excellent screenshot “Blood Brothers On A Stormy Night” (brucevideos), plus many others.
~brucebase

Setlist:

  1. The Promised Land
  2. The Rising
  3. Lonesome Day
  4. My Love Will Not Let You Down
  5. Darkness on the Edge of Town
  6. Empty Sky
  7. The River
  8. Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
  9. Who’ll Stop the Rain
  10. Growin’ Up
  11. Worlds Apart
  12. Badlands
  13. Out in the Street
  14. Mary’s Place
  15. Follow That Dream
  16. Thunder Road
  17. Into the Fire
  18. No Surrender
    —
  19. Bobby Jean
  20. Ramrod
  21. Born to Run
    —
  22. My City of Ruins
  23. Land of Hope and Dreams
  24. Dancing in the Dark
  25. Rosalita

Bruce Springsteen Milan 2003 dvd

Here is a fantastic youtube playlist with most of the songs:

Check out:

-Egil

Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen video, Music Calendar

Today: Bruce Springsteen released Born in the USA in 1984 – 29 years ago

Bruce Springsteen

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
‘Til you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by  Bruce Springsteen, it was released on June 4, 1984. A critical and commercial triumph, it found Springsteen marking a departure in his sound.

born in the usa 2

While the predecessor, the dark and acoustic Nebraska featured songs of pessimism and isolation, Born in the U.S.A.’s lyrics expressed signs of hope in the daily fight of the standard American in following the American Dream, a new feeling complemented by synthesized arrangements and a pop-flavored, radio-oriented sound that helped Springsteen to extend his popularity and appeal to mainstream audiences.

Born in the USA (Live Paris, 1985):

Ronald Reagan, during his 1984 re-election campaign, tried to coast on the rising popularity of Bruce Springsteen and  Born in the U.S.A. :

“America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts,” Reagan said at a stump speech in Hammonton, New Jersey. “It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen.”

Has a song ever been so misunderstood? Maybe if he heard the following version he would have hesitated…

Born in the USA (acoustic, slow bluesy):

Born in the U.S.A. is not so different from Nebraska, it told stories of the same struggle, but this time it was set to a faster rhythm and accompanied by electric guitars (and The E-Street Band in top form). I played it a lot when it came out, bought all the singles (7 of them reached top 10!). Got the Maxi- single vinyl box and then the CD. These days I’m streaming the album on Spotify but the music is the same and it reminds me of 1984 every time I play it. Maybe it’s the production (those terribly sharp drums) or maybe it’s just a strong 1984 reference for me.

It took a while before I understood the seriousness of the lyrics, the songs where so happy or anthemic. I understand why Reagen made his mistake.

I still like the album, but there are at least 4 Springsteen albums i rather choose to play. Not because it’s bad, but because radio (and MTV) played it literary, to death. When I do put in on the record player it always amazes me, the strong songs the playing and the full force rock’n roll.

Live , the songs shine even brighter!
They have been lifted up and sound thunderous in concert. Springsteen has embraced their anthemic nature and their happy feel live. He is not ashamed to give us a good time and to let us shout along .

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Perform Bobby Jean in London (2013):

My Hometown (1985?):

Today’s chosen album is Born in the U.S.A:

born in the usa

– Hallgeir