New for 2023: Audio for 1971; video for 2012 and 2019
1970: Steel Mill headlines a show at the University of Richmond.
1971: One year to the day from his appearance there with Steel Mill, Bruce brings The Bruce Springsteen Band to the University of Richmond. (Disregard the date stamp on the videos below–they are indeed from this date.)
1975: Bruce meets Bob Dylan for the first time at a birthday party for Mike Porco, owner of Gerde’s Folk City in New York City. Bruce and Dylan join others present to sing “Happy Birthday” to Porco, making this (sort of) their first performance together. The event is filmed, but no Bruce footage will be released. Reportedly, Dylan invites Bruce to join his Rolling Thunder Revue as a solo performer, but Bruce declines.
1980: Montana musician Phil Hamilton–a devoted Bruce fan–arranges a two-night stand in Seattle for his Lost Highway Band in order to be in town for Bruce’s River show the next day. Coincidentally, Hamilton spots Bruce walking on the street, introduces himself, and invites Bruce to come watch their show at The Old Timer’s Cafe that night. Bruce shocks the band by doing just that, even joining them on stage for a few songs.
1987: Bruce performs “Forever Young” acoustically at the funeral of John Hammond at St. Peter’s Church in New York City.
1996: Bruce plays a solo acoustic performance at the William Saroyan Theater in Fresno, where he plays “The New Timer” for the last time for nine years.
1999: At their fourth and final show in Los Angeles on the Reunion Tour, Bruce and the E Street Band tour premiere “The Promise” and play a rare “Incident on 57th Street.” This show is available as part of Bruce’s official archive series–get it here.
2012: Bruce performs solo at a re-election rally for President Obama in Charlottesville, Virginia. That night, he and the E Street Band play a Wrecking Ball show at the John Paul Jones Arena, where the fantastic set includes the tour premiere of “Give the Girl a Kiss,” a rare “Seaside Bar Song” and “This Depression,” and three epics: “Lost in the Flood,” “Backstreets” and “Jungleland.” Friend of the blog Bill Kenney is there and shares his first-hand review here.
2019: Bruce joins Ralph Lauren for the premiere of HBO’s Very Ralph at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
2020: At the stroke of midnight, Bruce releases his twentieth studio album, Letter to You, recorded in late 2019 with the E Street Band.
The day brings a spray of publicity appearances from Bruce in support of the album. First, E Street Radio airs Episode 5 of Letter to You Radio, featuring a conversation between Bruce and Steve Van Zandt.
Bruce also calls into the studio that same day, speaking with Jim Rotolo.
As the day progresses, Bruce makes virtual appearances on The Graham Norton Show in the U.K., Skavlan in Scandinavia, and The Late Late Show in Ireland, and Popopop in France.
