New for 2023: Audio for 1973; video for 2009
1973: Bruce and the E Street Band open for Chicago at the Baltimore Civic Center. Prior to the show, Bruce stops by WHFS-FM in Bethesda for an interview and in-station performance.
Listen to Bruce recall his memory of this show 36 years later:
1974: Bruce and the band headline at the Agora in Toledo, Ohio. This show is notable for its opener: the only known performance of “A Night Like This” (also known as “Angel Baby” or “Dance On Little Angel”), an outtake that remains unreleased to this day.
1978: A year and a day after recording sessions begin, Bruce releases his fourth studio album, Darkness on the Edge of Town. (Thanks to friend of the blog Andy Swanson for the Billboard scan!)
That night, Bruce makes a return visit to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis during the Darkness Tour, and the band tour premieres “Sea Cruise” for the occasion.
1981: At Night Four at London’s Wembley Arena, Link Wray guest-stars on “I Fought the Law.” In attendance at tonight’s show: Joe Jackson, Kim Carnes, Elvis Costello, Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols, all of The Pretenders except for Chrissie Hynde, all of the Ants except for Adam, and unnamed members of U2, The Psychedelic Furs, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and The Members.
1989: Bruce, Roy, Patti, and the Miami Horns join Max Weinberg’s band Killer Joe on stage at The Stone Pony for four songs.
1999: Bruce and the E Street Band bring the Reunion Tour to Paris for the first of two nights. Elliott Murphy makes a guest appearance on “Hungry Heart.”
2004: Bruce politely but pointedly declines an invitation to be interviewed by the Los Angeles Times on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster.
2005: Bruce plays a solo acoustic show in Madrid.
2009: The Working on a Dream Tour starts its Scandinavian swing with a show at Ratinan Stadion in Tampere, Finland. It may be June, but that doesn’t stop Bruce from playing “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” as a request, along with a wonderful cover of “The Dark End of the Street.”
2012: The Wrecking Ball Tour makes a brief stop in Spain for a show at San Sebastian, opening with the tour premiere of “Who’ll Stop the Rain.”
2018: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City.
