“Gloria” is a riff-rock classic that’s perfectly suited for the E Street Band’s guitar-heavy arsenal. It’s turned up in Bruce’s setlist more than a dozen times over the years, and that’s not including its frequent mini-appearance as a lead-in to “She’s the One.” It’s clearly a significant song for Bruce, as you can hear in this conversation between Bruce and Steve from the Underground Garage in 2011.
Bruce may have bought the single on instinct, but as he says as above, “When that hit, once that hit, if you couldn’t play it, you didn’t get a gig.”
So play it they did. There are plenty of video clips to choose from, but I’m partial to this one from a few years ago–it’s nice and close up, with great audio.
Here’s the original 1964 B-side(!) by Them.
Gloria
First performed: December 26, 1975 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: May 1, 2014 (Tampa, FL)
