New for 2023: Video for 2016
1970: The famous Clearwater Swim Club show in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, where Steel Mill headlines a five-hour outdoor show with a fill-in drummer, Dave Hazlett, subbing for Vini Lopez who is sorting out legal difficulties in Richmond. Due to resident complaints from an earlier concert, authorities enforce an early curfew of 10pm, which Bruce and the band definitely do not honor. In the resulting chaos, Danny Federici earns his forever-after nickname. As Bruce puts it (in Danny’s eulogy):
…we were doing [this show] to raise bail money for “Mad Dog” Lopez who was in jail in Richmond, Virginia, for having an altercation with police officers who we’d aggravated by playing too long. Danny allegedly knocked over our huge Marshall stacks on some of Middletown’s finest who had rushed the stage because we broke the law by…playing too long. As I stood there watching, several police officers crawled out from underneath the speaker cabinets and rushed away to seek medical attention. Another nice young officer stood in front of me onstage waving his nightstick, poking and calling me nasty names. I looked over to see Danny with a beefy police officer pulling on one arm while Flo Federici, his first wife, pulled on the other, assisting her man in resisting arrest. A kid leapt from the audience onto the stage, momentarily distracting the beefy officer with the insults of the day. Forever thereafter, “Phantom” Dan Federici slipped into the crowd and disappeared.
1971: The Bruce Springsteen Band is in residence at the Student Prince in Asbury Park.
1975: Bruce cancels a scheduled gig at the University of Texas in Arlington.
1981: Bruce and the E Street Band wrap their three-night stand at Chicago’s Rosemont Horizon, tour premiering “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” and playing “I Wanna Marry You” for the last time for fifteen years.
1984: Bruce and the band kick off a six-shows-in-eight-nights stand at the Philadelphia Spectrum on the Born in the U.S.A. Tour. Check out the news coverage below, along with one of my favorite performance videos ever–if you like people-watching, that is.
1985: Born in the U.S.A. is certified 8x multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
1987: At the MTV Video Music Awards, “Born to Run” and “War” split the vote for Best Stage Performance in a Video; as a result, Bon Jovi walks away with the award for “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
2001: New York City and Washington, DC are attacked by terrorists, and both towers of the World Trade Center are destroyed. The events and those that followed profoundly affect the world, America, and especially the New York/New Jersey community. Bruce is part of that community, and his voice and music will be among the first to provide solace in the days and weeks that follow–eventually leading to his next album and the re-ignition of his “rock voice.”
2007: Bruce and the E Street Band rehearse for their upcoming Magic Tour at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall.
2010: Bruce, Max, Southside Johnny, and Bobby Bandiera’s band play a benefit show at The Stone Pony for Boston College (Evan’s alma mater).
2016: At Bruce’s first official concert on September 11th since the tragic 2001 attacks, the set list is suitably Rising-heavy, with four of the first five songs hailing from that album–including the tour premiere of “You’re Missing.” “Light of Day” and “Long Walk Home” also make their tour premiere, the latter in a gorgeous new acoustic arrangement. Joe and Johnny Grushecky make their customary Pittsburgh guest appearance as well. For more highlights from this show, see my Where the Band Was report.
2021: Bruce performs “I’ll See You in My Dreams” at the World Trade Center Memorial Plaza in New York City on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
