New for 2024: Removed entry for 1969(mis-dated); review for 2006; new entry for 2023
1961: Eleven-year-old Bruce Springsteen receives the sacrament of confirmation at St. Rose of Lima Church in Freehold.
1973: Bruce and the as yet unnamed E Street Band play a show at Providence College in Rhode Island.
1974: Bruce postpones a scheduled concert at Kent State University to June 1.
1981: Bruce plays his first-ever show in Norway, when the River Tour comes to Drammen.
1982: At The Power Station studio in New York City, Bruce and the E Street Band record “Glory Days,” “My Love Will Not Let You Down,” and the still unreleased “Stop the War.”
1988: Bruce plays the first of two nights at the Tacoma Dome for the Tunnel of Love Express Tour and scores the cover of Rolling Stone.
1992: The Recording Industry Association of America certifies “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” as gold and “Dancing in the Dark” as platinum.
1993: Bruce begins a mini-tour of Spain with a show in Madrid.
1997: Bruce receives the Polar Music Prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The ceremony is broadcast live on Swedish TV, and you can watch it below.
2005: Bruce tour premieres “Nebraska” and an acoustic arrangement of “Land of Hope and Dreams” at his solo acoustic show at Oakland’s Paramount Theater. For more highlights from this show, see my Where the Band Was report.
2006: The first European leg of the Seeger Sessions Tour kicks off at the Point Theater in Dublin with the tour debuts of “Adam Raised a Cain” and “Erie Canal.”
2009: Bruce plays his fourth show in four days, as the Working on a Dream Tour rolls into Charlottesville, Virginia, for a show at the John Paul Jones arena. The set list includes a one-off cover (by request) of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” along with the tour premieres of “Gypsy Biker” and “Roulette.”
2018: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City.
2019: Bruce appears at the opening night of Netflix’s third annual FYSEE event, playing two songs and joining director Martin Scorsese for a Q&A session.
2023: Bruce kicks off a three-night stand in Dublin without any tour premieres, the first debut-less show since March. The encores open with “Land of Hope and Dreams,” dedicated to Charlie Bird, who is in attendance tonight.
Along with eleven-year-old Bruce Springsteen’s sacrament of confirmation from Bishop Hogan at St. Rose (The Freehold Transcript, May 11, 1961), Vincent Manniello (“Skee-bots”) was also confirmed (listed five names above Bruce in the article).