Kingdom of Days: July 5

New for 2023: Audio for 1978; video for 2012 and 2016

1968: The Castiles play a set at the West End Casino in Long Branch, New Jersey.

1972: The Bruce Springsteen Band plays a benefit show for George McGovern at the Grant’s Cinema III movie theater in Red Bank, New Jersey. This is perhaps Bruce’s first overtly political action as a musician, and even then his favored candidates were decidedly liberal.

1973: Bruce and the E Street Band begin a five-night stand at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, playing two shows on this first night.

1974: Bruce cancels a scheduled gig opening for Frank Zappa in St. Louis, most likely to make room for Born to Run recording sessions.

1978: Bruce and the E Street Band bring the Darkness Tour to The Forum in Inglewood .

After the show, Bruce sits down for an interview with local TV reporter J. J. Jackson. When the interview airs two days later, it will be his first-ever television appearance.

1981: Bruce and the E Street Band play their third of six nights opening the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands, where they play “Trapped” for the first time in the U.S. (Photo credit: Dari)

1984: The Born in the U.S.A. Tour moves on to its second stop: the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, for the first of two nights.

2008: Bruce and the E Street Band play a stunner of a show–their second in Gothenburg on the Magic Tour–with their first full-band “Drive All Night”  in 27 years as the centerpiece (check out the sound check below), and a rare “Roulette” and “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” in the set as well.

2009: Bruce takes the Working on a Dream Tour to Vienna for a night, where he plays “Jersey Girl” outside of the U.S. for the first time, along with the tour premieres of “Into the Fire” and “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).”

2012: Night Two in Bercy on the Wrecking Ball Tour features a highly audibled old-school setlist, featuring the tour premiere of “For You” and performances of “Racing in the Street,” “Incident on 57th Street,” “Something in the Night,” “Thunder Road” and more. This show is available as part of Bruce’s official archive series–get it here.

2013: Monchengladbach gets one of the most surprising setlists of the Wrecking Ball Tour when Bruce opens with “Jackson Cage” and plays the tour premieres of three very rare songs: “One Way Street,” “Man’s Job,” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” In the encores, Jay Weinberg makes a guest appearance on “Radio Nowhere.”

2016: Night Two in Milan on the 2016 River Tour features the tour premiere of “Streets of Fire.”