Kingdom of Days: August 2

New for 2023: Audio for 1988; video for 1999

1973: Bruce and the E Street Band (although they aren’t known by that name yet) play two shows on their final night of a three-night stand at My Father’s Place in Roslyn, New York.

1975: Bruce and the boys play a show at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk. Listen to a gorgeous cover of “Up on the Roof” from this show, only ever played during this two-week stretch of the Born to Run Tour.

1976: Bruce and the band play their second of six nights at the Monmouth Arts Center in Red Bank. Mike Appel and Laurel Canyon attempt to impound Bruce’s earnings from this concert stand as part of their ongoing and escalating legal battle, but a judge denies the restraining order request.

1978: Bruce opens his Darkness show in Charlotte with the tour premiere of “Lucille.”

1983: Bruce joins Jackson Browne on stage at Jackson’s Madison Square Garden gig, where they play “Stay,” “Running on Empty,” and “Sweet Little Sixteen” together. Jackson dedicates “For a Rocker” and “Lawyers in Love” to Bruce as well. (Photo credit: Dari)

1987: Bruce and the E Street Band (minus Nils) play a rare bar set at The Stone Pony with members of Cats on a Smooth Surface. Bruce and the band open with only the second-ever performance of “Light of Day.”

1988: Bruce and the E Street Band play their penultimate Tunnel of Love show when the tour arrives in Madrid. Watch local news coverage below.

1989: Bruce joins Bobby Bandiera on stage at Cheers in Long Branch, New Jersey, for “Willie and the Hand Jive.”

1992: Night Seven of eleven at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford sees the live debut of the very rarely performed “Book of Dreams.”

1999: At Night Nine of fifteen on the opening U.S. stand of the Reunion Tour, fans at the Meadowlands are treated to the return of “Something in the Night,” last played more than two decades prior, and the U.S. premiere of “Take ‘Em as They Come,” which opens the show. During “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” Bruce tells his “River of Life” story for the first time.

2002: Bruce and the E Street Band play a third rehearsal show at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall, featuring the first “Jackson Cage” in over twenty years. That night, The Late Show With David Letterman airs an interview with Bruce and a full-band performance of “Lonesome Day” (recorded the day prior).

2003: Bruce and the E Street Band play their second of two nights at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

2007: Three days ago, Bruce’s dear friend and personal assistant Terry Magovern passed away. In his grief, Bruce writes a new song–“Terry’s Song“–and performs it this day at Terry’s memorial service in Red Bank.

2008: On a rainy night in Foxboro, Boston fans at Gillette Stadium enjoy two Magic Tour premieres: “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and “Little Latin Lupe Lu,” last played in 1995.

2009: The European leg of the Working on a Dream Tour comes to an end with this last show in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Highlights include back-to-back tour premieres of “Burning Love” and “Born to Be Wild” and an ultra-rare “This Life.”