New for 2023: Reviews for 1975; video for 2016
1970: Bruce hires Robbin Thompson as vocalist for Steel Mill and kicks off three days of rehearsals at the Challenger Eastern Surfboard factory in Wanamassa, New Jersey.
1973: Bruce and the E Street Band play their sixth night of a week-long residency at Oliver’s in Boston.
1975: Finally! After fourteen months of recording and production, Bruce releases Born to Run, his third studio album, to radio stations. (It will reach record store shelves next week.) Reviews are mostly positive.
1978: Bruce and the E Street Band bring the Darkness Tour to New Haven for a show at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where they play a tour one-off of “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.” After the show, Bruce sits down for an interview with Bob Harris for the UK television show, Old Grey Whistle Test.
Later that night, Bruce and Clarence join Beaver Brown on stage nearby at Toad’s Place.
1984: Bruce and the E Street Band kick off a four-night stand at the Capital Center in Largo, Maryland. In attendance tonight: conservative political columnist George Will, who is moved enough by the show to write a column about Bruce for publication the following month.
1992: World Tour 1992 moves on to the Washington DC area, with the first of two shows at the Capital Center in Largo. Bruce plays “Dancing in the Dark” for the last time on the tour. It will surface once more next year, and then not again until the Reunion Tour.
1999: On an off-night in Boston, the Springsteens head to the Museum of Fine Arts for a family outing.
2002: The Rising Tour continues its western swing with a show at the America West Arena in Phoenix.
2006: Bruce and Patti visit The Antique Center in Red Bank and peruse some old instruments. Bruce picks up an acoustic guitar, Patti finds a mandolin, and the two give an impromptu instrumental performance.
2009: Jay Weinberg flies solo on drums for the entire Working on a Dream show in Saratoga Springs, but it’s the soundcheck that’s most interesting about this show: check out a rare “Spare Parts” and Little Steven on lead vocals for “Prove It All Night” and “Hungry Heart.”
2016: Bruce flirts with the four-hour mark at Night Two at MetLife Stadium, stopping just short of it but setting a new American record for show length just the same. “New York City Serenade” with strings is once again the opener, and “Jersey Girl” with fireworks is once again the closer (this time with a marriage proposal that ends the evening on a wonderfully loose and romantic note). Tom Morello makes his final E Street Band appearance to date, on stage for four songs. For more highlights from this show, see my Where the Band Was report.
2018: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City. Patti is absent tonight, so fans in attendance get the show’s “B” set with the “This Hard Land” encore. In the audience tonight: Argentine tennis player Juan Martin del Potro.
2021: Springsteen on Broadway continues its limited return engagement at the St. James Theater in New York City.
