Kingdom of Days: September 8

New for 2023: Video for 1988 and 2012

1973: Bruce and the E Street Band play an afternoon show for the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

1974: Bruce makes his first-ever on-stage appearance at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, sitting in with Steve Van Zandt and Southside Johnny’s Blackberry Booze Band (the forerunner of The Asbury Jukes). Garry and Vini join in as well, and the jam lasts well into the night.

1981: The River Tour arrives in Chicago for the first of three nights at the Rosemont Horizon.

1984: At Night Two in Hartford on the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, Bruce plays “State Trooper” for the very first time.

After the show, at 2am, British DJ Roger Scott interviews Bruce for a radio special. It won’t be broadcast until December, but you can listen to it below. (The interview is interspersed between and within songs, so be careful if you skip ahead.)

1988: The Human Rights Now! Tour continues its global trek, arriving in Italy for one show in Turin.

1990: Future honorary/second-generation E Streeter and Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg is born. Jay will one day fill his father’s shoes behind the drums when Max’s TV commitments prevent him from appearing in many shows on the Working on a Dream Tour.

1994: Bruce wins the MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film for “Streets of Philadelphia” (although he loses to Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” in the Best Male Video category). Bruce appears live at the awards, performing his award-winning song backed by Roy, Max, Bobby King, and Tommy Sims.

1999: Bruce and the reunited E Street Band play their first of two shows at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

2012: On Night Two at Wrigley Field, Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello reprise their guest appearances from the night before, and Bruce plays “This Depression” for only the third time ever.