New for 2023: Audio for 1975 and 1999
1968: Bruce headlines at the Off Broad Street Coffee House in Red Bank, performing two acoustic solo set.
1973: The Wild & Innocent Tour kicks off at Virginia’s Hampden-Sydney College, where “The E Street Shuffle” makes its debut, featuring the band’s first-ever guest artist: Albee Tellone on baritone sax.
1974: Bruce’s scheduled show at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey (this blogger’s alma mater), is canceled less than 48 hours before showtime–because Bruce was booked at five other colleges for that same date. Rather than breach four contracts by choosing one, Bruce cancels on all five.
1975: Bruce plays in Kansas for the first time when the Born to Run Tour stops at Memorial Hall in Kansas City.
1985: On American Top 40, host Casey Kasem shares an anecdote from one of Bruce’s bandmates from The Castiles.
1986: Bruce attends Lady Beth, a play by laid-off Freehold 3M plant workers at The Stone Pony, where he gives a short speech of support and encouragement.
1992: At the final night (of three) in Los Angeles on World Tour 1992, Danny Federici joins Bruce’s new touring band for the encore set.
1999: Night Two in Chicago on the Reunion Tour brings a “Don’t Look Back” opener and the last “Something in the Night” for the year.
2004: Bruce and the E Street Band rehearse at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall for their upcoming Vote for Change Tour.
2007: Promoting their new Magic album and upcoming tour, Bruce and the E Street Band perform a live morning concert on NBC’s Today.
That evening, Bruce and the band play a benefit rehearsal show, where they debut a new rock arrangement for “Reason to Believe.”
2016: In New York City, Bruce makes a promotional appearance at Barnes & Noble in Union Square in support of his newly published autobiography. Later, at the Soho Apple Store in New York City, Bruce is interviewed by Apple’s Eddy Cue. The event is simulcast on Facebook Live.
2017: To help offset high ticket prices, Springsteen on Broadway announces a daily lottery for a limited number of inexpensive tickets to the show.
2018: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City. Patti is absent again tonight, so Bruce adds an extra encore of “This Hard Land” in place of his duet of “Tougher Than the Rest” with Patti.
2019: Bruce spends the day at his daughter’s equestrian competition in New York. That evening, he stops by his hometown of Freehold to visit the opening of the Monmouth County Historical Association Museum’s new exhibit, Springsteen: His Home Town. After touring the exhibit, Bruce surprises the assembled crowd by taking the stage with Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers for their opening number, “Light of Day.” For more highlights from this event, see my first-hand Where the Band Was report.
