New for 2023: Audio for 1996; video for 2012
1966: The Castiles play a gig at the Hullabaloo in Middletown, New Jersey.
1971: The Bruce Springsteen Band is in residence at the Student Prince in Asbury Park.
1974: Bruce drops by WMMR-FM in Philadelphia to record a very special Christmas message for DJ Ed Sciaky.
1976: Bruce joins Patti Smith on stage for both of her shows at the Bottom Line in New York City, playing guitar and piano for a remarkable twelve songs between the two shows (although a couple of the songs may be more accurately described as improv pieces).
1984: Bruce plays a Born in the U.S.A. show in Dallas, but the set list has almost as many songs from Darkness on the Edge of Town, including the tour premiere of “Factory.”
1988: Bruce joins Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes on stage at The Stone in San Francisco for four songs, including Bruce’s first-ever performance of “Hearts of Stone.” His second performance won’t happen for a quarter-century.
1995: Bruce plays a solo acoustic show at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, where he tour premieres “Nebraska” and “Dead Man Walkin’.”
1996: Bruce wraps up his three-night acoustic stand at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, once again joined by a posse of friends. Tonight’s guest include Danny, Soozie, Patti, Steve, Vini, Big Danny Gallagher, and Richard Blackwell. For a solo show, Bruce is seldom on stage by himself. The setlist features the tour premieres of “All That Heaven Will Allow” and “I Don’t Want to Go Home.” This show is available as part of Bruce’s official archive series–get it here.
2007: The Magic Tour moves to its second European stop, the Bizkaia Arena in Bilbao.
2009: Bruce appears with Bono and Mick Jagger on the cover of Rolling Stone.
2012: After a week off for Thanksgiving, the Wrecking Ball Tour resumes in Vancouver. The set list features no premieres, but a couple of songs appear in surprising positions: Bruce opens with “Shackled and Drawn,” and “Racing in the Street” makes an unusual encore appearance. For more highlights from this show, see my Where the Band Was report.
2017: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater on Broadway. After tonight’s show, Bruce will take more than a week off.
Bruce (1996) interview with Kelly Jane Cotter, Asbury Park Press on the Tom Joad tour: “I don’t think I could avoid the traps of the past if I was in a band right now…I don’t want to play myself, I want to be myself.” Later, pop music critic Robert Hilburn comments as well, “…the determination of a veteran artist to move forward.” Kudos to Bruce for the courage to follow his instincts and muse. Not always easy.