Kingdom of Days: December 3

New for 2022: Audio for 1975; review for 1978

1966: The Castiles play a gig at the Matawan-Keyport Roller Drome.

1971: The Bruce Springsteen Band is in residence at the Student Prince in Asbury Park. After playing there for weeks, it seems the venue has Bruce’s name spelling down pat. They’ve moved on to mangling Steve’s name now.

1975: Bruce and the E Street Band play their second of two nights at Boston’s Music Hall, featuring a marathon twenty-minute(!) “Kitty’s Back.”

1978: Bruce and the boys bring the Darkness Tour to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where they open with “High School Confidential” and feature “Lucille” as part of “Detroit Medley” for only the second and final time.

1982: Bruce drops by the Keystone in Palo Alto to catch Clarence Clemons and The Red Bank Rockers play their late show, joining them on stage for “Lucille” and “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come).” The Stanford Daily is on the scene to cover it, and you gotta love their headline.

1988: Bruce debuts two new videos (“Vigilante Man” and “I Ain’t Got No Home“) as part of a documentary, A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly.

1992: Bruce and his new touring band bring World Tour 1992 to the St. Louis Arena.

1995: Bruce plays a solo acoustic show at Chicago’s Rosemont Theater. After the show, Bruce is visited by director Peter Bogdanovich, and their conversation is captured by reporters.

1996: Bruce plays his second of two solo acoustic shows at the Sunrise Musical Theater in Florida.

2001: Bruce hosts the first of five benefit holiday concerts supporting local charities at Convention Hall in Asbury Park. The Max Weinberg 7 serves as the house band, and they’re joined by special guests Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Garland Jeffreys, Southside Johnny, Nils Lofgren, and Bobby Bandiera. The setlist is filled with both holiday classics and lost Springsteen treasures: “Thundercrack” returns after a 27-year absence, as does “Seaside Bar Song,” gone for even longer. Bruce pays tribute to the recently departed George Harrison, Patti previews new material, and… really, the show features too many highlights to list them all. Just do yourself a favor and listen to the show.

2015: The television show Pawn Stars airs an episode that explores the value of a vintage 1984 Born in the U.S.A. Tour jacket.