New for 2024: New entry for 1985; review for 1998
1972: The Bruce Springsteen Band plays their third of nine shows this month at The Back Door in Richmond, Virginia.
1975: Hot on the heels of their historic radio broadcast the previous evening, Bruce and the E Street Band play their first of two nights at Widener College in Chester, Pennsylvania. Due to poor venue acoustics, Mike Appel has the gymnasium outfitted with acoustic paneling to help improve the sound. There’s only one problem: the paneling is highly flammable, a fact Appel learns only hours before the show. The show is delayed by 90 minutes (while the paneling is moved out of reach of the audience) as a result. Amazingly, much of the show is captured on video by two fans. What you see below is one of the earliest known videos of the E Street Band, and the only video footage of the band with Suki Lahav.
1985: In Freehold, it seems that everyone has an opinion on a proposal to rename South Street as Bruce Springsteen Boulevard. Noticeably absent from the debate: the intended honoree.
1997: Bruce arrives in Sydney for a five-show stand on his solo acoustic tour.
1998: Bruce makes a guest appearance with Steve Earle and the Dukes at Tradewinds in Sea Bright, New Jersey. The setlist features Bruce’s only performances to date of “Johnny Come Lately” “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied,” “Guitar Town,” and The Rolling Stones’ “Sweet Virginia” and “Dead Flowers.”
2006: Bruce covers James Taylor’s “Millworker” at the annual MusiCares benefit.
2015: Bruce and Tom Morello perform at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Bob Dylan. You can see snippets of their performance of “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” below.
New for 2024: New entry for 1985: “I remember when we saw ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ together.” He (Bruce) said, ‘Some day I’m gonna be a rock star,'” (Mike) Patterson (Bruce’s youthful friend) said. “I said I hope you make it and I just laughed.” (first reference of Bruce seeing The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”?) Some other good anecdotes by Patterson as well.