New for 2024: Audio for 1970, 1973, and 1996
1970: Steel Mill plays a show at Monmouth College in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Listen to the amazing thirty-minute epic “Garden State Parkway Blues” below.
1971: Bruce plays two shows at The Upstage in Asbury Park, jamming with (and scouting) local musicians for a new band.
1973: At The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Bruce plays his first live-in-concert radio broadcast on Philadelphia’s WMMR-FM (the first of two shows this night). Listen to the show below, featuring the earliest known recording of “Santa Ana” and the last known recording of “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” before its lyrics were finalized.
1976: At their show at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, Bruce and the E Street Band perform “Frankie” for the last time for 23 years.
1981: The River Tour moves on to Lyon, France, with a show at the Palais des Sports.
1983: Bruce sits in with Cats on a Smooth Surface at their gig at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
1993: Bruce and his 1992-1993 touring band play their second of two shows at Flanders Expo in Ghent, where “Viva Las Vegas” makes its tour premiere.
1995: Greatest Hits is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
1996: Changing venues from his previous show at Royal Albert Hall, Bruce stays in London to perform the first of two solo acoustic shows at Brixton Academy. Tonight’s set features the tour premieres of “Atlantic City,” “Red Headed Woman,” and “Seeds.”
1999: Vienna fans witness the only performance of “Dollhouse” to date at a Reunion show at Wiener Stadthalle.
2006: Bruce and the Sessions Band play their second public warm-up show at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall. The waltz arrangement of “If I Should Fall Behind” debuts at this show, as does a new mash-up of “Cadillac Ranch” and “Mystery Train.”
2009: The Working on a Dream Tour moves on to the XL Center in Hartford, bringing with it the E Street Band premiere of “Wild Thing” and the tour premieres of “Jackson Cage” and “Rockin’ All Over the World.”
2010: At the annual Kirsten Ann Car Fund gala in New York City, Bruce and Stevie join The Rascals on stage for “Good Lovin’.”
2012: The Wrecking Ball Tour stops at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. For more highlights, see my Where the Band Was report for this show.
2014: At the High Hopes Tour stop in Raleigh, the set list highlight is the tour premiere of “Pretty Flamingo.” Bruce’s daughter is in attendance with her local college friends, and Bruce plays to them several times during the show.
2019: For the third straight day, Bruce’s official Twitter account shares a mysterious western-themed image with no accompanying text. At this point, speculation runs rampant about a forthcoming announcement.
2020: Bruce makes an encore appearance as an E Street Radio DJ when he premieres a second installment of From My Home to Yours.
2022: Bruce joins Gary Clark Jr. to open the 23rd annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony (honoring Jon Stewart) with a smoking cover of “Come Together.” Later in the evening, he returns to perform a solo acoustic “Born to Run.”
