New for 2024: Audio for 1981; article for 1988; video for 2016; new entry for 2023
1973: Bruce and the E Street Band headline at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Bruce is no stranger to having his name misspelled by now, but this is a new one.
1978: Bruce sits down for an interview with WNEW-FM DJ Dave Herman in San Diego. (The interview will air in September on the King Biscuit Flower Hour.) As with Mary Turner a few days earlier, Bruce is loose, talkative, and funny. This interview is definitely worth a listen.
That evening, Bruce plays a gig at the San Diego Sports Arena, where he sings “Not Fade Away” and “Gloria” as lead-ins to “She’s the One” for the first time.
1981: Bruce and the E Street Band close out their opening stand at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands, and Gary U.S. Bonds joins them on stage for “Jole Blon” and “This Little Girl.” Bruce’s performance of “Jersey Girl” will be released in 1984 as the B-side to “Cover Me” as well as on the Live 1975-85 box set. This concert is available for purchase as part of Bruce’s official archive series–get it here.
1984: At Night Two in Richfield, Ohio on the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, Bruce plays “No Surrender” acoustically for the first time ever, along with the tour premiere of “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”
1988: Bruce brings the Tunnel of Love Tour to Sheffield for the first of two nights. “Spare Parts” from this show will be released on the Spare Parts EP and on Video Anthology. Bruce spends time with Roy Orbison at the hotel before the show.
1989: Bruce joins Cats on a Smooth Surface at The Stone Pony for “Travelin’ Band.”
1992: Bruce and his new touring band play their second of five nights at Wembley Arena in London.
1995: One of the stranger collaborations of Bruce’s career: Bruce travels to Berlin, where he plays a short concert at Cafe Eckstein with Wolfgang Niedecken and His Leopardefellband. The purpose of the show is to yield a new recording and video for “Hungry Heart,” which will be released on video and on the Hungry Heart EP (sort of–it will actually feature Bruce’s new vocals over the original instrumental track, and it’s kind of jarring. Compare the official video with the raw footage below). The setlist also features several covers, including Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and “Highway 61 Revisited.”
1999: Bruce guest-stars at Joe Grushecky’s acoustic show at Hooligans in Long Branch, New Jersey on three songs: “Never Be Enough Time,” “Pumping Iron,” and “Brown Eyed Girl.”
2012: The Wrecking Ball Tour stops in Zurich for a night, where Bruce opens the show with the tour premiere of “Don’t Look Back.” Other tour premieres include “Working on a Dream” and “If I Should Fall Behind.”
2014: The video–a short film, really–for “Hunter of Invisible Game” makes its debut. It is perhaps Bruce’s most artistically ambitious video ever.
2016: Bruce and the E Street Band play the TW Classic Festival in Werchter, Belgium, where “Mansion on the Hill” and “If I Should Fall Behind” make their tour premieres. This show is available to stream or purchase here.
2021: Springsteen on Broadway continues its limited return engagement at the St. James Theater in New York City.
2023: In flight to his next World Tour 2023 stop, Bruce records a salute to old friend and engineer Louis Lahav, who is receiving a lifetime achievement award in Israel for his contribution to music.
