New for 2024: Review for 1974; audio for 1988; video for 2012
1968: The Castiles headline a gig at the Hullabaloo in Freehold.
1974: Bruce and the E Street Band headline two shows at The Bottom Line in New York City. There’s an early performance (likely the earliest) of a very work-in-progress “Jungleland” that is believed to be from this show. It’s well worth a listen, as it’s dramatically different from the final version that will be released on vinyl over a year later.
1978: Bruce and the boys bring the Darkness Tour to Dallas, where poor ticket sales force the show to be moved from the 10,000-seat Convention Center Arena to the 1,700-seat Convention Center Theater instead. Because fans have to exchange their tickets on the way in, it takes a long time to admit everyone, and you can hear Bruce ask fans for their patience before the show starts below.
1984: The Born in the U.S.A. Tour continues its midwest trek, arriving in East Troy, Wisconsin for the first of two nights. This show is notable for the world debut of the very rare “Man at the Top” (played only twice since). According to press reports, director Brian De Palma shoots additional footage for “Dancing in the Dark” at this show. It’s unclear if any of it will be used.
1988: The Tunnel of Love Tour continues its final leg, stopping in Frankfurt for one show.
1991: Bruce joins Bobby Bandiera on stage for five songs at McLoone’s Rum Runner in Sea Bright, New Jersey.
1992: Night Four of five at Wembley Arena for Bruce’s World Tour 1992. The setlist highlight: “The Big Muddy,” played only twice in Europe.
2002: Bruce and the E Street Band rehearse for the upcoming Rising Tour at the Expo Theater in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
2009: At Night Two in Dublin on the Working on a Dream Tour, Bruce and the band perform the tour premiere of “American Skin (41 Shots).”
2012: Pollstar magazine announces Bruce ranks second for the year in worldwide concert ticket sales with $79.9m sold, a distant second behind Roger Waters. Meanwhile, in Vienna, Bruce tour premieres “Loose Ends,” “Empty Sky,” and “Tougher than the Rest.”
2018: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City. In attendance tonight: Australian singer-songwriter Jimmy Barnes.
New for 2024: Review for 1974: Wow, a very important and good review by the master rock critic Robert Cristgau! “Springsteen’s music is funky and vivacious…The musicians play in tune and on the beat and they don’t trip over each other. But their precision occurs within a wild context. To shift gears at the dramatic whim of a performer as ambitious and uneven as Springsteen is to be loose and tight simultaneously.” Listening to “Kitty’s Back” above, that says is all.