New for 2024: Video and audio for 1999; new entry for 2023
1969: Child plays their fourth of six consecutive nights at the Pandemonium in Wanamassa, New Jersey.
1970: Steel Mill headlines at Asbury Park’s Sunshine In.
1971: The Bruce Springsteen Band headlines an outdoor show at Monroe Park in Richmond.
1973: Bruce and the E Street Band headline two shows at Max’s Kansas City in New York, kicking off a six-night/twelve-show stand. The opening act: Bob Marley and the Wailers, on their very first American tour.
1974: Bruce and the E Street Band play two shows at Le Garage in Spray Beach, New Jersey.
1978: The Darkness Tour continues its southern swing with a show at the Municipal Auditorium in Jackson, Mississippi.
1979: At The Power Station in New York City, Bruce records “Be True” and “Loose Ends.” It will be almost two decades before they see an album release.
1981: Bruce and the band play their fourth of five nights at The Spectrum in Philadelphia on the River Tour.
1984: Bruce wraps up a three-night Born in the U.S.A. stand at the Rosemont Horizon with his live debut of “Do You Love Me?”
1999: Night Two on the U.S. leg of the Reunion Tour in East Rutherford brings out rare performances of “I Wanna Be With You” (the show opener), “Loose Ends,” “Stand On It,” and “Freehold.” This show is available as part of Bruce’s official archive series–get it here.
2002: Bruce and the E Street Band rehearse for the upcoming Rising Tour.
2003: It’s a rainy Night Three of ten at the Giants Stadium stand of the Rising Tour, and Bruce opens with an audibled “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” Garland Jeffreys guests during the encores for “96 Tears.”
2005: Bruce busts open his Devils & Dust setlist in Buffalo with six tour premieres, including “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” a solo piano “Leap of Faith,” “You’re Missing,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “When You’re Alone,” and a show-opening new acoustic arrangement of “Prove It All Night” on guitar and harmonica.
2012: On Night Two in Dublin on the Wrecking Ball Tour, an injured Jake Clemons takes the stage in a wheelchair. He threw his back out the night before, and Bruce gently (and very cleverly) teases him during “Spirit in the Night.”
2013: The Wrecking Ball Tour comes to Cork, where “Wild Thing,” “The Price You Pay” and “Real World” make their tour debuts. This is the first time Bruce performs “Real World” since 2005, and early arriving fans get to hear it twice: once in the main set and once in a three-song pre-show.
2015: At what point does a guest appearance become a surprise co-headline? I’m not sure, but at Joe Grushecky’s show at The Wonder Bar, Bruce clearly crossed that line, joining the Houserockers for fifteen of their eighteen-song set.
2018: Netflix films a special invitation-only performance of Springsteen on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City. The show features two special encores (“The Ghost of Tom Joad” and “Long Time Comin’“) and will be released on the streaming service (and on album) to much acclaim later in the year.
Later that evening, Bruce joins Billy Joel on stage at Madison Square Garden to mark Billy’s 100th show of his residency. The two play “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “Born to Run.”
2023: For the first time in over two decades, Bruce plays an identical setlist to his previous show when World Tour 2023 stops in Vienna, Austria.
I was in Vienna. Fantastic show