New for 2024: Audio for 1975; new entry for 1978 and 2023; audio for 1982 and 2013; video for 1997
1971: The Bruce Springsteen Band opens for The Richard Goldman Band in Damrosch Park in New York City, delivering a fantastic, jazzy, horn-fueled hour-long set. The show was recorded from the soundboard in absolutely outstanding quality, perhaps the best recording from this period. If you haven’t given it a listen before, trust me: do so now.
1973: Bruce and the E Street Band wrap up their headlining stand at Max’s Kansas City in New York (with The Wailers opening). Listen to the earliest known recorded performance of a still unreleased “New York City Serenade.”
1975: The Born to Run Tour picks up steam at the Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, where Bruce debuts “Funk Song” and plays a rare “Gimme That Wine.”
1978: Bruce’s scheduled Darkness Tour stop in Atlanta is postponed to September due to illness.
1981: Exhausted from his grueling tour schedule, Bruce postpones his scheduled show at the Rosemont Horizon show to September.
1982: Bruce goes to the Monmouth County Fair in Freehold, where Sonny Kenn and The Wild Ideas perform. Bruce joins Kenn on stage for five songs. Later that evening, Bruce stops by The Fast Lane in Asbury Park, where he joins Stray Cats on-stage for “Twenty Flight Rock,” “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” and “Long Tall Sally.”
1984: Bruce and the E Street Band kick off a three-night stand in Toronto. (Thanks to friend of the blog Jeff Kowalsky for the second review scan!)
1988: Another installment of Legends of Springsteen — Bruce encounters John Magnusson, a Danish street musician, playing on the streets of Copenhagen and stops to play a few songs with him. A crowd quickly gathers, one of whom has the presence of mind to film the impromptu mini-concert.
1989: Bruce joins Cats on a Smooth Surface on-stage at The Stone Pony for seven songs, including “Old Time Rock and Roll” and “Sweet Little Sixteen.”
1992: The U.S. leg of World Tour 1992 kicks off, as does Bruce’s eleven-night stand at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford. Bruce plays “With Every Wish” for the only time in the United States and the last time to date.
Meanwhile, Mike Appel’s and Marc Eliot’s new tell-all Down Thunder Road garners controversy through its presentation of Mike Appel’s side of the Bruce Springsteen story. Entertainment Tonight devotes a few minutes to interview the authors and discuss the book.
1997: Blood Brothers (the documentary, not the EP) is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
1999: It’s a big day for Bruce at the Recording Industry Association of America: The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle is certified double-platinum, Darkness on the Edge of Town is certified triple platinum, Greatest Hits is certified 4x platinum, and Live 1975-85 is certified an astonishing 13x platinum. Oh, and “Born in the U.S.A.” (the single, not the album) is certified gold. Not bad, Bruce!
2002: Bruce and the E Street Band rehearse for the Upcoming Rising Tour at Convention Hall in Asbury Park. Their set is filmed by ABC-TV’s Nightline crew, and Bruce and the band members sit down for interviews. The segment will air following the album’s release.
2005: At his solo acoustic show at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Bruce stuns fans with back-to-back live debuts of “Sad Eyes” and “Valentine’s Day.”
2009: At Bruce’s Working on a Dream show in Udine, Italy, sign requests bring out back-to-back-to-back tour premieres of “Summertime Blues,” “Be True,” and the first-time-ever-in-Europe “Streets of Fire.” Bruce starts the party by opening with “Sherry Darling.” Check out the videos below–“Be True” is a particular treat, with the crowd singing not just every word, but also every note, much to Bruce’s delight.
2010: Bruce joins his good friend Alejandro Escovedo on stage at The Stone Pony for “Always a Friend,” “Faith,” and “Beast of Burden.”
2012: Bruce opens the first of two Wrecking Ball shows in Bergen, Norway with a gorgeous, acoustic “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” accompanied only by Roy. This show also features the live debut of “This Depression” along with the tour premiere of “Cover Me.”
2013: Bruce and the E Street Band play a memorable show in Cardiff, opening with “This Little Light of Mine” (he will reprise it in the encores) and closing with an acoustic “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” and “Thunder Road.” In between, there was the live debut of “TV Movie,” rare outings for “Cynthia” and “Roulette,” the first “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” in 37 years (and featuring a guest appearance by Eric Burdon from The Animals, who recorded the original).
2016: Gothenburg finally gets the full River album at their third night on the reprised River Tour. This show is available to stream or purchase here.
2023: Variety returns to the setlist in Munich after three consecutive shows featuring the same setlist, but it’s at the expense of length–at 25 songs (two shorter than the printed setlist for the evening), it’s the shortest show of the European tour. This show is available to stream or purchase here.
