New for 2024: Review for 1981 and 2012; new entry for 2023
1968: Earth plays a private gig at a wedding in Brooklyn.
1973: Bruce and the E Street Band play their fifth night of a week-long residency at Oliver’s in Boston.
1974: A scheduled show is cancelled at the Cinematic Circus in Woodbourne, New York.
1981: At the fourth night of a six-night River Tour stand at the L.A. Sports Arena, Tom Waits makes a guest appearance for (what else?) “Jersey Girl.”
1988: Bruce makes a surprise appearance at Sting’s show at Madison Square Garden, dueting on “The River” and “Message in a Bottle.” The two will shortly kick off a tour together in support of Amnesty International.
1999: Bruce and the reunited E Street Band play their third of five shows at Boston’s Fleet Center.
2002: The Rising Tour’s barnstorming leg continues with a show at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
2008: The Magic Tour wraps up with an eclectic setlist in Kansas City, featuring six tour premieres (and two world debuts, including the first-ever “Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own“), Max on lead vocals on “Boys“, a Soozie and Bruce duet on “It’s All Over Now,” and more. For more highlights from this show, see my Where the Band Was report.
2012: The Wrecking Ball Tour heads north to Canada, starting with a show at the Rogers Center in Toronto, where an undisputed highlight is a rare solo piano “Incident on 57th Street.”
2018: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City.
2021: Springsteen on Broadway continues its limited return engagement at the St. James Theater in New York City.
2023: Bruce returns to the stage in Foxboro following two postponed Philadelphia shows, his voice clearly straining at times.
