New for 2024: Audio for 2003; video for 2008 and 2016; new entry for 2023
1972: Bruce plays an unadvertised acoustic set at Max’s Kansas City in New York.
1978: Bruce and the E Street Band bring the Darkness Tour to the Richfield Coliseum. After the show, WNEW-TV interviews Bruce for PM Magazine.
Later that night–so late that it’s technically the following day, August 31–Bruce makes a surprise appearance at The Agora in Cleveland. Even though they’ve already turned in a full show, Bruce, Steve, Clarence, Roy, and Garry join Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes on-stage for absolutely fantastic performances of “The Fever,” “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” “Having a Party,” and “Stagger Lee.” Must-watch pro-shot video below, featuring the definitive version of “The Fever” — it may never be topped.
1982: Bruce joins Cats on a Smooth Surface on stage at a private event at Jon Jon’s in Wall, New Jersey.
1985: Bruce’s scheduled return to Giants Stadium is postponed due to rain, meaning this show will unexpectedly become the closing night of a six-show stand.
1988: Julianne Phillips files for divorce after newspaper tabloids published pictures of Bruce and Patti caught in intimate circumstances earlier in the summer.
2002: The Rising Tour moves on to the Savvis Center in St. Louis. The set list is slowly opening up as “Downbound Train” makes its tour premiere early in the show.
2003: An outstanding Night Nine (of ten) at Giants Stadium on the Rising Tour opens with the tour premiere of “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart.” Later in the show, Emmylou Harris makes a guest appearance on “Across the Border,” Dave and Serge Bielanko of Marah guest-star on the tour premiere of “Raise Your Hand,” and “Pretty Flamingo” makes a rare appearance in the encore. Enjoy highlights from the show below.
2008: An epilogue for the Magic Tour: Bruce and the E Street Band headline the Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary Festival at The Roadhouse at The Lakefront in Milwaukee. “Gypsy Biker” is a fitting opener, and “Born to Be Wild” bookends it as the final encore. “Wooly Bully” is a mid-set tour premiere (its first appearance in 23 years), and Danny Federici’s son Jason plays his dad’s part on “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).”
2009: Bruce watches his daughter Jessica compete at the 34th annual Hampton Classic.
2016: Jaws drop and the Internet breaks: Bruce and the E Street Band break their U.S. record–again–for the longest show ever (this time breaking the four-hour mark), but it’s the set list at this final East Rutherford show that blows minds: the show starts with the by now (amazingly) standard opener, “New York City Serenade” complete with strings, but what follows is a largely chronological trip through Bruce’s catalog. Rickie Lee Jones guest stars on three songs, and Bruce plays the entire second side of The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle (including the tour premiere of “Kitty’s Back“). Also making their tour premiere: “Pretty Flamingo,” “Living Proof,” and “Secret Garden.” A fireworks-accompanied “Jersey Girl” closes a remarkable show.
2018: Springsteen on Broadway continues its theatrical run at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City. In attendance tonight: college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale.
2023: “Sherry Darling” makes its tour premiere when Bruce and the E Street Band open their three-night stand at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
Wowzer! Thanks.