New for 2024: Audio for 1975; new entry for 1998; review for 2003; video for 2009
1968: Earth plays two shows at the Off Broad Street Coffee House in Red Bank, New Jersey.
1975: Bruce and the E Street Band play their first of two shows at the Houston Music Hall, where they play “Pretty Flamingo” for the first time. (The video below is dubbed because the footage is silent, but it’s pretty great quality for a show this old.)
1977: Bruce makes a guest appearance at The Stone Pony with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, at a benefit show for Bob Campanell of The Shakes.
1978: The Darkness Tour stops for a night in Springfield.
1981: The River Tour enters its last stand with the first of two nights at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum.
1984: Washington Post columnist George Will publishes a column praising Bruce as a paragon of conservative American values, sparking a debate over the meaning behind Bruce’s music and performance. Within a week, the president of the United States will weigh in.
1985: At the MTV Video Music Awards, “I’m on Fire” wins the award for Best Male Video, and “Dancing in the Dark” wins the award for Best Stage Performance in a Video (but loses to Philip Bailey and Phil Collins’ “Easy Lover” in the Best Overall Performance in a Video category). Little Steven and John Sayles are on hand to accept the award on Bruce’s behalf (ironically, since Little Steven is no longer in the E Street Band).
Why isn’t Bruce there to accept his award? Because he’s on stage with the E Street Band at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, where “Travelin” Band” makes its tour premiere as the show closer, and Bruce forgets the words to “Downbound Train.”
1988: Despite some lead-up controversy, Bruce plays his first and only show to date in Costa Rica when the Human Rights Now! Tour arrives in San Jose.
1998: Bruce and Patti attend a beach party in Sea Bright to benefit the Count Basie Learning Center in Red Bank.
1999: Bruce and the reunited E Street Band kick off a six-night stand at Philadelphia’s First Union Center.
2003: The Rising Tour is in its last month, and the set lists are getting looser. Bruce opens his show at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, with his first ever performance of “I Walk the Line” in memory of the recently departed Johnny Cash. Bruce also tour premieres “Pink Cadillac” (played for the first time in 18 years) and “Paradise” (not played since the rehearsal shows over a year earlier).
2007: Bruce and the E Street Band rehearse for their upcoming Magic Tour at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall.
2009: Bruce and the band take the Working on a Dream Tour to Sunrise, Florida, where the encores include the surprising tour premiere of “Then She Kissed Me.” Oh, and “Hava Nagilla.” (Not really, just a snippet.)
2022: Bruce interviews Jann Wenner on stage at the 92nd Street YMCA concert hall in New York City, as part of the publicity tour for Wenner’s new book Like a Rolling Stone.
