New for 2024: Article for 1985; new entry for 1986
1971: The Bruce Springsteen Band is in residence at the Student Prince in Asbury Park.
1981: Bruce serves as Best Man for Clarence at his wedding to Christina Sandgren in Honolulu. Bruce and the E Street Band perform at the reception, making this the only time Bruce has performed in Hawai’i.
1984: Bruce and the E Street Band bring the Born in the U.S.A. Tour to the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium for the first of two nights.
1985: What was supposed to be the opening show of a two-night Born in the U.S.A. Tour stop in Denver is now the closer, as the perhaps-too-hastily-postponed show from two days prior is finally delivered at Mile High Stadium.
On television, NBC’s youth-oriented Main Street series profiles Bruce.
1986: A group of Philly fans drive up to Rumson to wish Bruce an only slightly belated happy birthday at his house… at 1:00am. Bruce is not amused.
1992: Bruce kicks off a three-night stand with his new touring band at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, featuring one of only three performances of “The Long Goodbye” to date.
1996: Bruce debuts a new song at his solo acoustic show in Kalamazoo… sort of. Before the show, a fan had requested “Highway Patrolman” and while Bruce planned to grant it, he knew he’d be blowing the STFU theme of his tour by playing it in Michigan, because audiences can’t help but cheer when their own state is mentioned. So instead of declining the request, he doubled down and wrote a song called “In Michigan” backstage in the minutes leading up to the show. It shows.
1999: One of the best shows of the Reunion Tour (we need an official release of this one!) takes place at the Philadelphia Spectrum the day after Bruce turns 50, and the birthday theme is established from the get-go: Bruce opens the show with a cassette recording of a special birthday song recorded by his mom’s next-door neighbor, followed immediately by the tour premiere of “Growin’ Up.” It’s definitely an old-school night, with the band playing “The Fever” for the first time since the Darkness Tour and a show-closing “Blinded by the Light” for the first time since the Chicken Scratch Tour of 1976. “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street” makes its tour debut as well. This show was rescheduled due to inclement weather from a week prior, and the audience lucked out as a result.
2002: The Rising Tour moves on to Kemper Arena in Kansas City, where Bruce proves that set list shake-ups are here to stay, tour-premiering “Night,” “Something in the Night,” “She’s the One,” a solo piano “Incident on 57th Street,” and a delightfully rag-tag show-closing cover of “Kansas City.”
Earlier in the day, Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash is released, featuring Bruce’s cover of “Give My Love to Rose.”
2007: Bruce and the E Street Band prepare to launch the Magic Tour, but first they hold a couple of rehearsal shows at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall. Tonight’s show is the first one, and therefore many Magic tracks make their live premiere. The E Street Band also tackles “Thundercrack” for the first time in 33 years, and “American Land” and “Long Walk Home” for the first time ever. “Empty Sky” is played in a one-time-only full-band arrangement.
2014: Bruce stops by Jack’s Music Shoppe in Red Bank to listen in on a preview of The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973-1984.
2020: Bruce releases “Ghosts,” the second single from his upcoming Letter to You album, and AARP publishes a video featurette on the project to their YouTube channel.
