New for 2024: Review for 1976; audio for 1978 and 1999; video for 1985 and 1987
1967: The Castiles play their second and final gig at The Left Foot in Freehold, where the setlist included covers like “The Letter,” and “San Franciscan Nights,” as well as a couple of Castiles originals, like “Mr. Jones.”
1973: Bruce’s acoustic guitar is stolen at a Wild & Innocent gig at Stony Brook University. Bruce will play road manager Albee Tellone’s guitar (the same model as Bruce’s) until Mike Appel replaces it as a Christmas gift.
1975: Bruce makes his debut appearance in Nebraska, playing a Born to Run show at Omaha’s Civic Auditorium Music Hall.
1976: At Night Two on the Lawsuit Tour in Santa Monica, Bruce tells a mid-song “Growin’ Up” story for the first time. Later that night, Bruce and Steve make a surprise guest appearance on stage at Dion DiMucci’s show at The Roxy, providing backing vocals on “A Teenager in Love.”
1978: Bruce and the E Street Band play a Darkness Tour show at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, featuring Bruce’s only known performance of “Night Train.” The show is broadcast live on radio throughout the southeastern U.S. and is available today as part of Bruce’s official archive series get it here.
1985: Bruce and the E Street Band play their third of four shows on the Born in the U.S.A. Tour’s final stand in Los Angeles. “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Darlington County,” “Seeds,” “The River,” “War,” “The Promised Land,” “My Hometown,” and “Cover Me” from this show all make it to Live 1975-85, and “My Hometown” and “War” will surface on Video Anthology as well.
1987: Bruce joins Roy Orbison, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, k.d. lang, and other great musicians at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles for a special filmed event: Roy Orbison & Friends: A Black & White Night. The concert will premiere on Cinemax in January and will be reissued on CD, DVD, and Blu-ray thirty years later. Watch more clips from this show here.
1988: Bruce plays in India for the first and only time when the Human Rights Now! Tour stops in New Delhi. Bruce makes a guest appearance on harmonica with The Epidemics on “Up to You.”
1999: Bruce and the reunited E Street Band wrap up their three-show stand at Chicago’s United Center with a great set that includes “Take ‘Em as They Come” to open, “Independence Day,” “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart,” and “New York City Serenade.” This show is now available as part of Bruce’s official archive series–get it here.
2002: The Rising Tour stops at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, where Bruce tour premieres “Further On (Up the Road)” and plays “Nothing Man” for the very first time.
2009: Bruce kicks off a five-night stand at Giants Stadium with a brand-new song: “Wrecking Ball,” written to honor the scheduled-for-demolition venue. Curt Ramm is on hand, and the set list is clearly constructed to be horn-friendly as a result: “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Meeting Across the River,” and “The E Street Shuffle” all get outings tonight, along with a full-album performance of Born to Run. Willie Nile makes a guest appearance in the encores.
2017: Bruce performs an acoustic set at the Invictus Games Closing Ceremony in Toronto, previewing (it will turn out) arrangements for his upcoming Broadway show. After his solo set, Bruce plugs in and performs with Bryan Adams. For more highlights from this show, see my Where the Band Was report.
2018: Bruce makes a surprise appearance with Social Distortion at the inaugural Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, playing three songs including “Bad Luck,” “Misery Loves Company,” and a terrific cover of “Ring of Fire.”
