Prove It All Night

Diehard Bruce Springsteen fans probably already know that The Boss put the E Street Band through their paces at two open rehearsals at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ earlier this week, in advance of the massive world tour that starts in Hartford on October 2. (We're still waiting and praying for an Atlanta date in '08.) Tapes of those shows are now circulating, and while it's clear that the E Streeters have some rust to shake off (especially Clarence Clemons), there's also no denying the sheer thrill of hearing the band play together again, and you just know they're going to get nice and tight after a few dates. I'm not going to post an entire show, because only mediocre audience recordings are available (and TTT is all about the soundboard, baby), but here are the first two songs from the show just two nights ago, as Bruce & Co. open with their brand new single, then charge straight into a stone-cold classic from going on 30 years ago. Rust and all, it still brings a smile, and some goosebumps.

MP3: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - "Radio Nowhere" (live in Asbury Park, Sept. 25, 2007)

MP3: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - "Prove It All Night" (live in Asbury Park, Sept. 25, 2007)

Magic is out on October 2, and you can already stream the whole record here.

UPDATE: A. O. Scott profiles Bruce Springsteen and the Magic album in the New York Times.

Happy Independence Day

In Atlanta, about 60,000 of us celebrate the Fourth of July by running in the world's largest 10k race, the Peachtree Road Race. I will tell you, there's nothing like running 6.2 miles at 8:00 am and then heading straight to my favorite Atlanta pub, The Prince of Wales, and slamming a few pints and a great cheeseburger, all well before 10:00 am. It's a tradition, and one that makes Independence Day maybe my favorite holiday of the year. My buddy Roger and I just accomplished our annual mission of not dying, at least long enough to get another buzz on.

To celebrate, check the MP3 below of the Boss from his solo Ghost of Tom Joad tour in 1996 for a very different take on "Born In The USA." (And be sure to go to fellow Atlantan Captain's Dead to get the rest of this magnificent recording). I saw this show in Memphis, and I can say it's definitely on my list of top 10 concerts of all time.

MP3: Bruce Springsteen - "Born In The USA" - Live from the University of Akron (9.25.96)

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Just In Time For Summer (Cleveland 1978) - Part 2 of 2

As promised, here's the third and final disc of the 1978 Springsteen boot, Just In Time For Summer. The first two discs, artwork and back story are here.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND - Just In Time For Summer - Live at the Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, OH, August 9, 1978

Disc 3:
01 Denny Sanders intro > 4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)
02 Born To Run
03 Because The Night
04 Raise Your Hand > Kid Leo signoff
05 WMMS Station ID by Clarence Clemons
06 WMMS Station ID by Bruce Springsteen

The first installment has been downloaded by hundreds of you. So how about some comments? Are you diggin' it? Can I get a witness?

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Just In Time For Summer (Cleveland 1978) - Part 1 of 2

Probably no artist in rock history has delivered live performances that are as consistently revelatory as Bruce Springsteen's, and when push comes to shove, most diehard fans of The Boss cite his 1978 tour with the E Street Band, in support of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, as the greatest of the great. In fact, it's tough even to select one boot from the '78 tour among the many that could credibly vie for "best Springsteen show ever" honors -- both of the September shows in Passaic, New Jersey are breathtaking, and the December show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco (the first non-Beatles boot I recall getting my hands on, when I was in high school) is another absolute classic. But in a poll a few years back by the Brucelegs fan site, this recording -- of the show at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio on August 9, 1978 -- topped them all.

And sure enough, it is something else -- not just an astonishing performance, heavy on material from Darkness and Born To Run (with "Because The Night," which I still prefer to Patti Smith's version, in the setlist for good measure), but thanks to a live broadcast by Cleveland radio station WMMS, a near-perfect soundboard recording as well. It's also a marathon, as most Springsteen shows in this period were, clocking in at just under 3 hours, and requiring 3 CDs to hold it all. For that reason, this will be a two-part post -- grab the first two discs now, then come back later in the week for the third one.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND - Just In Time For Summer - Live at the Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, OH, August 9, 1978

Artwork:
Front cover
Back insert

Disc 1:
01 Intro - Denny Sanders of WMMS
02 Intro - Kid Leo of WMMS
03 Summertime Blues
04 Badlands
05 Spirit In the Night
06 Darkness On The Edge Of Town
07 Factory
08 The Promised Land
09 Prove It All Night
10 Racing In The Street
11 Thunder Road
12 Jungleland

Disc 2:
01 Intro - Denny Sanders
02 Paradise By The "C"
03 Fire
04 Sherry Darling
05 Not Fade Away > Gloria > She's The One
06 Growin' Up
07 Backstreets
08 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

I'll post Disc 3 in a few days.