Bruce Springsteen’s next concert release was recorded on Aug. 20, 1984 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford.
Bruce Springsteen announces the release of a live recording on the first Friday of every month, and for the second time in three months this year, he has chosen a show that took place at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford. The January selection came from his June 24, 1993 “Other Band” concert there, and this month’s is from Aug. 20, 1984, with the E Street Band. It was the last of his 10 Meadowlands shows on his Born in the USA Tour that summer.
Steven Van Zandt had left the band prior to the tour, but guested at this show, on “Two Hearts” and a truly majestic cover of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” (you can listen to a bootleg recording below). And the Miami Horns (saxophonists Ed Manion and Stan Harrison, trumpeter Mark Pender and trombonist Richie “LaBamba” Rosenberg) appeared as guests on “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out,” “Drift Away,” “Detroit Medley” and the show-closing medley of “Twist and Shout” and “Do You Love Me”
Digital recordings of the songs are currently available, and the CD can be pre-ordered. For information, visit live.brucespringsteen.net.
Here is the show’s setlist:
SET ONE
“Born in the USA”
“Out in the Street”
“Spirit in the Night”
“Atlantic City”
“Johnny 99”
“Highway Patrolman”
“I’m Goin’ Down”
“Darlington County”
“Glory Days”
“The Promised Land”
“My Hometown”
“Darkness on the Edge of Town”
“Badlands”
“Thunder Road”
SET TWO
“Hungry Heart”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Cadillac Ranch”
“Tenth Avenue Freeze-out” (with Miami Horns)
“No Surrender”
“Cover Me”
“Prove It All Night”
“Pink Cadillac”
“Growin’ Up”
“Bobby Jean”
“Backstreets”
“Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”
ENCORES
“Jungleland”
“Two Hearts” (with Steven Van Zandt and Miami Horns)
“Drift Away” (with Steven Van Zandt)
“Born to Run”
“Detroit Medley” (with Miami Horns)
“Twist and Shout”/”Do You Love Me?” (with Miami Horns)
Here is a recording of “Drift Away” (though the sound has been cleaned up on the version that Springsteen is releasing):
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
