BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : APOLLO THEATER 03/09/12

Disc One (68:19)

1. We Take Care Of Our Own
2. Wrecking Ball
3. Badlands
4. Death To My Hometown
5. My City Of Ruins
6. The E-Street Shuffle
7. Jack Of All Trades
8. Shackled And Drawn
9. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
10. The Promised Land

Disc Two (63:21)

1. Mansion On The Hill
2. The Way You Do The Things You Do / 634-5789
3. The Rising
4. We Are Alive
5. Thunder Road
6. Rocky Ground
7. Land Of Hope And Dreams
8. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
9. Hold On I'm Coming

Label : Nugs.net

Venue : Apollo Theater, New York City, New York, USA

Recording Date : March 9, 2012

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Wikipedia) : Apollo Theater 03/09/12 is a live album by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, released in November 2014 and was the first official release through the Bruce Springsteen Archives. The concert is available on CD and digital download at http://live.brucespringsteen.net. The show was recorded at the Apollo Theater in New York City on March 9, 2012 and was a warm-up date for the band's upcoming Wrecking Ball World Tour. The show also marked the first full performance for Springsteen and the E Street Band following the death of Clarence Clemons and the first to feature the newly assembled nine piece backing band that Springsteen would use on his upcoming tours. The performance was also aired live on E Street Radio.

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : “Way off in some never never land of rhythm and blues there was a place called the Apollo. It was the home of The Gods and the true Temple of Soul.” In November 2014, Bruce Springsteen officially launched his Live website, giving fans the opportunity to download as many of the thirty available recordings from the High Hopes Tour in whatever resolution quality they desired for the very first time. Up until the end of June these shows had only been available in MP3 quality on Springsteen’s Live Nation page, and in the months that followed up to November, Bruce Inc. associated themselves with Nugs, who had worked (and still do for that matter) with the likes of Phish, Pearl Jam and Metallica, striking a deal that would ultimately see the release of high quality live recordings from future tours, as well as long anticipated live recordings from the Springsteen vault. To launch the website on even more of an exciting note, with those thirty High Hopes shows came the first release in Bruce Springsteen’s Archive Series. This first live recording from the vault wasn’t exactly long anticipated, or arguably even anticipated at all. Archive #1 would not be the Pièce De Résistance from Passaic ’78, The Night For The Vietnam Veteran from Los Angeles ’81, or the final night of the Reunion Tour from Madison Square Garden, but rather a warmup gig for the Wrecking Ball World Tour from the Apollo Theatre. This wasn’t a monumental find of a show that had been hidden in away in a shoebox for the last two years or anything like that, instead it was simply a straightforward recording for Nugs to access, as it had been broadcast live on SiriusXM Radio (The station that hosts Bruce’s E Street Radio) to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the platform in early 2012 – conveniently three days after the release of Wrecking Ball. Brad Serling, the man behind the curtain at Nugs, would give further reasoning as to why this was the project’s debut release by stating: “When you sign a deal with Bruce Springsteen, you don’t argue with his choice for the first release from his archives! What I’ve found with any actively touring artist, big or small, is that recent always trumps older in the artist’s mind.” Even though since 2014 we’ve seen the number of Archive Series releases from the 20th century (34) top the 21st (19), it’s been well documented just how much Bruce appreciates his work from the modern era. So it’s both unsurprising and understandable why he’d want to kickstart this series with something from what he considers to be of the strongest points of the last twenty years, and his career in general – as I mentioned back in April, if you wanted you could argue The Agora ’78 was the first true Archive release given this wasn’t an actual tour show – and seeing as we’ve since gotten Passaic, Winterland, MSG, Stockholm etc. (The Night For The Vietnam Veteran is still conspicuous in its absence), in 2020 there’s no reason to be disappointed about Apollo being #1. Advertisement Saying all that, it also helps that this concert is a nice, easy listen, with a bunch of fun moments and very well performed songs throughout. It’s a unique one too, with nineteen songs coming in at just two hours, eleven minutes, notable for not featuring “Born to Run” and “Dancing in the Dark” (How many E Street concerts can you say that about from 2000 onwards?!) and being more of a first look at the newer Wrecking Ball album tracks and the structured format they’d be played in on the impending World Tour (you know, before Bruce threw setlist structure out of the window about five months in). Before immediately jumping into the opener though, Bruce sets the mood for the night by embracing his inner Fats Gonder: “Ladies and Gentleman are you ready for showtime!! Welcome to Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theatre! I’d like to introduce to you right now, a young man, he was Born in the U.S.A.! Arrived here tonight in his Pink Cadillac! Winner of the Academy Award! He brought you such great hits as “Dancing in the Dark”, “Born to Run”, “Hungry Heart”, I’m talkin’ about ‘Mr Badlands’, The Jersey Devil himself! The man who paid the cost to be The Boss, the hardest working white man in show-business! Let’s hear it for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band!“ And then it’s lift off into our first of seven Wrecking Ball album tracks of the show, “We Take Care of Our Own”, which as per usual from 2012 – 2014 is absolutely euphoric to listen to thanks to the instrumentals of The E Street Band. Noticeably, Bruce’s voice is showing signs of wear and tear, which is expected after nearly two and a half years without touring, but thankfully this changes as the show goes on. To a certain degree, the roughness of his voice has its benefits during this one, particularly from 2:24 when he brings the band down and asks questions such as “Where’s the spirit that’ll reign reign over me?” and “Where’s the promise from sea to shining sea?“ (2:40 – 2:50) as it makes his delivery all the more vitriolic. And who doesn’t love a seething rendition of “We Take Care”? In past reviews of shows featuring “Wrecking Ball”, I’ve talked about its significance in regards to multiple venues closing down, not just Giants Stadium, as well as how it could resonate with Bruce, his bandmates and his audience in relation to eras ending. The significance of this version lies in its power of starting the healing process for Bruce, his bandmates and the audience after the death of Clarence Clemons just under a year before. Listening to the Buffalo version in 2020, we can’t help but think about how certain lyrics foreshadow the end of this point in E Street history – “We know that come tomorrow none of this will be here” – but this version on the other hand is compelling in its relevance to Clarence’s death and in how Bruce essentially calms his fanbase, “So hold tight to your anger” (2:46), and comforts them after the unthinkable, “Hard times come and hard times go” (3:58). There’s also something strangely comforting about the fact we can hear the emotion in his voice during these passages of the song too, because even though Bruce has never been averse to showing his feelings onstage over the years, this highlights how in these times of heartache on E Street, “The Boss” was just like everyone else. The community were more united at this point than any other over the last forty years. Clarence’s passing continues to be an important factor going into the next song of the show, “Badlands”, which is the first of just seven pre-21st century tracks on the night, and the first to feature a major contribution from the man who would take on Clarence’s solos going forward. After several rocky one-to-one rehearsals (as Bruce talks about in the Jake subchapter of his autobiography, Born to Run) Jake Clemons steps into the spotlight as a full time member of The E Street Band for the first time at 2:44. We can definitely sense his trepidation and nervousness during this solo, but he does a very fine job and we can hear the audience instantly welcome him into their lives courtesy of Bob Clearmountain’s fine mix. And in remembering the Gothenburg release from earlier this year, it’s also a testament to Jake’s dedication that we can appreciate the evolution of his confidence and musicianship in such a short time following this gig. “Badlands” also connects to the Wrecking Ball album’s themes of economic hardships, tying in nicely with “We Take Care of Our Own” and the song that follows, “Death to My Hometown”. With Bruce’s voice gradually improving with every song played, this version is as vibrantly performed as any of the other twenty-three available to listen to from 2012 – 2014, and of course that’s primarily down to the jubilant work of Ed Manion, Curt Ramm, Clark Gayton and Barry Danielian from start to finish. While Clearmountain’s clear mix allows for us to also appreciate the intricacies of Stevie’s guitar and Charlie’s organ, what I like most about this track is the hopefulness of the finale from 2:21 when Bruce starts singing “So listen up my sunny boy” – it may well be his most passionate reciting of this verse on any of the song releases we have. Another stellar version of my favourite song from Wrecking Ball. Advertisement “My City of Ruins” up next is Bruce’s first real opportunity since November 2009 to talk to his fanbase, and it also gives him (and us) a chance to reflect on where we were at this point. With a lengthy tour looming, old friends gone and new friends onstage, Bruce makes it known very early on that the mission remains the same to “bring the power hour after hour“, as well as to “put a whoop-ass session on the recession!“. And despite this being much shorter than the close to twenty minute long versions from Gothenburg, Helsinki and East Rutherford at only twelve minutes, there are still a boatload of riveting moments to enjoy. Firstly, there’s the always striking “My congregation’s gone” lyric from 2:50, where Charlie’s organ transitions into Clark at 4:07, then Curt at 4:20, before the instrumental finally falls to Jake at 4:33 (The audience once again show their full support for him with his contribution). If ever there was a moment to highlight how rapidly things had changed on E Street since 2008, this is it. Alongside the contributions of those ‘new’ members, this is also a showcase for The E Street Choir starting from 3:19 before Bruce calls out Curtis King, Cindy Mizelle and Everett Bradley at 4:57. This is a nice taster of their backing vocals and harmonies to come later on in the show and the tour as a whole – and as 10:11 shows, these three complemented Bruce immaculately, just not as good as Nils does on this song! Speaking of Nils, he and the rest of The E Street Band-proper get their roll call a few moments later (5:23) and that brings lovely instrumentals from each of them, as well as a really nice interpolation of “People Get Ready” from Patti at 6:24. With the conclusion of Garry’s solo, Bruce pays the first of many tributes on this tour to his fallen friends, asking the audience, “Are we missing anybody?” (7:13), and though he doesn’t say it on this occasion, it’s apparent he’s asking it to get that response from the audience and hear his friends in their voices. What he does make abundantly clear, however, is what would become the tour’s defining mantra: “If you’re here, and we’re here, then they’re here“. Max and Roy take control of another one of those immense builds back into the song, laying it off to The Horns to kick it off – with a few swells from Charlie, solid rhythm supplied by Garry and plenty of soul from the Choir too. It’s not quite Jazzfest 2006 levels of magic, but it’s magic nonetheless, and that’s further shown towards the finish with Bruce’s lamenting of “And I pray for your love… Woah-oh-oh Iiii… I pray, I pray, I pray…! (10:41 – 11:23), which would be an early sign for those who didn’t quite appreciate his vocals on the 2009 tour that he’d be in very strong voice this time around. With the feeling of new beginnings certainly showing just over half an hour in, Bruce takes it back to the very beginning with a fantastic version of “The E Street Shuffle”. Before he and the band get stuck into the WIESS track, though, Bruce quickly references one of his TV appearances over the last year, where he appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and sang LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” dressed up in his 1984 attire (headband, denim and all), while Fallon sat there dressed up and singing as Neil Young. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether Bruce once again singing, “Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle” is more notable than this intro being a separate track to the song itself – His Gonder inspired intro earlier on was too, likewise with another three intros to come. This would be the only Archive release to feature intros separate to the song, which I honestly don’t mind as I’d rather the music streaming platform I use not be filled up with hundreds of intros, and as long as there aren’t any frustrating instances of – say – a sax intro for “All That Heaven Will Allow” attached to the end of the previous song, “Two Faces”, I’m more than happy for song introductions to be attached to the end of the track prior. That all being said, there’s a couple of reasons why I said this version of “The E Street Shuffle” was fantastic, and it should come as no shock to you that The E Street Horns are one of them. The biggest benefit of having these musicians in The E Street Band during this period was in how it allowed for songs such as this to be played regularly – Four years later Bruce would even allude to that before performing a Horns-less rendition of “Shuffle” in Virginia Beach – and their contributions to this version (4:28) really emphasise that. What’s equally good about this are Bruce’s crystal clear vocals and the harmonies (2:16 – 2:29 / 3:30 – 4:03) of The E Street Band alongside him, as well as the meshing of Max’s drums alongside Everett’s percussion (0:29 onwards), which I honestly think brings the most retro E Street sound to the song. Having said that, the absolute best aspects of this performance have to be those false finishes at 4:00 and again at 5:31 where Bruce’s spectacular guitar playing (4:15 – 4:58) overshadows every other instrumental being played onstage. It’s so riveting that you’ll find yourself not bothered as to why the thirty second monologue for “Jack of All Trades” is attached to the end of this song and not its own separate track. Advertisement That monologue sees Bruce give a quick summary about the origins of the Wrecking Ball album and how it was inspired by the economic hardships of struggling Americans, along with the lack of accountability from those who got the country into that position in the first place. This precedes what is essentially a thirty-minute sequence built on the life and dreams of the working man, where “Jack of All Trades” and “Shackled and Drawn” focus on the brutal reality of modern life, while in “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” and “The Promised Land”, Bruce builds the audience back up with the idea of a romanticised, idealistic future. “Jack” starts this run off and it isn’t too dissimilar to how it sounds on the album, which is good as the studio track is always an enthralling listen. It’s enthralling here too, thanks to the tender instrumentals of Roy and Soozie that add to Bruce’s tender vocals, and they also complement the touch of gruffness in his voice that increases from 4:39 when he begins to sing the song’s most scathing lyrics. And as always, the song is closed out by another beautiful guitar solo in the form of Nils’ stunning outro from 5:14 – I don’t think this coda gets enough credit as one of the finest in Springsteen’s vast catalogue, but it really, really, should. The slower, sombre tempo of this Wrecking Ball album track is immediately contrasted by the colourful “Shackled and Drawn”, which is being played live for the very first time on this night. It seems to show too, as while this isn’t poor in any way, it’s a noticeably safe rendition that’s also truer to the studio version without any of the ‘risks’ taken that we can hear in future renditions on the tour. Bruce doesn’t start this off with any “Hey heys” or similar rants, and after a gentle near-forty second build from himself and Max, they just get straight into it (0:37) for a solid version of the song. It’s a similar story at the finish too where it concerns Cindy’s contribution. Following a delightful guitar lick from Stevie (4:17), Bruce calls upon Cindy to get the people up on their feet so that they can share a communal moment, and (again) as per usual Cindy’s sermon is stellar. What’s noteworthy though is that unlike in Gothenburg, Helsinki and Leeds where Bruce and Cindy duet back and forth with one another “Singin’ this song“, the ending of this version is quite sudden in comparison, but at the same time it makes for a similar story to “My City of Ruins”, where we can use these releases to follow the live evolution of the song going forward from 2012 to 2013. “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” and “The Promised Land” raise the tempo even higher than “Shackled’, which would be a recurring theme on the tour given this is how Bruce would normally structure them into the setlist. Honestly there isn’t anything overly remarkable about them aside from two decent first-time solos from Jake (2:25 / 3:57) and the lack of children singing in “Sunny Day”, and (you guessed it) another good solo from Jake from 2:28 in “The Promised Land”. The same can be said about “Mansion on the Hill” afterwards, which I’d say is the most lacklustre song performance of the show. It’s another one of those Bruce and Patti duets that, for me, falls flat courtesy of the contrasts of their vocal tones. While Bruce sings the song as he wrote it in early 1982, Patti adds a different nuance and I don’t think it works well at all. I’m not a massive lover of the Reunion Tour duets either, but I think they’re just a bit better than this, even with Soozie’s violin solo at 1:45 being as nice to listen to as it is. What ties this version of “Mansion” into the sequence is Bruce’s intro where he talks about writing the song after the Carter Recession and how that led to the collapse of construction, which subsequently had an impact on his writing for The River. He wraps this short monologue up by stating, “This was the beginning of a thirty year arc that would show the country growing farther and farther apart in income quality, and you can only go so far, before the whole thing splits down the middle. So, on our new record our motto was ‘Dancin’ and Cryin'”. What I like most about this comment is that since late 2017 Bruce has frequently quoted Martin Luther King in saying, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice“, and this intro to the Nebraska track really seems to suggest King’s words were already at the forefront of his mind five years prior. Advertisement This brings us to a song performance I’ve slept on for a long time as an Archive Series essential, but one that I’ve now become obsessed with courtesy of replaying it in preparation for this write-up. The eight minutes dedicated to covering Smokey Robinson’s “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and the tribute to Soul Music that comes with it are a joy to listen to, and an exciting instance where an artist lets us know of their inspirations. This starts with one of those engrossing history lessons from Bruce, where he tells us about the history of Soul Music on the Jersey Shore in the 60s and 70s, and the effect that the power and mystery of Motown, Atlanta and Stax Records had on those young musicians playing in VFW halls, high school gyms, teen clubs and anywhere else you can think of that held about fifty people at most. He goes on to tell us how this music not only helped these young men and women learn to play to different audiences, but he also cites that Soul Music has the unique ability of bringing people of all races, colours and creeds together for one sole purpose: Dancing! And just when you think this intro can’t get anymore captivating, Bruce – with Patti, Soozie, Jake, Cindy, Everett and Clark harmonising behind him – uses this history lesson to tell us of the subjects taught to him and others by these larger than life teachers: Wilson Pickett, a man of many talents, taught both geography (“Funky Broadway”) and math (“Ninety Nine and a Half Won’t Do”), while Sam Cooke taught history and looked at how we can use history to form a better tomorrow (“A Change is Gonna Come”). Aretha Franklin covered religion, and Marvin Gaye’s sex education through “Sexual Healing” complemented the Wisdom of Solomon (Burke) who was stating “everybody needs somebody to love“. Finally, Bruce flows into the song itself by referring to the poetry of Smokey Robinson. There’s so much to love about performance, whether it’s a minor detail like the way Bruce and company sing “swept me off my fee-eeet” (0:19 – 0:22) or Bruce’s hilarious, exaggerated reaction to making a mistake from 2:51 – 3:16 – I’ve never heard him so wound up in such a funny way. This one also has something you might need to journey over to YouTube for in order to fully appreciate, because Bruce’s “Oh oh, he brought his moves! Slow down, slow down!” isn’t directed at Ed Manion – he isn’t simultaneously playing sax and dancing at 1:41 – but rather Jake(!) who, as the fan recorded footage on YouTube shows us, is keeping up his uncle’s legacy (Remember “She’s The One” from Houston ’78?) with some great dance moves. For quite a while I was under the impression Bruce stopping Jake and telling him to slow down was a subtle message of “don’t get carried away, know your role“, but that was only until I came across the “Apollo Medley” performance from the New York show in early April and heard Bruce encourage Jake to “work your magic!“. So rather than this being a case of Bruce shutting his new recruit down, it’s more so Bruce protecting him from succumbing to the potential dangers of the almighty rock and roll! That’s what experienced fellow prisoners of it are for! And just before you head off to YouTube to watch that moment alone, remember that this is also the performance where Bruce decides to take a tour of the Apollo Theatre, wandering offstage and climbing up onto the seating balconies during the interpolation of Pickett’s “634-5789”. What was I saying about succumbing to the dangers of this music again? If you listen closely enough you can even hear one of the women sitting in the balcony seats scream out with joy at him popping up (4:45 – 4:55). If you’ve ever wanted to hear Bruce Springsteen direct his band from the audience’s perspective, this is what you’re looking for. I’ve only just began to truly appreciate it today, but this song performance really set the Archive Series on its way for a plethora of gems to come! And just like that we’re into the final portion of the show, starting off with a consistent version of “The Rising” – albeit one without any saxophone or other Horns instrumentals – that leads into another live debut, “We Are Alive”. Similarly to “Jack of All Trades” and “Shackled and Drawn” this is very faithful to the album version with no introduction focusing on “questions” and “ghost stories” that would either confirm or deny several fan theories like on the rest of the tour. As for the rousing performance, the highlights include Bruce’s emphasising of “Well PLEASE let them know” (2:20 – 2:22), those ghostly whistles in the background (2:46 – 3:12 / 4:55 – 5:23) and the sprinkles of mandolin Steve contributes from 4:21 – 4:52. For a song that became synonymous with its intimate intro from March 18th onwards, this version really holds up on its own without it. “Born to Run”, “Glory Days” and “Dancing in the Dark” may be absent from this encore, but Bruce and The Band definitely make up for it with how well they play these final five songs starting with an excellent “Thunder Road”. Bruce in particular sounds great vocals-wise, and his delivery of the final “Pulling out of here to wiiiiiin” lyric is one of his best in this series, and what’s equally good is the build to it from 4:00, with the combination of Roy and Charlie on the keys being a stunning set up to my favourite detail of the song (even more than Bruce’s final high note!), Stevie’s guitar riffs from 4:14 to 4:21. I think it’s the most hopeful aspect of the song and the most telling sign that Mary gets in the car and they ride away together. Alongside these details and Bob Clearmountain’s impressive mixing in of the audience (1:06), I’ve always liked the Horns’ coda during this tour. We know that nothing beats Clarence’s, or even Jake’s 2016 – 17, solo outro’s, but there’s a real grandeur that came with Jake, Ed, Curt, Barry and Clark playing together alongside the rest of The E Street Band. Following “Thunder Road” is the third and final live debut of a Wrecking Ball album track in this gig, and it’s also the final Archive Series song release to have its respective introduction as a separate track. You may have noticed that when Bruce names The E Street Choir during “My City of Ruins”, Michelle Moore isn’t included as one of them. This wasn’t an awkward case of Bruce forgetting her in the same way he forgot Max during the Los Angeles ’88 release, because on this night Michelle wasn’t an official member of the choir, but actually a guest brought out for this rendition of “Rocky Ground”. After giving her credit for her contributions to The Rising and specific tracks such as “Let’s Be Friends” and “Mary’s Place”, as well as on a few of Patti’s albums, Bruce tells a quick anecdote about how he tried to recite the rap himself before Michelle was brought in. “It wasn’t terrible, wasn’t quite right.” – Anyone else for the Bruce rapping cut being included on the rumoured Tracks 2 release? Michelle would, of course, become a touring member of this incarnation of The E Street Band and would recite this rap every time the song was played up to its last performance in January 2014. Similarly to Jake in “Badlands”, we can hear the nervousness in Michelle’s voice during a few of her solo contributions, including her rap where she gets a little bit mixed up. Fortunately her harmonies (0:43 – 1:06 / 2:24 – 2:36) alongside the rest of The Band, as well as her delivery of “We’ve been travelling over rocky ground” from 6:04 is immaculately sang, so she really can’t be faulted. And on that note, Bruce deserves some credit too for his delivery of certain lyrics – “Flood water‘s coming” (2:00), “We’ve been travelling…” (3:57 / 5:10), “I’m a soldier” (5:27 / 5:37 / 5:43) – which are a perfect balance of tender and powerful to match Max’s initial tempo and Curt’s trumpet opening (0:19 – 0:43), before the grand crescendos at 3:56 and 5:07. Every time I hear any of the three versions released in this Live Downloads project, I can’t help but want more of the song. Advertisement “Land of Hope and Dreams” is one track that we have a lot more than just three versions of, but likewise with the above I’ll happily listen to as many renditions of it as Nugs and Bruce Inc. want to give us. Compared to the other thirty-nine releases of the song as part of the Archive Series, this is different in how it’s the only one to feature the Wrecking Ball album’s extended intro with Bruce and Curtis prominently singing about “this train“, before Max kicks the song in at 0:56. When you’ve been listening mainly to the shorter, but slower build on the Reunion Tour releases and the sudden impact versions from later on into the Wrecking Ball World Tour, it’s nice to hear a ‘fresh’ take to start things off, even if it’s just a miniature detail and the rest of the song isn’t largely dissimilar from those other versions. Add to that Jake’s strongest sax instrumentals of the show (4:15 / 5:41) – the contrast between these and his “Badlands” solo an hour and forty minutes earlier is immediately staggering – and you have a collector’s item of a song performance. The only slight I have with this performance and the mixing of it comes around the 5:20 mark. If we listen very closely we can hear Stevie’s harmonies sounding outstanding, but unfortunately they’re a bit hidden by everything else going on. It’s a very trivial issue and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the Springsteen fandom were happy with Stevie’s vocals being overshadowed, I just think it’s a shame as he normally gives everything on “LoHaD” and from what we can hear, it’s more of the same on this one. For any mixing quality qualms in “LoHaD”, they’re more than made up for next during the most significant song staple of the tour, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”. The first version of many to pay homage to Clarence with a pause in the performance (the tribute video wouldn’t debut until the first Izod Center show in April) is superb in every regard. The intro alone highlights just how well we can hear the audience, the swells of Charlie’s organ and everything in-between, and when the song kicks in we get even more of that – listen to the audience shouting “kid, you better get the picture” along with Jake at 2:50 – thanks to the quality of drumming, piano and guitar playing from Max, Roy and Stevie. For Bruce to sing this one as well as he does is a bonus too, and that one last “Wiggle, wiggle” (2:44 – 2:45) for good measure is simply the icing on top of the cake. It could have been the cherry, but that credit most definitely goes to the final song of the night. Just a few years earlier many people claimed Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band would never tour again, but this cover of “Hold On, I’m Coming” emphatically tells us there was unfinished business to attend to. The kick-in from the Horns immediately cements this song as the most incredible way to build excitement before a tour, and also to kick off a Live Downloads project. It’s badass, it’s glorious, it’s peak E Street. Featuring an immense shout of “Build it, Max!” (0:51) and, as fan recorded footage shows us, Bruce and Stevie doing the James Brown cape routine to wrap up the tributes in the best way, after two hours, eleven minutes, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band were back, God forgive those who ever doubted them. A shorter warmup gig absent of several heavy hitters, I doubt this night at the Apollo is really going to be anyone’s first choice for an Archive Series download or listen in 2020 with the amount of all-timer shows that have been released since November 2014. One thing’s for sure, though, and that’s that when it comes to listening to this release, you’ll find yourself swept away by the fervour of a motivated Springsteen and the majestic soul exuded by a rejuvenated E Street Band in performances of “The Way You Do The Things You Do”, “Rocky Ground” and “Hold On, I’m Coming”. Not a must listen, but undoubtedly a good listen.