BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : BRENDAN BYRNE ARENA, NEW JERSEY 1984

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : BRENDAN BYRNE ARENA, NEW JERSEY 1984

Disc One (79:49)

Born In The U.S.A.
Out In The Street
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Atlantic City
Johnny 99
Highway Patrolman
Prove It All Night
Glory Days
The Promised Land
Used Cars
My Hometown
Badlands
Thunder Road

Disc Two (75:11)

Hungry Heart
Dancing In The Dark
Cadillac Ranch
Sherry Darling
No Surrender
Pink Cadillac
Growin' Up
Bobby Jean
Backstreets
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Disc Three (40:45)

Jersey Girl
Jungland
Born To Run
Detroit Medley
Travelin' Band
Twist And Shout

Label : Nugs.net

Venue : Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA

Recording Date : August 5, 1984

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : The opening night of the homecoming Brendan Byrne Arena stand of the Born in the U.S.A. World Tour took everybody by surprise when it was released in May 2015. Being very similar setlist to the more well known and better final night of the stand from August 20th, this has been pushed all the way to the back of the line where it concerns the three Born in the U.S.A. releases, and even a lot of Archive releases outright. That’s an absolute shame too because there’s a load of excellence on here whether it’s a song that also featured on the 20th or a song that was just unique to this night. Firstly, let’s address the elephant in the room. That noise at the very start of the “Born in the U.S.A.” track is not a spaceship, but instead the sound of the tape reels clashing and starting up on the recording. It also precedes “BITUSA” on the August 20th release and I’m not sure why it couldn’t have been cut out before release, but while a lot of fans dislike it because of its pointlessness, I do think it’s a cool way of transporting us all into the summer of 1984 and all of its snare drum and synthesiser glory. “Born in the U.S.A.” here is in fact dominated by those two aspects, but the song also needs an impassioned front man singing and Bruce is exactly that. He mightn’t be singing with the rage that accompanies the 1985 and 1988 renditions, but his voice is a fine blend of clean and loud, making for an enjoyable listen. And with the acoustic guitar being used over the electric, we can say this 84 version is that first shot of the trees in Apocalypse Now before they burst into flames with that violent electric outro we can hear on the Los Angeles release. Then, so early on, we get our best sequence of the concert, and that’s not an insult to the rest, it’s just that this five-pack of “Out in the Street”, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”, “Atlantic City”, “Johnny 99” and “Highway Patrolman” is absolutely brilliant. Does it matter that four of these featured on the 20th in the exact same spot? Most certainly not. In “Street” we get magical vocals from Springsteen and Scialfa (listen from 3:25 to 3:48) and a glimpse of the chemistry that the two shared right from the start. “Tenth” does feature in that August 20th show, just later on in the second set with The Miami Horns adding their talents to make sure that particular track would get selected for the Live 75-85 box set. Here though Springsteen had to make do with his regulars and that leads to a very solid version with Bruce in strong voice once again, complemented by Clarence’s sax playing throughout as well as his, Nils’ and Patti’s harmonies. It’s a great joyous double header before “Atlantic City” brings the tone down just a touch. And who’d have guessed, Bruce sounds fantastic again in the first of our four Nebraska tracks on the night. It’s been said that there were very few shows from the Born in the U.S.A. World Tour professionally recorded, I’m just hopeful they captured concerts with the four unreleased tracks from the album performed. That said, this “Atlantic City” also has its positives in the form of Max’s drumming, Danny’s synth, and Nils’ angelic backing vocals – Miami Steve sounded great helping out in the most recent Archive release from the Brendan Byrne in ’81, but every now and then it’s nice to hear Nils’ softer vocals in comparison to the gruffness Stevie brings. “Johnny 99” is the second of the Nebraska trifecta in succession and as I’ve said in the past don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming the melody Nils is playing around 2:20, because it’s that infectious! It’s the next track though that cements this concert’s place as a worthy Archive release, regardless of the fact it features on the August 20th show as well. You know those song performances that stop you in your tracks when you hear them for the first time? I’m not just talking about those great live versions of songs released (think “Born to Run” from 1988 or “Local Hero” from 2013) that are undoubtedly excellent, but more so those ones that genuinely make you stop what you’re doing and make you take 100% notice. There aren’t too many of them and off the top of my head I can think of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” from Springsteen on Broadway – maybe “Restless Nights” from Buffalo 2009 – and “Highway Patrolman” from this show. The studio album of “Patrolman” never did anything for me, but I remember walking home from University and hearing this version for the first time, it was the magic of live Springsteen in full effect. It’s a stunning effort from Springsteen, Lofgren and Tallent, as their vocal and guitar playing talents combine for a true Archive Series essential. The August 20th rendition is great too, maybe just as great, but like many of the songs from subsequent tour releases, it doesn’t sound or feel as special as this first. Fun versions of “Prove It All Night”, “Glory Days” and “The Promised Land” follow, and once again the first of the two Darkness tracks in this sequence gives us a nice contrast to the recently released July 9th, 1981 show at the three minute point where it concerns Nils’ harmonies. After hearing Stevie’s backing vocals on the track so much over the last two weeks, Nils’ softer tone allows for the song to be felt in a different way. As for “Glory Days”, there’s a lot to take in on this and a few differences to the two additional versions from the tour. The extended intro allows for Garry to shine with his bass rhythm most prominent, and thankfully(?) there’s no shout of “I’M GONNA TICKLE YOUR LITTLE TOOTSIES!” from Bruce in this one (there’s also, sadly, no Twilight Zone theme played on the guitar). Instead he treats us to a tale of his escapades as a Little League Baseball player back in the day – we get the great quip, “Before I learned to play the guitar, there’s only one other thing I wanted to be… a lover!” at the start of this monologue – complete with him mimicking one of his teammates, “oh Mrs Springsteen! Please!” and even bringing his teammates out onstage. Much like “The Promised Land” afterwards, the song itself isn’t anything overly spectacular, but at least we get that excellent line to begin the outro: “I can hear that clock on the wall, ticking away, every minute of my life, every day. And it say’s “Boss! You’re thirty!…” The first set ends with four songs sequenced to tell us the life story of Springsteen’s dad, Douglas (Bruce tells us he’s in the audience, and also teases him, describing him as “A big round guy“) as well as emphasise the importance of family. With we’ve learned about the issues Doug Springsteen faced over the years, and given what we know about Bruce Springsteen’s megastardom in 1984, we’re inclined to think about these four songs in a different light to their album counterparts. While “Used Cars” is sorrowful on Nebraska, on this night Springsteen sings such lyrics as “We ain’t never gonna ride no used car again” victoriously as Danny’s organ chimes give a sound reminiscent of a fairytale, but now the lyrics in this song were far from fiction. This immaculate performance of “My Hometown” may appear to be the outlier of the Doug Springsteen themed sequence, but Bruce’s intro is as relevant to his dad as it is to him. Bruce talks about resenting where he came from and wanting to get out (something Doug did), but finding peace in how for all of his hometown’s faults, he was part of a community, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Of course, the Born in the U.S.A. album closer also highlights the closing down of fields of work. Bruce would substitute “textile” for “rug” on Broadway to make the lyric truly relevant to his dad, but even without that substitution we’re aware of the struggles he faced and every member of a community faces at some point. “Badlands” sums it up, “you’ve gotta live it every day“, whether it’s physical battles, political battles, or the ones with mental demons. There’s an urgency throughout this version evident in the tempo and Bruce’s vocals to where it seems like they’re rushing to get through it. Regardless, this should still be heard to once again admire Patti’s astonishing backing vocals. “Thunder Road” wraps up the sequence and first set, with the famous final lyric of “pulling out of here to win” harking back to Douglas Springsteen packing up and getting out of Freehold, as well as being relevant to Bruce achieving everything he wanted and more. This is, unsurprisingly, a really good performance. Bruce and Patti are still in strong voice, the crowd are mixed in tremendously, and we get an amazing moment at 3:50 that isn’t on the August 20th, or September 27th, 1985 releases in the form of Nils’ emphatic guitar playing. Seven seconds later we get Danny’s chimes once more (these are noticeable on the other two releases, albeit a bit quieter) and four seconds after that: “So whattaya waitin’ for!? Climb in!” The performances of “Thunder Road” were on a different level on this tour. It’s a lively opening twenty minutes to the second set with “Hungry Heart”, “Dancing in the Dark”, “Sherry Darling” and “Cadillac Ranch” giving the Born in the U.S.A. World Tour a River flavour. For the first time of the night Bruce’s vocals sound a little worn during “Hungry Heart” and “Dancing in the Dark”, but he still pulls it out of the bag and sings staggeringly well from 2:56 – 3:02 of the River track. On that quite famous BITUSA album track he’s overshadowed by Nils’ “Even if we’re just dancin'” and Clarence’s instrumental for the outro. Nils’ harmony and Clarence’s final note (5:06 – 5:10) are truly tremendous contributions to the song, and while the post-Reunion version it would evolve into is the song’s best, it must be said that these two aspects were great losses after 1988. Bruce’s mighty “Hey baby” as we know is still intact, and it’s arguably just as good from 4:27 – 4:30 on this version as any, with the exception of Live in Barcelona 2002. Bruce’s vocal improves on “Cadillac Ranch” and “Sherry Darling”, which are solid versions despite their contrasting paces. “Caddy” sounds as urgent as “Badlands” (and it’s as much of a full band showcase), whereas “Sherry” is as casual as can be. The dual vocals of Bruce and Nils are nice, but very mellow, and even Clarence’s sax solo lacks the knockout punch it usually gives on the track. Even so, it’s a fine end to this colourful run of songs and for as subdued as it may sound in comparison to the raucous July 9th, 1981 version we’ve been listening to lately, the atmosphere is still loud enough allowed to be quieted down with the great acoustic rendition of “No Surrender”. Dedicated to Tex and Marion Vinyard, and Little Steven, this is a thoroughly powerful performance to listen to, but it’s made even more so because of the August 20th release and Stevie’s appearance on that night. When we listen to that final night knowing he’s in the building we can sense the joy flowing through Bruce when he sings lyrics like “It’s good to see your smiling face and to hear your laughter again”. He may be standing alone during that performance, but he’s comforted by his friend’s presence in the building. This version on the other hand, is a lot sadder, because as of this moment Steve is gone and it’s unclear if he’s coming back. Bruce may find comfort in the lyrics and memories he sings about, but he’s truly alone, so when he sings “I’m ready to grow young again“, you can feel the sadness in his voice. The mood is briefly lifted with a history listen about The “Pink Cadillac”, and similarly to “Glory Days” this features a bunch of great lines within Bruce’s monologue. Whether he’s talking about “desires of the flesh and spiritual ecstasy” or how he knows he’s going to go to Heaven, there’s plenty to sink our teeth into for a laugh following that emotional “No Surrender”. Most prominent on this one instrumentally is The Professor, who continues doing Professor things following his playing on “Out in the Street”, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”, “The Promised Land” and “Badlands” (and the rest). The theme of brotherhood is then once again brought about, with “Growin’ Up” keeping the lighthearted tone going. This time we’re focusing on Bruce’s friendship with Clarence thanks to an excellent interlude stretching from 2:27 to 7:30 that has everything from flat tyres to Jim the Dancing Bear in a story about their voyage through The Pine Barrens – I believe they just missed Paulie Walnuts and Christopher Moltisanti. “And here we are tonight!“ After the laugh with Clarence, it’s back to being wistful with “Bobby Jean”. On this version there’s no unique riff from Nils like he’d play in September ’85, it’s simply a spot on performance that stays true to the album track, with the only difference being that Bruce’s singing is more inspired and full of yearning. “Backstreets” ends this thematic run of songs, and even though I’m not a fan of the extended intro that takes us to 2:16 (ending with Bruce sighing “won’t you come back“), the song proper is very good and it’s peak Phantom Dan. There’s a lot of spoken moments from Bruce within and they’re usually followed by stunning moments of singing: “trying to learn how to walk like the heroes…” at 6:43 – 7:10 is a fine example. This version is on the level of most released through the series, but at this point it’s more difficult to find a poor version of the song than a brilliant one. A seventeen minute long “Rosalita” ends the main set as it would continue to do for most of the next two months (it would be dropped on October 19th for the first time since 1974). It’s your typical version complete with introductions for The E Street Band and also Jim the Dancing Bear – “Don’t worry folks, he’s completely docile!“. The intros are enjoyable to listen to as always, and there are several fun moments of back and forth between Bruce and Clarence: “winners use-a the door, use-a the door!!” at 3:00, but seventeen minutes is a chore where it concerns repeated listens. It’s even more so the case for this song than the lengthy “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” from the Reunion Tour when you consider how, unlike the extended “Tenth”, there’s nothing dissimilar in the way long and short versions of “Rosie” are played. “Jersey Girl” kicks off the encore and this is a really good version, tons better than the rendition on the 1993 Brendan Byrne release, and vocally superior to the performances available from 2014 and 2016. Roy, Garry and Max do a fantastic job throughout and Clarence’s solo is stellar. It’s only downside is in how the July 9th, 1981 / Live 1975-85 version is as good as it is, to the point where anything just feels inconsequential. Maybe we should start looking at that “Jersey Girl” as the great anomaly in Springsteen’s live catalogue, because this one should be appreciated too. Another magnificent “Jungleland” released through the Series follows, and the most notable aspect of this version is Bruce acing Stevie’s greatest guitar solo from 3:11 – 3:40. It’s so flawless that if you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was Steve onstage playing it himself! With the end of the show in sight, Bruce lets freedom reign with the second best “Born to Run” of the three currently available from the Born in the U.S.A. World Tour (excluding the definitive Live 75-85 version of course). I can’t say this is better than the Los Angeles ’85 version and all of its vocal nuance glory, but there’s no tin whistle (or whatever that noise is) that’s bugging the August 20th track, and that’s good enough for me. The same can be said about “Detroit Medley” regarding that noise, but unfortunately this is also hindered by “Travelin’ Band” being a separate track. This may be copyright related – something that’s affected “The Medley” on unofficial CD releases over the years – but regardless of the reason, the last minute of “Detroit Medley” is attached to the chopped “Travelin’ Band” interpolation. So I wouldn’t advise skipping the CCR song! “Twist and Shout” ends the show, and unlike the Los Angeles show this is only eight minutes long, but thankfully, like LA it’s sang and played just as well. We’re spoilt for choice with the song on the three versions we’ve got from 1984-85. On this release it’s just “Twist and Shout”, August 20th has “Do You Love Me?”, and Los Angeles has both and La Bamba (but lasts over seventeen minutes). There’s a variety that means there’s something fantastic for every fan, and that’s great. I should mention though that if you’re desperate for extra on this final track, there’s a nice small snippet of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love” from the speakers to end the show – remember, it’s the little things that count. Lacking the historical significance of August 20th, 1984 (and the “Drift Away”) as well as the perfectionism evident on September 27th, 1985, the opening night of the 1984 Brendan Byrne Arena stand is still a fantastic show and remains an enjoyable listen despite how much more appealing the other two may be. There are few versions of “Out in the Street” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” that top the ones from this night, and none that are better than “Highway Patrolman” and “Used Cars”. It’s not an immediate must listen, but one that should still be listened to and appreciated over and over.