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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 1988
Disc One (63:10)
- Tunnel Of Love
- Boom Boom
- Be True
- Adam Raised A Cain
- Two Faces
- All That Heaven Will Allow
- Seeds
- Vigilante Man
- Cover Me
- Brilliant Disguise
Disc Two (70:24)
- Spare Parts
- War
- Born In The U.S.A.
- Tougher Than The Rest
- Ain't Got You
- She's The One
- You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
- I'm A Coward
- I'm On Fire
- One Step Up
- Part Man, Part Monkey
Disc Three (74:13)
- Backstreets
- Light Of Day/Born To Be Wild
- Born To Run
- Hungry Heart
- Glory Days
- Have Love, Will Travel
- Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
- Sweet Soul Music
- Raise Your Hand
- Lonely Teardrops
Bonus (soundcheck) : - For Your Love
Label : Nugs.net
Venue : Madison Square Garden, New York Cityn, New York, USA
Recording Date : May 23, 1988
Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)
Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : Following the most stellar year of releases from the Archive Series to date, 2019 kicks off with a release from the Tunnel of Love Express Tour, the tour’s first release since the universally acclaimed Stockholm show in November 2017, and a release filled with a plethora of excellent music, tremendous playing and lots more, including a particular song inclusion that might be very important going forward in the series. I wouldn’t blame any fan for immediately looking at the setlist and thinking it’s very similar to the 23/04/1988 Los Angeles release from back in 2015, because quite simply, it is very similar on paper. When you listen to this one however, you’ll very quickly realise that this is an entirely different show. The core Tunnel of Love Express Tour songs are here, as expected, in “Tunnel of Love”, “All That Heaven Will Allow”, “Brilliant Disguise” and the always great “I’m a Coward” to name just a few, but there’s a completely different tone altogether from that Los Angeles show. For one thing, Bruce seems a lot more upbeat, as evident in “All That Heaven Will Allow” (which is thankfully the complete song in this release, with the intro not stuck irritatingly onto the end of “Two Faces” like on the Los Angeles release). The contextual factors of Springsteen’s personal life during the tour will, of course, have had an impact on his mentality going into every show, but in this one you get the feeling that he’s enjoying his playing experience, while in Los Angeles he seems very much gripped by the grim-reality of his life at the time. That being said, however upbeat Springsteen is in this one doesn’t have a negative impact on his passion or raw emotion when performing certain songs, including the vocal stretching trio of “Spare Parts”, “War” and “Born in the U.S.A.”. As this is the third release from this tour, I expect there’ll be many content to get no more Tunnel of Love Tour releases, but I could happily listen to every available show from it if we’re able to get more of this tumultuous and tremendous trifecta. It’ll take a few more listens for me to truly start wondering if this “Born in the U.S.A.” competes with the definitive version from Stockholm, but for now I can say with confidence, 1988 is the best year for the song, with Nils Lofgren particularly being outstanding in his guitar playing here. There’s a few notable songs from the tour missing here in favour of new tracks that you’re unlikely to hear on any other show – unfortunately for me, “Part Man, Part Monkey” was not dropped on this night for the archive series elusive “Walk Like a Man”. “Dancing in the Dark” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” are absent as stupendous covers of “Vigilante Man”, “Lonely Teardrops” and a soundcheck recording of the magical Horns driven “For Your Love”, which is included at the end of the show in the most interesting song addition on an archive release to date. There’s no guarantee that this will result in more soundcheck or rehearsal footage being used in future, but it creates some good possibilities. Additionally, on this one there’s the great “don’t touch that thing” rockabilly version of “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)”, which I’d go as far to say is my favourite version of the song more so than the OG River album version or the other changed-version on the LA ToL show. I’m happy to get both “Boom Boom” and “Be True” as Springsteen was prone to choose one or the other during the tour, so with this release we get the best of both worlds, an example of The E Street Band at their tightest for those more fond of the rockers in contrast to the ‘love songs’ and an excellent display of Clarence Clemons’ power of the saxophone with “Be True”. With these archive releases one thing I always like doing is contemplating why a show has been released on its respective month, and if there’s any connection with modern-day Springsteen. For me, on this one that’s apparent in “Adam Raised a Cain” (spurred on greatly by The Horns of Love), which shares a striking similarity to the monologue prior to “Long Time Comin'” on Netflix’s Springsteen on Broadway, where Bruce talks about his father visiting him prior to the birth of his first child to, essentially, warn Bruce of not making the same mistakes with his children as his father made with him. “To release them from the chain of our sins”, Springsteen would state in 2018, while he howls “break that chain” during “Adam Raised a Cain” here in May 1988. Though the visit from Springsteen’s father wouldn’t happen until two years later, there’s something very interesting about this, even if it is just a likely coincidence of phrasing. Whether it’s the comedic aspect of Max Weinberg playing the intro of “Roulette” for a good few seconds before stopping as Bruce and The Band start “Vigilante Man”, another stunning solo “Born to Run” or peak ’88 versions of “I’m on Fire” and the beautiful, albeit stark “One Step Up”; or whether it’s the rocking trio of “Glory Days”, “Have Love, Will Travel” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” leading into the finale, there’s something for everyone on this ride through the Tunnel of Love Express. It might have been labelled as a dark ride, but this is bound to bring you three and a half hours of joy.