BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : THE SUMMIT, HOUSTON, TX DECEMBER 8, 1978

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : THE SUMMIT, HOUSTON, TX - DECEMBER 8, 1978

Disc One (75:29)

Badlands
Streets Of Fire
It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Spirit In The Night
Independence Day
The Promised Land
Prove It All Night
Racing In The Street
Thunder Road
Jungleland

Disc Two (61:24)

The Ties That Bind
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
The Fever
Fire
Candy's Room
Because The Night
Point Blank
She's The One
Backstreets

Disc Three (37:32)

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Born To Run
Detroit Medley
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
You Can't Sit Down
Quarter To Three

Label : Nugs.net

Venue : The Summit, Houston, Texas, USA

Recording Date : December 8, 1978

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : Back when the plan to release a Bruce Springsteen concert from the vault every first Friday of the month was announced, it was said that there’d be the odd occasion where an we’d get an additional release per month. With the exception of the Christmas bonuses, there’s only been one instance of this, back in September 2017, when the audio of Houston ’78 was released nineteen days after Belfast ’96 and six days before July 1st 2000 was released in its entirety for the first time. It’s fitting that this would be released before that Madison Square Garden show, as this was similarly available for fans to watch on DVD years before the Archive Series was created, as part of the Darkness on the Edge of Town boxset that came out in 2010. Even though this concert was complete, unlike Live in New York City there was never an option of just listening to the audio, so this unexpected release gave a sigh of relief to many who’d been wanting to take this show with them on their travels for nearly a decade. As you can see in the artwork above, though, the main purpose of releasing this concert as part of the Archive Series was to raise funds for the MusiCares® Hurricane Relief Fund, following Hurricane Harvey and the devastation it caused Texas and Louisiana in August 2017. All proceeds from this audio release are still going towards that Relief Fund, and it’s this audio release I’ll be primarily talking about. If you want to check out the video of this concert, but don’t have, or fancy buying, the Darkness boxset, you can find it on Springsteen’s official YouTube channel as every song has been uploaded individually since this was released (along with just about every other official DVD release). Just be prepared if you’re not a fan of rapid-fire camera cuts, and don’t expect to see too much of Max’s contributions during the show either. As a concert, I think this show suffers what all future Darkness Tour releases will face – the inevitable Atlanta radio broadcast show excluded, of course – and that’s that it isn’t on the level of the Passaic, Roxy and Winterland nights. These are the tour releases that will always be recommended first and foremost, because of their audio quality, their context and most importantly, their content, but as we recognised in my reviews of The Agora ’78 and Philadelphia 2009, not every show has to be an all-timer. Instead, every now and then it’s more than enough to simply sit back and enjoy the music, especially when it’s Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band live in 1978, and even though the audio quality is closer to The Agora than it is to Passaic night two, this is most certainly a listenable recording. It’s a little ragged, but it’s consistent and given the timeframe it was recorded in there’s nothing to be irked about compared to Rome 2013 when it really should have been impossible to record, mix and master poorly. So, when you immediately know that this isn’t of the same ilk as Passaic and Winterland, and you discover that the audio is just ok, similarly to Philly ’09 you end up noticing details that may have passed you by had this been a top tier Archive Series release. Usually when I see a Darkness Tour setlist I’ll think the first half is the undisputed high point, full of Bruce’s strongest hits, and that the second half is relatively ‘weak’ in comparison (I know, I know, most bands would love to play a second set as weak as Springsteen did in ’78). Houston is different, though. What fascinates me about this concert is the thematic sequencing evident in both the first and second sets, and even though with song repetition there are shades of these sequences in our other six releases (Winterland night one in particular), Houston feels more consistent and more carefully structured. With the exception of “Spirit in the Night” (depending on whether or not you believe Bruce when he tells you he’s never taken any drugs), our opening is an incredibly personal one from Bruce, with “Badlands”, “Streets of Fire”, “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City”, “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, “Independence Day”, “The Promised Land” and “Prove It All Night” all seeming to connect to him in someway. The two opening tracks – which feature immense guitar playing (2:32 – 2:46 / 2:03 – 2:47) and immense work from Danny on the organ (1:07 – 1:32 / 0:17 – 1:04) – are the first to echo the life of Springsteen’s dad (if we go with the “Streets of Fire” theory in the Albany/Rochester ’77 review as legitimate) in firstly highlighting his struggles living and working in New Jersey and his desire to get away and start a new life in California with specific lyrics in “Badlands” like, “Workin’ in the fields, ’till you get your back burned”, and later on, “I don’t give a damn for the same old played out scenes”. “Streets of Fire” then brings attention to the difficult relationship between father and son. Remembering the monologue Bruce recites prior to “It’s My Life” in Albany and Rochester, where he talks about how, “I’d get in real late… he’d call me back into the kitchen and I’d go sit with him. I could always hear his voice, but I could never see his face”, there’s something very apt about the lyrics, “When the night’s quiet and you don’t care anymore, and your eyes are tired and there’s someone at your door“, and of course that line, “In the darkness, I hear somebody call my name“. With that in mind it might explain why this version of the song has Bruce singing as passionately as he does, and given that this was the only live version of the song we had from the golden era of Live E Street until the release of 19/9/78 in September 2019, we were very lucky to have this version for those two years. “Saint in the City” as the third song in the set gives us something of an idea as to why Bruce’s relationship with his dad – and also his hometown of Freehold – was so strained, as the idea of a fiery, albeit confident, young man oozes in the performance of this track. “Saint” is full of swagger and Bruce’s nonchalant way of singing every line definitely paints him as an admirable, and to a degree unlikable, badass. Roy’s little piano fills (0:27, 0:34, 1:00) along with Clarence’s sax siren are the most prominent instrumentals throughout this band driven performance, and they overshadow just about everything else in the song until that build begins at 2:34 and is then met with that first strum of electric guitar at 3:17. From that point on we get a delightfully devastating solo to take us home, and Max’s rising tempo in the background gets us prepared for the explosion that will occur in our next track. As per usual on the tour though, it’s a slow start for “Darkness”, and it’s not until 0:57 where the tour’s title track emphatically informs us of the consequences of that strained relationship with father and community, as Bruce’s view of the world has changed and now he views it in the same way he believes his dad did in “Badlands”. This is shown not just by the guitar playing of Bruce and Miami Steve alongside Danny’s organ and Max’s drumming, but also in the way Bruce sings select lyrics such as, “You can drive all night, and never make it around” at 1:58, and when he howls “I’ll be there on time and I’ll pay the cost” with one of his most enraged vocal deliveries in the show not too long later (3:22). “Independence Day” is our first of three future River album tracks played on the night, and it’s the sole album track that shows us what happens when that darkness becomes too much and you have to get away – whether that darkness relates solely to the father/son relationship or also in how there’s nothing left in the community worth staying for. Unsurprisingly, this follows the powerful “Darkness” and rowdy “Spirit” with a tender contrast, and Bruce’s gruff howls and wails are replaced with a more soulful smoothness. I’d say that Danny once again provides the highlights instrumental-wise, but that would be doing a disservice to Roy, Max and Garry as they complement the Phantom massively with their magnificent crescendoing work during the penultimate verse (3:50). This verse is also important as while Bruce isn’t moving on from his and father’s history (that’s a long way away yet) he’s definitely in the process of accepting it and learning to deal with it as part of himself. Followed by “The Promised Land”, this is the first time I’ve ever thought about Bruce’s comments prior to the song in his Springsteen on Broadway show after listening to this and “Independence Day” back-to-back. With the darkness seeping in and overshadowing the set, here we’re allowed to think even more about what Bruce’s idealistic promised land actually is, and when we think about his words on Broadway, it mightn’t be over the top to think that his promised land genuinely is “Sky, sky, sky, and more sky. Lowering on the two lanes of black top, and disappearing into nothing.” And in thinking about that it does make for an even more detailed image in our minds when Bruce sings about the “rattlesnake speedway on the Utah desert” and the “dark cloud rising from the desert floor” in this version of the Darkness track, which, for me, has its high points in the form of Miami Steve’s harmonies – that’s right, even above Bruce’s vocals and harmonica playing, above Clarence’s solo and Danny’s organ playing. Steve’s consistent throughout, but it’s really his contributions from 3:30 (funnily enough when Bruce is singing the “dark cloud rising from the desert floor” verse) where he shines most of all, adding a ghostly aura to the fore. It’s also fitting that the above mentioned Broadway intro is opened with Bruce setting the scene of him playing on the Jersey Shore waiting to be discovered, wondering when, where and how it’s going to happen. I think it’s safe to say that for the audiences and record label producers he was playing for, the main thing he had to do was to “Prove it all night, every night“, the same way he and The E Street Band do here on the penultimate track of the Darkness album. Starting off with a two minute, five second long piano instrumental that also has noteworthy contributions from Garry on bass and Danny on organ, it’s very likely going to be from 2:05 – 5:35 where you get most of your enjoyment from this particular song (and maybe the show entire). Bruce’s ferocious guitar playing over these three and a half minutes gives those of us who like to argue The E Street Band were better in 1980/81 and/or 1988 a reminder that it was only the Darkness Tour where you could hear a guitar solo quite like this. Having said that, you may well prefer the roaring Clarence solo from 7:05 – 7:22 more, or the shorter, fourteen second piece of guitar playing from 7:22 – 7:36 that Clarence’s sax transitions into. And if not any of them, there’s always Danny’s magical work on the keys (9:10) that brings us into the coda and one last guitar solo (9:24 – 10:50), and all I can say about this one is that it’s actually frightening to think this isn’t even the best performance of “Prove It All Night” in December 1978, let alone the entire tour. If you haven’t downloaded this show yet, you might want to take advantage of the official video on YouTube asap. Our first set ending trio of “Racing in the Street”, “Thunder Road” and, finally, “Jungleland”, are somewhat interesting outliers in this personally driven narrative that Bruce has taken us through over the last fifty minutes. Bruce has told us in his autobiography and on Broadway that he wasn’t actually this “race car driving rebel” that “Racing” and “Thunder Road” show him to be, so these cinematic stories aren’t as personal as the others. Maybe though, it’s in how these blockbuster tracks are closing out the first set where we can connect them to the previous eight songs. In those eight, Bruce has told us his story as a son, a member of a community and of his rise to stardom as a musician, and in these three songs he’s planting the audience and those of us listening in the 21st century right in this moment in December ’78, so we can see how Bruce Springsteen saw himself at the time. He was a writer of grandiose, cinematic stories that romanticised the American dream and echoed the American reality. In “Racing” he sings of both, and following on from the immense intro and marvellous outro of “Prove It”, Bruce and The E Street Band put on another masterclass that culminates in the most stunning and heartbreaking of fashions from 5:30. With the unique addition of Bruce’s harmonica adding a bluesy and more pessimistic ending to the track, this coda is the summit as far as showcasing the freedom Roy and Danny had on those keyboards in The Summit. Aside from the audio, the only flaw with this performance is that it couldn’t go on a minute or two longer. It’s interesting that “Racing” doesn’t transition immediately into “Thunder Road” or at least have Bruce telling the story about travelling with Stevie and seeing the house in the desert with a picture of Geronimo outside or the sign that says “This is a land of peace, love, justice, and no mercy“. Perhaps that was done on purpose, with the intention being to not make this seem like one of those personal tracks rather than a blockbuster, but whatever the reason, this is still tremendous on account of being “Thunder Road”. The only problem this song faces is that when Bruce opens it up to the audience to sing “Show a little faith there’s magic in the night” from 1:14, it sounds like there’s forty people at the most in the audience, not the twelve thousand who were actually there. It’s only right that this sequence of monumental tracks is concluded with Bruce’s grandest song, the nine minute+ powerhouse. And in keeping with the show’s theme of noticing details that may have passed us by, what stood out most in this version of “Jungleland” wasn’t the solos and instrumentals from Clarence, Stevie, Danny, Roy and Garry, or the vocals and wails of Bruce, but the drumming of Max, particularly from 3:54 to 6:08 when my attention would normally be focused on The Big Man’s finest moment. While I always envision Clarence’s solo to be a montage of the rendezvous that leads to The Magic Rat’s downfall, as far as I can remember, until revisiting this one I’ve never properly listened to Max’s drumming and realised he was actually replicating the shots both on the street and the ones echoing “down them hallways in the night“, but now that I have, this is going to be a fundamental aspect of the song going forward for me. It won’t be quite as important a factor as Clarence’s or Steve’s solos, but it’ll definitely add that extra little something to a song I thought I’d known everything about years ago. A great way to end an engrossing first set! I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a fan of these early versions of “The Ties That Bind”. The slower build into the song from Max lacks the sudden kick that those stunning versions from 1980 onwards have, but as mentioned in the past this does provide an interesting insight of the song’s genesis, following on from the first set in reminding us that everything, everyone, starts somewhere. And if anything, it’s also worth having for Bruce’s “Fowa!” (0:19) and for Miami’s delightful piece of rhythm guitar playing at 0:38. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” makes an appearance afterwards with Christmas only seventeen days away. This is the song’s eleventh appearance of the tour after its debut in Passaic on September 20th – quite late in the year, admittedly, for Bruce’s standards – and it’s a nice lull with a few fun contributions from Clarence (0:41 – 0:51, 2:52 – 2:55) before the thematic nine song sequence begins immediately after. While the first half’s sequence is themed on Bruce’s personal story, in contrast there’s an excellent theme of lust, love and betrayal flowing through this half of the show, starting off with a trio that focus on the restricted love, where obstacles are in the way. “The Fever” starts us off with Bruce having had the girl and still wanting the girl after losing her, but we’re left unsure as to whether he’ll ever see her again. This is an excellent version, and even though it lacks the fiery intensity of “Prove It”, this is just as indicative of Springsteen and The E Street Band as a cohesive unit on this tour. Similarly to “Prove It”, Roy and Danny start us off in a sultry manner, before Max and Clarence properly kickstart the song. This intro and Bruce’s vocals (as well as the backing vocals of Clarence, Steve and Garry) are so well received by the audience that you’d think “The Fever” and “Thunder Road” were being played in different venues. The Magnificent Seven continue to shine throughout this one with additionally fantastic instrumentals from Clarence, Danny and Max (3:22 – 4:53) and more splendid vocals by Bruce at 5:16 with his “I’m gonna be alright now!” – the harmonies of Miami Steve almost make this Springsteen’s equivalent of Queen’s “Somebody to Love”. It really shouldn’t be surprising that the sole song to not make it onto a studio album release is one of the absolute highlights of this concert. In contrast to “The Fever”, the Garry Tallent inspired “Fire” sees Bruce as having the girl, wanting her, but she doesn’t want him (or at least that’s what she wants him to think!). This is nothing spectacular, but it’s well sang by Bruce, and after eight minutes of “The Fever” it’s another short breather that’s an easy listen during this sequence. I think a breather was probably needed as well considering the rapid “Candy’s Room” that concludes this trio. In “Candy”, both of our protagonists have each other and want to be with each other, but unfortunately for them the matter of Candy’s profession is proving to be a challenge. While Bruce and Stevie go full pelt on vocals, this is really a Mighty Max showcase, with first minute and fifty seconds seeing him building the mood on the cymbals before assaulting those drums like his life depends on it. When we get to 1:50, Bruce takes the forefront with another searing solo on the Fender, but that doesn’t stop Max from emphasising just why Bruce gave him the “Mighty” title! “Because The Night” stands out as the most optimistic track in the opening five songs of this sequence, as our lovers have escaped any clutches of evil and now have no challenges, but pure freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want. The day, and the night, are theirs. The versions of this song from Passaic and Winterland may have came about since September 2017 and outshined this rendition, but in no way does that make this unworthy of listening to. Alongside “Prove It” and “The Fever” this is one of the best song performances on the show and both the opening two minutes, thirty seconds, and the outro from 5:07 provide that same sense of nostalgia for this era regardless of whether you were actually alive for it or not. A must must listen. Unfortunately though for the lovers in “Because The Night”, the fifth song in this sequence is our third future River album track of the show, “Point Blank”, and as we all know is the case in this one, love goes wrong and “you end up shot in the face“. For “Point Blank” to be in the middle of the more optimistic “Because The Night and the combination of “Mona” – “She’s The One” immediately feels like something of a warning from Bruce, one that can take us back to the recent Philadelphia 1999 release and its own thematic sequence of Romeo and Juliet resembling relationships as a reminder: It doesn’t always end well. In this version there’s no immense Clarence intro and instead the opening is similar to how it would eventually sound on The River. This isn’t all identical to the studio track, however, as it’s only just a little more evolved than the performance from The Roxy five months earlier. This version has Bruce singing in more depth about “Baby“, and it also features the “you go home and pack your pistol” lyric amongst several other alternatives, but for me what’s most notable about is how stunningly Bruce delivers certain lyrics. Standing out in particular are his vocals singing “tomorrow’s fall in number” (2:17) and “right between the pretty lies that they sell” (3:01 – 3:05). In addition to these, when Bruce sings lyrics like “then try to stay alive” (5:01 – 5:06) in that gruffer tone of his, this song becomes an instant shout for the best example of his vocal range in the show. I’d have happily said “Point Blank” was Bruce’s best vocal performance outright on the show too, but he immediately puts that into contention with his opening on “Mona” when he sings “sweet little girl live down the lane” (0:28 – 0:32), and later “I need you baby that’s no lie” (1:06 – 1:10). What’s striking about this combination of “Mona” into “She’s The One” is in how allusions of “Point Blank” to someone ending up getting “shot in the face” may well and truly be the end result here. When all of the lust and teasing from the girl in “She’s The One” is said and done, Bruce’s interpolation of “I Get Mad” strongly insinuates an unhappy ending. After bringing the music down and telling us that he can’t reach this girl (“I get no reply” at 8:31 is a gem of a line) it starts to suggest that this lust and teasing wasn’t just exclusive to Bruce. When he tells us about seeing “two silhouettes on the window shade” (8:52) to confirm that notion, Bruce proceeds to mention several figures who he happens to gets mad in the same way as – Al Capone, Jesse James, Smokin’ Joe, ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd and “like Popeye!” (9:07) – which doesn’t exactly portray him as a character worth rooting for. While Bruce is playfully chuckling away during all of this, at the same time it nicely, and worryingly, hints at him descending into insanity. This connects really well with “Point Blank” and, of course this apparent betrayal of the girl he’s in love with here makes our next song all the more gutting. Oh, and even though I’ve tried to keep this review primarily relevant to the audio track, I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t direct you to 10:45 of the official video so you can see the moves of Bruce and Clarence. Those two lads didn’t half have rhythm! The above mentioned song that follows “Mona” – “She’s The One” is, of course, “Backstreets” in nearly all of its ’78 glory with the exception of a much shorter interlude that I think is perfect on this occasion. If we’re looking at this as part of a sequence and connecting it to “She’s The One”, I really like how there’s no excessive vehemence or vitriol in his voice as there was in The Roxy, The Agora or Winterland, and instead we get a relatively softer, lighter monologue: “I remember you, little girl I remember you, and I know you remember me too. And I remember runnin’ out… I remember runnin’ outside of town. And I remember that old feel, I remember that stripped down Cadillac, and I remember, baby, take me ridin’ in back… take me right and back… hiding on the backstreets“ With this interlude, for me this version of “Backstreets” sees a more experienced, despondent Bruce – who didn’t descend into madness – as more accepting of the girl taking the other option in “She’s The One”. He’s not only willing to forgive, but he’s seeking forgiveness for his mistakes, making this version of the song as much a one of redemption as it is of betrayal. It feels like such a perfect ending to this sequence that “Rosalita” almost seems out of place afterwards, despite also relating to the themes of lust and love. The only problem with “Rosie” in this set-closing position here is in how it actually takes us back to the start of the sequence with it being applicable to restricted love, with our young lovers facing an ongoing battle against Rosie’s parents. On the other hand, though, we could see both “Rosie” and “Born to Run” after it as Bruce’s sign that the darkness actually was still only on the edge of town, and that it hadn’t driven itself too deep into the minds of Springsteen and his audience yet. The romantic dreams of escapism are still possible and there’s still that optimism of getting to “that place that we really want to go and we’ll walk in the sun, but until then…“. We could also look at “Detroit Medley” as fitting in with this sequence, but to be perfectly honest I think it fits in nicer alongside “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”, “You Can’t Sit Down” and “Quarter to Three” as being a pure example of Rock and Roll music at its finest. Annoyingly though, “The Medley” is the only song in this show that’s actually hindered by the audio, as I feel it fails to reach it’s full potential due to how quiet it ultimately is. We know fine well how good this cover amongst mere covers can be with stellar audio on the Passaic shows and Tempe and Nassau ’80, but this time out it pales in comparison just a little bit. Mind you, it’s nice to actually know what it is Bruce and The Big Man are doing onstage from 6:20 onwards thanks to the footage! “Tenth” afterwards is surprisingly impressive vocals-wise given the timeframe, as even though Bruce’s delivery of the lyrics is nowhere near Reunion Tour levels, I’ve always liked how he sings “with my back to the wall yeah!” (1:10) and “the little pretties raise their hands!” (2:22) in this show. Alongside these aspects it’s, to the shock of nobody, another showcase for Clarence and Danny throughout, as well as Stevie who complements Bruce nicely with his backing vocals. And that drawn out “It’s alright” (3:46) from Bruce while Danny’s organ swells for the last time in the song at is superb. If you wanted more of “You Can’t Sit Down” after it popped up out of nowhere on the September 25th, 1999 release earlier this month, this is what you’re looking for. Played at a lightning fast tempo, this commonly occurring encore track during the late seventies is a riveting glimpse into Springsteen and The E Street Band’s Rock and Roll roots. It’s very straightforward in its execution and few risks are taken in comparison to a song like “Detroit Medley”, but it’s worth checking out if just to hear Danny’s organ playing (again!!). “We’re gonna go hide behind the curtain, you guys yell, then we come back out and play another one, okay?!” They don’t call him The Boss for anything and that quote is most certainly what he directed the audience to do forty-one years before he’d make his directorial debut with Western Stars, and because there’s always room for one more we get a thoroughly enjoyable rendition of “Quarter to Three” to send us home. It’s a shorter version than we’re accustomed to, with this coming in two minutes shorter than Hammersmith ’75 and five to seven minutes shorter than the Winterland renditions. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing noteworthy in this though, as the “oh oh oh’s” between Bruce, Clarence, Stevie and the audience from 1:49 are as smooth as can be amidst the raucous rocking (check out 2:27 for The E Street Band at their boisterous best) and it all culminates with Bruce’s “I’m just a prisoner of rock and roll” from 2:47 to cap the night off on an excellent, echoey note. Released to support a good cause, Houston ’78 is more than worthy of its place in Springsteen’s Archive Series. It mightn’t have the same audio quality and the perfectionism of Passaic, Winterland and The Roxy, but in what it lacks we’ve been able to instead find and highlight its strengths of an excellently structured setlist that has not one, but two distinct themes flowing through it. In addition to that we can hear a lot of staggeringly good guitar playing in the likes of “Saint”, “Prove It” and “Because The Night” alongside the ever consistent instrumentals of Danny Federici, Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg, with the latter standing out more than ever on “Jungleland” despite the more famed contributions of Clarence Clemons, Miami Steve Van Zandt and Roy Bittan. Houston isn’t the best recording of Springsteen and The E Street Band in 1978, but it’s still Springsteen and The E Street Band in 1978, and there’s nothing wrong with that.