BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : TOWER THEATER, PHILADELPHIA 1975

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : TOWER THEATER, PHILADELPHIA 1975

Disc One (72:07)

Night
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Spirit In The Night
Does This Bus Stop At 82nd St
It's My Life
She's The One
Born To Run
Pretty Flamingo
It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
Backstreets
Mountain Of Love

Disc Two (66:28)

Jungleland
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Detroit Medley
Quarter To Three
Thunder Road
Twist And Shout

Label : Nugs.net

Venue : Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Recording Date : December 31, 1975

Quality : Soundboard recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : Until The Roxy ’75 arrived in December 2018, Upper Darby ’75 stood out as the lone Archive release from a period of Springsteen’s career that fans can’t help but want more of. Though it wasn’t the only release from the era – remember, Hammersmith Odeon ’75 had been available for nearly a decade at this point – this was still momentous upon its unearthing. Upper Darby ’75 was the third release in the series and, similarly to the original Nassau New Year’s Eve 1980 release that followed, it’s been received by some as a show poorly mixed and mastered, causing “ear fatigue” early on into the listening experience. I’ve personally never experienced that when listening to this one and while I never had an issue with the original Nassau mix, the remix of that night does tell us these early shows can be improved upon if necessary. Until that’s even a brief possibility, however, Toby Scott’s work will continue to suffice as an excellent documentation of Springsteen and The E Street Band four months after the release of Born to Run. It’s nearly a full Born to Run show, as seven of the album’s eight tracks are performed out of sequence over the course of two hours and twenty-five minutes and kicking us off is “Night”. Much like the Nassau shows, it’s a tremendous opener sang and played to perfection – but then again, is there a genuinely bad version of the song? – and despite the show’s criticisms for its audio quality, every E Street Band member’s instrumental can be heard clearly. The only fault with it is the strange moment around 1:40 when Bruce sings “you’re in love with all the wonder it brings“. I’m not too sure whether it’s a flub in the recording, mastering or if Bruce simply stumbles over his words, but there’s something of a skip here. Regardless, it lasts a second, if that, and doesn’t put a dampener on the performance. It’s followed by the slow piano version of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” which is undoubtedly unique and worth checking out if you’ve never heard it, but the joy that’s evoked from “Tenth” as it should be played isn’t replicated here, even if it’s not Springsteen’s motivation to really do so. If I ever have to choose between this and the Reunion Era versions, I know which one I’ll be opting for. It’s just a good thing that’s not necessary for the foreseeable future. Performances of “Spirit in the Night” and “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street” are tucked in-between the unique “Tenth” and the always altering cover of “It’s My Life” and even though the Born to Run track and The Animals cover raise more intrigue and are more likely to be checked out, there’s something in every song played on the night, even if it’s something as quick as Bruce’s comment before “Bus Stop”: “Seasons come, seasons go, you get your picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek, but the bus never stops”. They’re good versions of the songs, but they’re really overshadowed by what comes before and after. Concerning “It’s My Life”, I’ve said previously that I think this is the best available to officially download version of the cover and I stand by that with another listen here. It’s all about the intro monologue where Bruce gives us an insight as to his relationship with his dad – these early stories go perfectly with later Archive releases such from 1980, 1996 and 2005, as well as the Springsteen on Broadway release – but of course it’s the music that adds the power to the words and every E Streeter has a role during this one. Miami’s guitar is vicious while Max’s drumming rumbles the song forward, and both of these are contrasted by the gentle playing of The Phantom and The Big Man. This really is something special. “It’s My Life” is the first of six covers in this eighteen song set and there’s a good combination of solid performances and songs special to an era that was full of covers. Yeah, releases from future tours have the likes of “Pretty Flamingo”, “Mountain of Love” and regulars such as “Detroit Medley” and “Twist and Shout” in abundance, but naturally there are massive differences to many of these particular songs. “Pretty Flamingo” for example contrasts the outings from 2014 and 2016 so much, and even though I always opt for the August 30th, 2016 version, it’s fun to replay this slower and jazzier rendition with Springsteen growing in confidence with every word about fancy women and fancy parties, and in doing so get to think about the ultimate showman he’d become. If anything, this is worth listening to for the “Steven, look at that girl!” / “I’m lookin’, Boss” interaction alone. The Animals and Manfred Mann covers bookend a double Born to Run album header with “She’s The One” and “Born to Run” being switched around from the way they’re structured on the album, as was the norm on the tour, and yes these two are also excellently played, with some seriously good harmonica playing on “She’s The One” and there’s a fantastic line from Bruce during the coda where he shouts “c’mon hit me with it” after a harmonica instrumental to let Steve, Max, Roy and Danny bring us home. “Born to Run” is stupendous courtesy of the pacing, the way Bruce sings it and primarily because of Danny Federici’s stellar organ riffs. The Phantom’s work here might be the best thing about the entire show and it’s a testament to Toby Scott’s mixing that it’s so prominent on the track. This essentially brings the first half of the show to an end and honestly if this was just a seven song set it’d be worth the price of admission. The second half isn’t bad either, and the argument for Danny’s contributions in “Born to Run” being the show’s best is quelled following a sublime “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in The City”. Obviously Danny’s prominent in this one as well, but the stars of this are Bruce and Miami Steve who bring the lighting via guitar as they’d do three years later to a wider audience in venues such as The Roxy, the Capitol Theatre and Winterland. Make sure though that you also listen clearly to Max’s drumming from the three minute mark, because you need the thunder with the lightning and The Mighty One makes damn sure our speakers shake. Now is there an argument to be made that “Saint” was the greatest E Street live track of the seventies? Possibly, but let’s be honest, the song following it would have something to say about that. Much like “Born to Run” and the “Jungleland” played two songs after, “Backstreets” is a masterful E Street Band exhibition, a tour de force of chemistry and simply one of those tracks you play to a non-fan to explain why you “get it” when it comes to this Magnificent Seven – and the many members to join the fun later on. In-between this and “Jungleland” is the previously mentioned “Mountain to Love” that I’ve written about in detail before, but once again I need to talk briefly about that sequence from 1:22 with Bruce shouting “PROFESSAAA! to 2:26 where Bruce concludes “his turn” to bring it back to the chorus. It’s a fantastic triple instrumental from Roy, Clarence and Bruce, and just to think they’d get even better as a unit than this. Incredible. “Rosie (Come Out Tonight)” is preceded by just the guitar riff of “Come a Little Bit Closer” – you’ll have to play Hammersmith to hear Bruce singing the first few lyrics – but just quickly on that note, is it too much to ask for Bruce to interpolate this snippet of the Jay & The Americans track before “Sleepy Joe’s Café on the next tour? And for “Sleepy Joe” to be played on the next tour in general? Anyway, sometimes these long fourteen minute versions of “Rosie” can be a chore if you’re listening to the show for a repeated time, but if you’re lucky enough to have not heard this yet, you are in for a treat. “The E Street Band! The men in white, on New Year’s night!” Bruce brings a little bit of Asbury Park to Philly afterwards though the 1975 encore regular, “Sandy”, which is another must listen if you love your Miami Steve guitar riffs and soulful Springsteen vocals. It’s around eight minutes in “Detroit Medley” when December 31st, 1975 – Tower Theatre – Upper Darby, PA becomes our only (known) official recording of Springsteen and The E Street Band live in 1976, but this isn’t the only reason to check out “The Medley” as I can’t recall many versions of the song where Bruce is singing with such a swagger. He’s definitely confident and wild in versions from the Darkness and River Tours, but I’d be hard pressed to think of a show where he sounds so flamboyant. I also can’t think of many shows where “Boss Time!” has been replaced with “Mighty Max Time!” and Max definitely makes the most of the “pressure” before Roy, then Bruce, then our remaining three members join him. A wild – not No Nukes wild mind you – “Quarter to Three” is fitting after midnight and Bruce’s “are ya loose!?” interaction mid-song to the audience are a fine example that the man never needed to take drugs, because the power of his performance was clearly enough by itself to get him on the highest of highs, and before “Twist and Shout” I can only imagine sent the audience home feeling the same way as Bruce, there’s a penultimate song of the night that I’ve felt for a long time could be the Archive Series’ most underrated track. With factors including the multiple versions of the song released over the years, the more notable slow piano versions such as Hammersmith and The Roxy ’75 – remember this one is the opening track on Live 1975-85 – and even this particular version’s almost hidden spot in the setlist, it wouldn’t surprise me if many fans had forgotten just how good this “Thunder Road” is. From the moment Roy begins to tweak his intro, we can immediately sense that there’s going to be an extra touch of magic in this one, and even Bruce’s vocals sound different to the other two ’75 releases we’ve got. In The Roxy and Hammersmith there’s a seriousness in his voice, and while he’s inviting the audience to join him there’s always seemed like he has some resistance, a hesitation to fully commit to his words. In this version, however, there’s an easiness to his vocals and at the very start of the New Year he sounds to me like he’s uncaged – making the lyric “tonight we’ll be free” mean more – and ready to make 1976 his. A perfect performance. As the Archive Series has improved and bigger and better shows have been released, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of us have spent less time listening to releases from 2014 and 2015. If that’s true for you hopefully this post has reminded you of the quality on Upper Darby ’75 and given you a reason to go back and replay some versions of songs you love or didn’t admire too much the first dozen times, and for those of you who haven’t heard this one yet in the five years it’s been available, make sure to enjoy the listen and appreciate every vocal, every riff, note and every drumbeat. There might not be many releases from 1975 to come, so we have to enjoy the ones we’ve got.