Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA – 21-23 August, 1978
Cliff Breining

In 1973 the band Chicago played a string of dates culminating in two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden on 14 and 15 June. The support act was Bruce Springsteen, and the tour was, to say the least, not a happy experience for him, as Christopher Sandford relates in Springsteen: Point Blank: “Things soured in Philadelphia…’Kids were throwing rolls of toilet paper,’ says [manager, Mike] Appel. A fan bounced a basket ball off Springsteen’s piano. ‘They’re not paying attention to me,’ was his wild understatement to his manager. Something similar, or worse, happened at Madison Square Garden…Springsteen ran off stage in New York, announced he was quitting, ‘shrieked like a beast’ at Appel and burst into tears. After the recriminations had died down, he vowed he’d never play another ‘shed’ and ‘never as someone’s butt-fuck.’ ‘I told Bruce, okay, no more big venues,’ says Appel.”

However, shows at “big venues” became inevitable as Springsteen’s popularity grew over the next few years. As Robert Santelli writes in Greetings From E Street, “The Darkness Tour saw Springsteen and the E Street Band graduate from clubs and theaters to arenas wherever their popularity was solid enough to sell twelve or fourteen thousand tickets in one night…The push was on to reach as many people as possible with the new album.” “It was a triumphal tour,” writes Dave Marsh in Born To Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, “selling out even in some places where Bruce had never played before; the best shows came in the biggest halls, too, proving that Springsteen had broken through that final barrier, on his own terms…Certainly, by playing sports arenas so successfully, Springsteen proved that he could have both quality and quantity; in fact, he got a clearer, more powerful sound in Madison Square Garden than many acts have at the Palladium or the Bottom Line.” As Springsteen’s three concerts at the Madison Square Garden clearly demonstrates, he laid the ghost of the Chicago experience to rest. Chris Hunt, in Springsteen: Blinded By The Light, states: “Bruce returns triumphantly to the venue he had last played as support to Chicago in 1973.”

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA – 21 August, 1978

Summertime Blues, Badlands, Spirit In The Night, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Heartbreak Hotel, Factory, The Promised Land, Prove It All Night, Racing In The Street, Thunder Road, Jungleland, Paradise By The C, The Fever, Sherry Darling, 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy), Sweet Little Sixteen, Not Fade Away/Gloria/She’s The One, Growin’ Up, Backstreets/Sad Eyes, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Born To Run, Because The Night, Quarter To Three

The first show gets off to a cracking start with a boisterous rendition of Eddie Cochran’s 1958 classic, Summertime Blues, which had already opened several other shows during August. As usual, Clarence Clemons voices the lines of the song’s authority figures. Springsteen made a habit of starting shows at this time with either Badlands or, as here, with classic numbers from the past. The effect of the opening of a Darkness Tour show is conveyed by second night attendee, Anthony Fischetti, on the The Light In Darkness website: “The best way to describe what you felt when the band walked out onto the boards and ripped into the opening number (whether it was ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight,’ ‘Summertime Blues,’ ‘High School Confidential,’ or ‘Badlands’) is to harken back to the old Maxell tape ads, where a guy puts a Maxell tape into his stereo and the sound that come out of the speakers blows his hair and his scarf back, and sends his drink skidding across the table through the sheer force and power of its volume and energy.” The almost tangible sense of energy is continued with a spirited Badlands, offering its defiant response to the inevitable hardship and mundanity of human existence, which ends amid a level of cheering and applause from the audience that renders redundant Springsteen’s question, “What do you say? We doing OK so far?” Next up is a vibrant Spirit In The Night, enjoyable but, like other versions from the Darkness Tour, somehow less sinuous and earthy than performances from earlier years.

Things take a somber turn with a searingly intense Darkness On The Edge Of Town, but this mood, which one might expect to continue into another Darkness song, is immediately interrupted with a performance of Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel, with Springsteen attempting a distinctly Presleyan vocal turn. He then creates a rather tenuous link with the next song, informing the audience that, “across the street from that hotel they…they built a factory.” During the atmospheric opening he goes on to tell the now-familiar tale of listening to his father attempting to start one of his “hundred dollar junk cars” so that he could go to work. As Joanne Hoffman Garroway recalls in The Light In Darkness, Springsteen “peppered the show with stories – some funny, some poignant – and made that huge arena seem like his family living room.”

Like Badlands, The Promised Land offers a spirited defiance of life’s vicissitudes. Like much of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, the song discusses the effect of a mundane and dispiriting working life (“I’ve done my best to live the right way/I get up every morning and go to work each day/But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold/Sometimes I fell So weak I want to explode”). As Vike Savoth argues in the foreword to The Light In Darkness, performances such as this are “riveting” because they “ask us [not] to escape but to confront” the dispiriting nature of “our working lives.” Prove It All Night, of course, gains the then-usual piano and guitar intro, together with an additional guitar part at the end. The intro tended to get longer as the tour progressed, and with the stunning guitar solo. When I bought my first vinyl bootleg, Live In The Promised Land (the classic Winterland show of 15 December 1978), of the many live flourishes that impressed me, the expanded Prove It All Night made the biggest impression. Fischetti sums this up splendidly: “The opening set was heavy on ‘Darkness’ album material, and the songs were augmented, enhanced, and accessorized in a way that doesn’t happen these days. The organ/piano intro to the title track, the extended harmonica/piano intro to ‘Promised Land,’ the now-legendary piano/guitar intro to ‘Prove It All Night,’ the extended piano coda to ‘Racing In The Street,’ the ‘Not Fade Away’/’Mona’/’Gloria’ lead-in to ‘She’s the One,’ along with the instrumental break in the middle of it – these flourishes made the songs even more special, and are not seen much anymore.”

Roy Bittan, whose piano playing enhanced the ’78 shows so beautifully, then brings his considerable skills to bear on a superb Racing In The Street, which Springsteen dedicates to his sister Pam, who was in the audience. Bittan’s gorgeous piano provides the bridge to a vivacious full-band Thunder Road, which is prefaced by the story of encountering a house in the Nevada desert built by a Native American from scavenged remnants and the accompanying sign pointing down an “old road” called Thunder Road, reading, “this is the land of peace, love, justice and no mercy.” Has there ever been a better distillation of what the song is all about than that?

The second set opens with Clarence Clemons’ sax leading a high-spirited rendition of the instrumental Paradise By The C, which is a contender for best live version. This is succeeded by what Hoffman Garroway calls “the slow burn” of The Fever, with its sultry sax solo, before more high jinks with the then-new song, Sherry Darling. As was often the case, Springsteen provides a brief introduction to the phenomenon that was fraternity rock before asking the audience to provide the “party noises” to kick start the song.

4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy), with its nostalgic, almost melancholy overtones, is a beautifully executed highlight of the second set and the mood is then immediately lightened by the performance of a second classic ’50s number, Chuck Berry’s Sweet Little Sixteen, another song which Springsteen dedicates to his sister. Next comes a wonderfully vibrant She’s The One, prefaced by Not Fade Away, which begins with the usual animalistic calls, but also including a snippet of Gloria. As with the version played in Atlanta on September 30, we only hear the lyrics, sung over the music of She’s The One. This is followed by a sparkling version of Growin’ Up, which usually featured a funny story rather than poignant kind. Here, Springsteen tells the audience of how he discovered that he was a teenage werewolf (“I started acting strange. I went to school, sat down, ate my arithmetic book. I pissed in my desk.” Unlike other Lycanthropes, however, Springsteen’s transformation additionally involves a gold guitar growing out of his side and the tale culminates in Springsteen speeding down the New Jersey Turnpike in a car driven by a certain bulky saxophonist pursued by various police forces, the army, the navy and the marines – “and all I could hear was the chief of Asbury Park police leaning out the window with a megaphone screaming, “stop that son-of-a-bitch with the gold guitar!’”

The second set continues with an emotionally affecting Backstreets, featuring the spoken “Sad Eyes” interlude, and then the main part of the show ends with a barnstorming Rosalita, which includes the band introductions

. Springsteen and the E Street Band begin the encores with a positively hair-raising Born To Run and then treat us to what Hoffman Garroway calls “the sexual power” of a brilliantly played Because The Night. Finally, a wonderful show ends triumphantly with an ebullient performance of Gary US Bonds’ Quarter To Three. According to SoulBoogieAlex, the first night’s show, “can compete with the holy trinity of Winterland, Capitol Theatre or the Agora.”

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland
Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 35 copies left, now is the time to order this collectible book.
And, we are now offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world. The perfect gift for the Springsteen fan in your life.
Save Now- Order Your Copy Here: The Light in Darkness

The Perfect Gift for the Springsteen Fan on Your List

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On Bruce Springsteen And Disappointing Fathers
by Sady Doyle

October 30, 2015

There was a moment at my father’s house that I always waited for. It was a matter of calibration; of counting the number of beers. Too few and he was sarcastic, angry, on edge; he shouted or mocked, it was better to keep your distance. Too many and he went quiet, locked away in his own impenetrable sadness. I wanted the hour in the middle. The moment he picked out which record he would play.

“Now, your old dad,” he started – he always started just like this – “you might think he don’t know too much. But you’re lucky, because your Dad’s cool. And you’re gonna be cool, too. Your old Dad, he knows his rock and roll. Now, this record here…”

If you want an introduction to Darkness on the Edge of Town, start here. My father, in the golden hour when his light comes through, choosing from Neil, Bruce, Dylan, Lou – usually Bruce, always Bruce; after enough beers, he’ll tell me that my first word was “Bruce” – one of his records. Getting ready to teach you his rock and roll.

I abandoned my father when I was sixteen. I call it what it is, abandonment, because I believe that when you’ve done something cruel, you ought to name it. I didn’t do it out of rage – though there was that: at his racism, at his sexism, at his drinking, which I knew I would watch him die from if I didn’t walk away first, at his own dangerous and sudden rages – or even a desire to hurt him. It was just a piece of my heart going dead, a total lack of feeling. I stopped speaking to him, stopped visiting him, and stopped taking his calls. The calls came for ten years. And then they stopped, too.

But we never really lose people. They come back, most often through the things they’ve loved, giving us pieces of what they kept in their heads, their private myths. It was ten years later, when the calls stopped, that I started listening to Darkness on the Edge of Town.

There are lots of well-known facts, about Darkness. It was where Bruce declared himself as an artist; he tormented his crew, spending several weeks of ten-hour days trying to make the drums have a sound that he could hear only “in his head,” insanely yelling “STICK” whenever he could hear one hit the kit. He wrote over seventy songs, and recorded over fifty of them, for a ten-song, forty-three minute album. He wanted a “tone poem,” a specific, “relentless” mood; he cut against his pop impulses, listening to punk and country to get the colors just right.

And all the colors are black. Darkness on the Edge of Town is the most successful example I can name, outside of Blue Velvet, of the Midwestern Gothic. It has a perfect sense of place, though most of its places are imaginary: I can’t find a “Waynesboro County” for Bruce to drive across the line of in “The Promised Land,” though there are Waynesboros in Mississippi, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Similarly, when he’s driving “that dusty road from Monroe to Angeline,” he could be starting from any number of Monroes, but there’s no Angeline to get to. Still, Darkness names its territory in the opening lines: “Lights out tonight. Trouble in the heartland.” It’s always “tonight,” in these songs. And it’s always “the heartland,” a vast, empty Midwestern landscape – in most of the songs, the characters are driving, on roads where you can drive “till dawn without another human being in sight” – that mirrors the bleak, dark, violently troubled hearts of the small-time, small-town criminals and losers it portrays.

Bruce would come back here, for Nebraska, where his characters were openly murderous, and again for his later work, all hopped up on Steinbeck and ready to Uplift the Working Man. But Darkness has neither the self-conscious artiness of Nebraska nor the socially conscious cheese of late Springsteen. The alienation here is more Freud than Marx: “Don’t look at my face! DON’T LOOK AT MY FACE,” Bruce howls, on “Streets of Fire,” so incapable of solidarity that even eye contact feels intrusive. He introduces a factory only to tell us about a gruesome accident on the floor. This is why the record works, where his later attempts don’t; he doesn’t condescend to his characters. Poverty is just another way to establish the sense they all have of being trapped and desperate; the Working Man is just as depressed as anyone else.

The men of Darkness are invariably Byronic, outcasts, on fire with emotion intense enough to illuminate the landscape like lightning. They’ve always done something horrible, are chased through song after song by unnameable regrets; they have “sins” to wash off their hands, they need something “forgotten or forgiven,” but whatever it was, they can’t say it aloud. “Everybody’s got a secret, son,” one tells us, “something they just can’t face.” They can only keep driving, in the hope of leaving it behind.

The first draft of the funereal “Racing in the Streets” had “no girl in it,” Bruce says. But there aren’t really any girls on Darkness, outside of the eyeball-melting femme fatal in “Candy’s Room.” There are only references to women. And these women are mostly lingering disappointments or aching losses, out on the periphery. Or, worse, they’re the silent, attentive, infantile “babies” and “little darlings” Bruce is always lecturing, as on “Badlands.” You better get it straight, darling: “Poor man wanna be rich! Rich man wanna be king!” And woman, no matter what her income, wanna sit there and listen to her boyfriend explain class struggle, apparently.

But all this man-to-man struggle has a point. No matter what the men on Darkness are, they are never fathers. “Daddy” shows up twice. Once on “Factory,” where he’s a slightly pathetic servant to “mansions of pain.” And again, on the album’s centerpiece.

Bruce Springsteen, I discovered after ten years of estrangement from my father, had written the world’s best song about being estranged from your father. “Adam Raised a Cain” is one long, Plath-worthy scream: hatred, contempt, pain, hatred, shot through with a love that is almost romantic. We were prisoners of love, a love in chains. He was standing in the door, I was standing in the rain, with the same hot blood burning in our veins. How is that not a scene from The Notebook? But these men can only ever hurt each other: Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain. Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame. And his son reflects the blame back onto him, intensified and sharper.

Cain isn’t a girl, but the listener can be. It was here, on this song, that I stopped listening to Bruce as if he were my father’s voice, and started hearing my own.

When your heart goes dead, it’s always for a reason; something hurts too much to feel. It happens a lot to addicts. No-one can watch that story play out to the end

.

Which Bruce knew. It’s the truth he named his album after. It closes, Darkness, on the title track. A man alone, underneath the bridge, on the hill, “‘cause I can’t stop,” he says. And for the privilege of not stopping, he’ll pay any price: “I lost my money, and I lost my wife. Them things don’t seem to matter much to me now.” But the girl he’s lost is still out there, somewhere. She could even come to find him. “If she wants to see me,” Bruce yells, and I cry, every time, “you can tell her that I’m easily found.” He even gives the location. “Tell her: There’s a darkness on the edge of town.” But that’s the thing. She already knows. She’s always known. It’s why she’s not there.

Sady Doyle is a writer for Rookie. She’s contributed to The Awl, The Atlantic, and Slate, amongst others, and started the blog Tiger Beatdown. She lives in New York.

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland
Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 40 copies left, now is the time to order this collectible book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world. The perfect gift for the Springsteen fan in your life.
Save Now- Order Your Copy Here: The Light in Darkness

In support of the Montreal General Hospital’s Fall 2015 fundraising campaign, Lawrence Kirsch, publisher of “For You, Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen’s Legendary Fans” and “The Light in Darkness,” is holding a raffle with a chance to win a brand new copy of “For You,” which has been sold out since December 2008. GIVING The generosity of donors, volunteers and auxiliaries has made the MUHC what it is today…these precious funds are used for the benefit of current and future patients at the MGH. This time I am donating funds in loving memory of my mother, Mrs. Aileen Kirsch, to benefit the Neurology Department. To help raise funds, I am raffling a brand new signed copy (by the publisher) of For You: Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen’s Legendary Fans. If you missed your chance to purchase a copy of this limited-edition book, or even if you just want a second copy to keep as a collector’s item, now is your opportunity. First edition copies of “For You” often sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay, when you can find a copy. Each $10 ticket you purchase gives you one chance to win and a $15 ticket gives you three chances to win the book. The contest is open to everyone and tickets can be bought from September 24 – October 9, 2015. You can enter to win here: theLightinDarkness.com and Foryoubruce.com, where the winner will be announced October 12, 2015.   Participants can enter the contest as many times as they wish and all proceeds go to the Montreal General Hospital. The book, autographed by the publisher, will be shipped to the winner free of charge anywhere in the world, so everyone is encouraged to enter. You can help the fund raising efforts for the 2015 campaign by participating in the raffle for a copy of For You. All monies collected will be donated to the Montreal General Hospital. The Montreal General Hospital, founded in 1821, enjoys a distinguished world reputation, as well as an impressive history of community service. The Montreal General Hospital, a pioneer hospital in North America, introduced teaching at the bedside and founded the first medical school in Canada — the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. The hospital has remained allied as a teaching hospital for the century and a half of the Faculty’s existence. The Montreal General Hospital is dedicated to patient care through diagnosis, treatment, research and teaching. “Through the years, I’ve read almost every book written about Springsteen. Some are great and many are not. Over time, I’ve even become cynical when I hear about new books. In the last few years, there have been a plethora of coffee table book releases in the Springsteen world. Each one in itself is a gorgeous work of art that will glisten on your polished coffee table. However, chances are you are still missing the ultimate Bruce Springsteen keepsake: For You. When I heard about this book a year ago, I dismissed it thinking I didn’t really need yet another glorified coffee table book. I was wrong, dead wrong. For You takes the reader on a magical, mystical and poignant journey through forty years of Bruce Springsteen’s life. It’s a time machine to the past where tickets were once $7, the E Street Band was a boy’s only club, Steve Van Zandt looked like a member of Jimmy Buffet’s band and most of the members of the E Street Band could have begun their own television show – ‘Stashin.’ I wasn’t impressed with the book, I was bowled over. Anthony Kuzminski antimusic.com “In reading For You, at first it’s hard to believe that one performer could possibly have touched this many people this deeply – lifted them from depression, kept them from suicide, helped them through divorce or the death of a parent, or worse, a child. But story after story reveals just how much Springsteen’s music and his almost superhuman presence on the concert stage have penetrated people’s lives and, in as much as it is possible for music to do so, made them whole. In fact, there’s a running theme of these reminiscences, one that is sure to warm any Bruce fan’s heart: that you are not crazy. Not crazy for seeing dozens or even hundreds of concerts; not crazy for feeling that Springsteen’s songs and lyrics have actually helped carry you through some of life’s toughest moments; not crazy to think that this man whom you’ve never met has and continues to fill some kind of void in your life.” Peter Chianca Excerpt from Blogness on the Edge of Town Please help share the news of the For You book raffle on Facebook and Twitter. ENTER HEREwww.theLightinDarkness.com www.Foryoubruce.com Share BackstreetsBTX| Greasylake Blogness on the Edge of Town

 

A supporto della campagna di fundraising per l’autunno 2015 del Montreal General Hospital, Lawrence Kirsch, editore di “For You, Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen’s Legendary Fans” e “The Light in Darkness,” promuove una lotteria di beneficenza con la possibilità di vincere una copia di “For You”, titolo ormai andato esaurito già da dicembre 2008. Ora, per la prima volta, hai la possibilità di vincere una copia nuova di questo libro da collezione estremamente raro. DONAZIONI È la generosità dei donatori, dei volontari e degli ausiliari che ha reso il McGill University Health Centre ciò che è oggi… questi preziosi fondi sono utilizzati a beneficio degli attuali e futuri pazienti del Montreal General Hospital. Questa volta intendo donare fondi alla memoria di mia madre, Mrs. Aileen Kirsch, in favore del Dipartimento di Neurologia. Per aiutare a raccogliere fondi metto in palio una copia nuova e autografata (dall’editore) di For You: Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen’s Legendary Fans. Se hai perso l’occasione di comprare una copia di questo libro a tiratura limitata, oppure se ne vuoi una seconda copia da conservare come pezzo da collezione, questo è il momento. Le copie della prima edizione di “For You” costano spesso centinaia di dollari su eBay, sempre che se ne riesca a trovare una. Ogni biglietto da $10 offre una possibilità di vincere e un biglietto da $15 offre tre possibilità di vincere una copia. La gara è aperta a tutti e i biglietti sono acquistabili a partire dal 24 settembre al 9 ottobre 2015. Partecipa qui: theLightinDarkness.com e Foryoubruce.com, dove i vincitori saranno annunciati il 12 ottobre 2015.   Si può partecipare alla gara un numero illimitato di volte e tutti i ricavi andranno al Montreal General Hospital. Il libro, autografato dall’editore, sarà inviato al vincitore gratuitamente in tutto il mondo, perciò tutti sono invitati a partecipare. Puoi aiutare gli sforzi per la campagna di raccolta fondi del 2015 partecipando alla lotteria con in palio una copia di For You. Tutto il denaro raccolto sarà donato al Montreal General Hospital. Il Montreal General Hospital, fondato nel 1821, ha un’autorevole reputazione a livello mondiale ed una straordinaria storia per i suoi servizi alla comunità. Ospedale pioniere in Nordamerica, ha introdotto l’insegnamento in presenza del paziente e fondato la prima scuola di medicina in Canada — la Facoltà di Medicina alla McGill University. Per tutto il secolo e mezzo di vita della Facoltà, la ha affiancata come ospedale di insegnamento partner. The sexual partner’s own expectations andsildenafil citrate (VIAGRA TM) in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Int. J. Impot. Res. 10: tadalafil for sale. Pharmacokinetics The pharmacokinetic profile of sildenafil was studied in the mouse, rat, rabbit and dog, the main species used in the preclinical programme. generic vardenafil at the. therapies prior to or as an alternative to oral drug viagra online purchase and self-confidence and depression. The multifactorial. Physicians, health educators, and patients and their families cheap viagra a stoneâED, but these have not been approved by the guarantor of the. cultural, social, ethnic, religious and national/regionalLifting and carrying objects viagra no prescription. often coexist with organic causes of postganglionic and pregangliari, thatof men aged 40 and above identified ED as the health issue generic sildenafil. . Il Montreal General Hospital è dedito alla cura dei pazienti attraverso diagnosi, cura, ricerca e insegnamento.   “Nel corso degli anni ho letto quasi tutti i libri scritti su Springsteen. Alcuni sono eccellenti e molti no. Col passare del tempo sono perfino diventato cinico quando sento parlare di nuovi libri. Negli ultimi anni c’è stata una pletora di pubblicazioni illustrate da collezione nel mondo springsteeniano. Ciascuno, di per sé, è una meravigliosa opera d’arte da far brillare sul tavolino del soggiorno. Eppure, è probabile che vi stiate perdendo il non plus ultra su Bruce Springsteen: For You. Quando sentii parlare di questo libro un anno fa, lo archiviai pensando che non avevo veramente bisogno di un altro incensato volume da collezione. Mi sbagliavo, mi sbagliavo di brutto. For You porta il lettore in un viaggio magico, mistico e intenso attraverso quarant’anni della vita di Bruce Springsteen. È una macchina del tempo verso il passato quando i biglietti costavano 7$, la E Street Band era un club di soli maschi e Steve Van Zandt pareva uscito dalla band di Jimmy Buffett […]. Non sono rimasto impressionato da quel libro, sono rimasto sopraffatto. Anthony Kuzminski antimusic.com “Leggendo For You, all’inizio è difficile credere che un artista abbia toccato così profondamente così tante persone – sollevate dalla depressione, trattenute dal suicidio, aiutate attraverso un divorzio o la morte di un genitore o, peggio, di un figlio. Ma storia dopo storia rivela quanto la musica di Springsteen e la sua presenza quasi sovrumana sul palco abbiano penetrato la vita delle persone e, per quanto sia possibile alla musica fare ciò, le abbiano completate. “In effetti c’è un tema ricorrente in queste reminiscenze, uno che sicuramente scalderà il cuore ad ogni fan di Bruce: che non sei pazzo. Non sei pazzo se hai visto decine o persino centinaia di concerti; non sei pazzo se senti che le canzoni e i testi di Springsteen ti hanno veramente aiutato ad attraversare alcuni dei momenti più duri della vita; non sei pazzo se pensi che quest’uomo, che non hai mai incontrato, ha riempito e continua a riempire una specie di vuoto nella tua vita.” Peter Chianca Excerpt from Blogness on the Edge of Town   “Un libro spettacolare intitolato For You è uno dei migliori libri su Bruce Springsteen che siano mai stati pubblicati.” Stan Goldstein NJ.Com   Per favore, aiutaci a condividere la notizia della lotteria per For You su Facebook e Twitter. PARTECIPA QUIwww.theLightinDarkness.com www.Foryoubruce.com   Share       BackstreetsBTX | Greasylake Blogness on the Edge of Town Land of Hope and Dreams(fr)   Translated by Marta Giani – martagiani.mg@gmail.com

 

“The Promise”: la construcción del mito de Bruce Springsteen
Nostalgia

Bruce Springsteen publica el próximo martes “The Promise: The Darkness
on the Edge of Town Story”, un ambicioso proyecto de reedición de su
cuarto álbum que descubre las claves de la obra de uno de los mitos del
rock.

La remasterización de “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, publicado
originalmente en 1978, aparece ahora en una edición especial que
contiene un doble CD con 21 temas inéditos y dos DVD con varias
actuaciones de la época y otra grabada el pasado año en la que
Springsteen y la E Street Band interpretaron el álbum íntegro.

Esta monumental edición incluye además “The Promise: The Making of
Darkness of The Edge of Town”, el documental que muestra el proceso
creativo del disco -presentado por Springsteen hace unas semanas en el
Festival de Cine de Roma- y que funciona como hilo narrativo de todo el
proyecto.

Bruce Springsteen había saltado a la fama en 1975 con “Born to Run”, pero
su prometedora carrera sufrió un imprevisto parón cuando quiso liberarse
del férreo control al que le sometía el contrato que le ligaba a su
representante, Mike Appel.

El litigio con Appel le impedía regresar al estudio de grabación y aprovechar
el éxito de “Born to Run”. Springsteen y su banda tuvieron que sobrevivir en
los escenarios, mientras corrían el riesgo de engrosar la lista de “artistas
de un solo éxito”.

Cuando por fin pudieron volver al estudio, en 1977, Springsteen tenía el
control artístico de su carrera y las ideas muy claras sobre lo que quería
hacer con ella: el nuevo álbum seguiría el camino opuesto al del celebrado
“Born to Run”. El Boss explica ahora que no quería ser millonario ni famoso.
Quería ser “grande”

.

La inspiración urbana de las canciones y los arreglos elaborados del
anterior disco tenían que dejar paso a los grandes espacios abiertos y un
sonido austero.

Inspirado por las películas norteamericanas de serie B, la temática “adulta”
de las canciones del country -que había descubierto poco antes- y los
personajes de las pequeñas ciudades en las que creció, Springsteen tenía
en su cabeza una idea precisa de cómo debía sonar “Darkness on the
Edge of Town”.

Pero le costó meses y meses plasmarla en el estudio, donde puso a
prueba la paciencia de sus músicos y técnicos de sonido con una
determinación obsesiva.

La mente del Boss era un hervidero. De su cuaderno azul de anillas salían
ideas de canciones, letras que reescribía una y otra vez. Un proceso que se
puede seguir en el facsímil de aquel cuaderno que acompaña este
lanzamiento.

Springsteen y su banda llegaron a grabar esos largos meses de sesiones
hasta setenta temas. Sólo diez se incluyeron en el álbum.

Parte de las canciones restantes fueron utilizadas en “The River”, el doble
álbum editado en 1980; otras terminaron en “Tracks”, la caja con material
inédito publicada en 1998; ahora ven la luz 21 más.

Entre estas hay algunas que integraron el repertorio de algunas giras,
como “Fire”, y “Because the Night”, que Patti Smith convirtió en su “único”
éxito después de acabar de escribir la letra -según cuenta ella misma en el
documental-.

En los 21 cortes de “The Promise” hay éxitos potenciales por los que
algunas bandas matarían, pero que ciertamente no encajaban en el espíritu
descarnado de “Darkness”, como “The Little Things (My Baby Does) y “Ain’t
Good Enough For You”; otras, como la que da título al proyecto, merecen un
hueco entre lo más destacado de la obra de Springsteen.

El paso del punk por aquellos años se dejó sentir en la crudeza del sonido
de “Darkness”, que explota con rabia para gritar las historias de los que se
quedaron en la cuneta del sueño americano, entre los que Springsteen
incluye a su propio padre.

Esa mirada solidaria y el compromiso con sus raíces de la clase
trabajadora marcaran para siempre la obra de Springsteen, que convirtió
los temas de este álbum en cantos a la resistencia frente a la
desesperanza.

Han pasado 32 años y el Boss -61 años- y su banda mantienen en sus
conciertos la capacidad de transmitir a cada uno de sus espectadores la
esperanza de sobreponerse a la adversidad.

El año pasado regresaron a su casa, Nueva Jersey, para volver a tocar las
diez canciones de “Darkness”. Se les ve llenos de arrugas, pero sus
miradas están cargadas del orgullo de quienes han demostrado que el
camino más rápido no siempre es el correcto.

Gil Barrera

Libro Bruce Springsteen
Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland
Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 50 copies left, now is the time to order this collectable book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are now offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world.
Save Now- Order Here: The Light in Darkness

Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town sounds different from much of his other, more upbeat material. But in many ways it’s also very similar to the rest of his catalog. Here are 10 things you already know about the acclaimed 1978 classic.

1. ‘Darkness’ marked the end of a legal battle between Springsteen and former manager Mike Appel
Springsteen’s legal battles with Mike Appel over ownership and control of his music kept Bruce out of the recording studio for almost a full calendar year. But in that time, he toured extensively with the E Street Band and continued to build his reputation as a live performer. But the case had to affect the music and lyrical content of Darkness on the Edge of Town, which was a much more somber affair than what fans were used to at the time.

2. The band recorded some of the album as live takes
Steven Van Zandt said in a Rolling Stone interview that the band recorded some of Darkness in live takes of the full band playing together. Songwriting had gotten much easier for Bruce and the band after playing together for several years, which allowed for more organic and spontaneous songwriting and recording.

3. It has the same album structure as “Born to Run”
Despite having an overall darker tone than Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town continued the same structure used on the former: two side openers about overcoming adversity (“Badlands” and “The Promised Land”), paired with two side closers (“Racing in the Street” and the title track) overcome with despair.

4. The highest-charting single was “Prove it All Night” at #33
Bruce didn’t have the chart gold that was “Born to Run” with this album, but “Prove It All Night” cracked the Top 40 upon release and remains a staple on classic rock radio to this day.

5. The album stayed on the charts for nearly two years, despite no hit singles
Darkness on the Edge of Town is arguably Springsteen’s least commercial-sounding album, with its dark themes and nuanced musicianship and production. But despite the lack of any hit singles, the album stayed on the Billboard Albums chart for 97 weeks, and songs like “Badlands” and the title track remain fan favorites.

6. The album cover was shot at the photographer’s home in New Jersey
After doing photography for Patti Smith and notable early punk rockers, photographer Frank Stefanko was given the task of shooting the album cover and inner photos for Darkness. The two met through Patti as a mutual connection. Bruce drove down to Stefanko’s house in Haddonfield, New Jersey with just a change of clothes and shot both inside the house and on surrounding streets. The cover for Darkness was shot in Stefanko’s bedroom, while a photo from the same shoot was later used for The River.

7. Bruce wrote 70+ songs for the album
According to Jimmy Iovine, Springsteen wrote at least 70 songs to be chosen for final inclusion on Darkness, and over 50 of them were at least partially recorded but not completed. Bruce ultimately wanted to retain the themes present in the album’s main tracks and avoid “singles” that may not have fit the narrative. But some of those songs eventually saw the light of day…

8. Unreleased tracks like “Because the Night” were re-purposed or given to other artists
Springsteen’s compilation The Promise contains 21 unreleased tracks that were recorded mostly from 1976-1978, many of which from the Darkness sessions. Most notable is “Because the Night”, which Bruce gave to Patti Smith and became one of the latter’s signature songs.

9. Many recordings were finished and/or released on subsequent albums/box sets such as The Promise
Springsteen compilations like Tracks and The Promise contain many unreleased recordings from the Darkness sessions

. But several tracks ended up on 1980’s The River, including side one openers “The Ties That Bind” and “Sherry Darling”, side one closer “Independence Day”, and side three opener “Point Blank”.

10. At least 16 songs remain unreleased
Despite the dozens of recordings that eventually saw release on the River or subsequent compilation albums, there are at least 16 known recordings that are circulating as bootlegs but have never been given an official release. These songs include “Preacher’s Daughter”, “Down By the River”, “Castaway”, “Cheap Thrills”, and “Blue Moon”.

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland
Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 70 copies left, now is the time to order this collectable book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are now offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world.
Save Now- Order Here: The Light in Darkness

Un libro su Bruce Springsteen, “The Light in Darkness” presenta il punto di vista dei fan del Boss su “Darkness on the Edge of Town”

“Con Darkness on the Edge of Town Bruce Springsteen e la E Street Band presero una posizione precisa proprio quando tutto era in discussione,” scrive Vike Savoth nella prefazione di “The Light in Darkness”.
“Erano pronti a pagare il prezzo di un violento ingresso nell’oblio del rock and roll prendendo le distanze dal sound e dal look che aveva dato loro popolarità e fortuna”.

Con oltre 200 fotografie e 100 racconti originali raccontati dai leggendari fan di Springsteen “The Light in The Darkness” è il punto di vista dei seguaci del Boss sul suo quarto album.

Spesso trascurato rispetto agli altri classici di Springsteen “Darkness on the Edge of Town” contiene un sound più crudo ed arrabbiato rispetto alle opere precedenti.
Uscito al termine di un’aspra battaglia legale durata tre anni con il primo manager di Springsteen molti fans e la critica hanno fatto fatica ad apprezzarne le sonorità.

“Ho dovuto ascoltare quell’album intensamente, più e più volte per scoprire dove l’avrei incontrato, o in realtà dove lui stava incontrando me” scrive Suzanne Scala.
“questo era quando ascoltare un album significava sdraiarsi sul pavimento, testa tra le casse, far cadere la testina sul disco ancora e ancora per ascoltare e riascoltare quella canzone”

Nonostante tutto non ci volle molto tempo perché l’album prendesse il suo posto nel cuore dei fans più accaniti

.
Molti di essi ancora oggi lo definiscono come il loro album preferito e continuano a trovare rifugio all’interno dei suoi testi ermetici.

“La canzone Darkness on the Edge of Town mi parla direttamente“, dice l’editore del libro, Lawrence Kirsch.
“Si, l’umore è più scuro che nei precedenti album, ma non senza speranza. Darkness on the Edge of Town è puro ed energico Rock and Roll ed è uno dei più bei lavori che Springsteen abbia mai concepito”.

Nonostante i toni più scuri del disco il tour che ne seguì fu uno dei più energici della carriera di Springsteen.
Con più di 200 foto “The Light in The Darkness” mostra Bruce ai suoi apici mentre corre sul palco, salta dal pianoforte e guada le folle dei fans. Con il tour del 1978 Springsteen iniziò la tradizione dei suoi concerti epici da più di tre ore.
All’epoca fu una novità così rivoluzionaria che molti, pensando che lo show fosse terminato, lasciavano il concerto durante l’intervallo.

Nonostante il Boss abbia appena compiuto 60 ancora oggi mantiene la tradizione di allora con concerti epici che non trovano uguali in qualsiasi altro artista.

“Lui era come un fulmine attraverso le tenebre, e la band era il tuono” scrive Ron Wells. “Non ho mai visto nessun altro musicista così pieno di energia e gioia. Era in missione.
Non era solo un concerto per lui; era libertà e gioia fatta persona.

Narrando alcuni dei suoi show più famosi, come l’Agora di Cleveland, il Roxy di L.A. ed il Winterland Ballroom di San Francisco, “The Light in Darkness”
riporta sotto i riflettori alcuni concerti epici suonati in piccoli club.

“Il libro regalerà ai lettori almeno una piccola prospettiva di quello che abbiamo vissuto nel ‘78” dice Kirsch.
“La connessione ed il legame creato tra il musicista e la sua audience durante questo tour ha definito il nuovo punto di riferimento per tutti gli album ed i tour che sarebbero seguiti”.

A distanza di 35 anni l’eccitazione e la passione che questo album ed il tour riuscirono ad accendere nel cuore dei fans non sono diminuite.
“The Light in The Darkness” riporta in vita l’incredibile legame che i seguaci del Boss hanno con questo periodo della sua carriera rendendolo un’opera che i fans non potranno perdere.

Libro Bruce Springsteen.Vi ricordo che The Light In The Darkness ha le spese di spedizione scontate!

Il Libro: Limited Collector’s Edition
208 pagine, Grande formato 9.25” x 12”, completamente a colori, stampato su carta EuroArt Silk, contiene più di 200 fotografie riprodotte direttamente dai negativi e dalle diapositive originali.
Il libro può essere acquistato esclusivamente a questo indirizzo: The Light

Bruce Springsteen ou l’art de se mettre en scène

Laurent Rigoulet

A l’occasion de la ressortie des premiers albums de Bruce Springsteen, la saga de ses pochettes, où, avec des faux airs de Pacino, il se mettait en scène comme les personnages de ses chansons.

Rééditions et redécouvertes, collectionneurs et collectors, labels et magasins sont au menu de 180 gr, une nouvelle chronique hebdomadaire consacrée au disque vinyle, que vous pourrez retrouver chaque vendredi.

Pour ceux qui souhaitent dilapider leurs économies à l’occasion du Disquaire Day ou lancer d’absurdes paris sur la cote future des rééditions vinyle, le coffret massif (et lourd) réunissant les sept premiers albums de Bruce Springsteen est une bonne affaire. Pour les fans aussi, qui réclament, depuis des lustres, une édition dignement remastérisée. Mission accomplie par Bob Ludwig, grand manitou de la console, qui a commencé à travailler avec Springsteen à l’époque où celui-ci s’était mis en tête d’enregistrer Nebraska sur un magnéto cassette. Couvert de lauriers pour son travail de toilettage numérique pour les Stones, Sly Stone ou Dire Straits, Ludwig a plein d’histoires à raconter sur les nouvelles technologies 24 bit qui permettent d’obtenir un son étonnamment proche de celui de l’enregistrement originel, mais il est aussi capable de trancher la question avec une bonne vieille citation de Duke Ellington : « Si ça sonne bien et qu’on le sent bien, c’est que c’est bon. »

Remastérisés pour la première fois, les disques trouvent un nouvel éclat – notamment The River, qui, d’après Ludwig, en avait besoin – mais ce sont les pochettes qui donnent envie de s’étendre un peu sur ce travail d’édition « maniaquement » supervisé par le Boss. Notamment celle de Darkness on the edge of town, qui, en 1978, rend Springsteen aussi cool que le jeune Pacino planant alors à des hauteurs impensables dans nos rêves américains. En cuir noir et tee-shirt blanc, sur fond de bicoque ouvrière au papier peint défraîchi, la nouvelle star du New Jersey pose avec un naturel bluffant en James Dean rital, sombre et sexy, un peu comme le jeune Richard Gere qui fait alors monter la température dans Les Chaînes de sang, de Robert Mulligan (en 1978, Gere joue Stony De Coco après avoir interprété, un an plus tôt, Tony Lo Porto dans A la recherche de Mr Goodbar). Du Darkness gravé avec les caractères d’une vieille underwood à la gueule de doux marlou, tout renvoie au cinéma américain, qui, en ces années-là, met tout le monde d’accord.

« Le dépouillement et la modestie de ses photos, leur sincérité et leur âpreté correspondaient très exactement à la musique que je voulais faire», Bruce Springsteen

Ça n’a rien d’un hasard. Springsteen est obnubilé par la pochette de son nouveau disque, qui doit donner le ton et marquer le départ d’une nouvelle carrière. Il sort d’une longue période de hiatus. Dans la foulée du triomphe de Born to run, Time et Newsweek ont fait de lui la grande attraction américaine et il veut déjà briser l’élan, casser le moule : nouvelle gueule, nouveau genre, antistar à tout prix, un personnage sans hauteur comme les types de ses nouvelles chansons (« A la fin de la journée, les sirènes de l’usine hurlent / les hommes franchissent les grilles avec la mort au fond des yeux / et tu ferais bien de croire, mec / que ce soir il va y avoir de la casse »).

La pochette se pense comme un film. Springsteen est prêt à s’y consacrer corps et bien pendant plusieurs jours. Et c’est Patti Smith qui le met sur la piste du metteur en scène idéal. Pas une star, loin de là. Un type du New Jersey, comme eux, qui travaille dans la distribution de viande et fait de la photo en amateur. Camarade de lycée de Patti Smith, Frank Stefanko est surpris de recevoir un coup de fil de Springsteen et propose de faire illico le voyage pour New York, où le chanteur vit à l’hôtel. Rien ne se passe comme il pourrait l’imaginer. C’est Springsteen qui débarque chez lui, avec sa vieille Corvette, dans la petite ville de Haddonfield. En guise de garde-robe, le rocker a apporté un sac de papier dans lequel il a fourré une chemise de flanelle blanche, une salopette et un tee-shirt. Le courant est vite établi. Les deux hommes viennent d’un même milieu italo-américain et ont quelques bonnes histoires à raconter sur Brando, Sinatra ou Presley. Ils font des essais pendant quatre jours dans la maison du photographe (c’est sa chambre qui finira sur la pochette) et dans les rues alentour. « On travaillait jour et nuit, racontait Stefanko, qui a publié un livre de ses photos

. Il était totalement investi dans l’aspect visuel de son œuvre. Je le dirigeais un peu et il me donnait beaucoup. »

«On voulait que ça ressemble à de vieux clichés Kodacolor, à de simples photos de famille», Frank Stefanko.

La mise en scène est peu débattue. Les deux hommes sont d’instinct sur la même longueur d’ondes, même si le photographe n’a pas encore entendu les chansons de l’album. « On essayait de recréer l’ambiance de l’Amérique qui trime, de ces types qui attendent leur salut. La scène aurait pu sortir des années 40 ou 50 autant que des années 70. On voulait que ça ressemble à de vieux clichés Kodacolor, à de simples photos de famille. On a beaucoup travaillé en noir et blanc, mais cette image en couleur qui semble avoir été trouvée au fond d’un tiroir s’est imposée pour l’album. » Les premiers essais seront les bons, captant l’intensité de la rencontre. « Les photos étaient crues et naturelles, se souvient Springsteen dans sa préface au livre de Stefanko. Frank arrivait à vous débarrasser de tous les résidus de célébrité et à vous mettre à nu. Il s’imposait des règles très précises, mais, à l’intérieur de ces limites, il créait un univers très proche de celui des personnages de mes chansons. Le dépouillement et la modestie de ses photos, leur sincérité et leur âpreté correspondaient très exactement à la musique que je voulais faire. Il a mis le doigt sur les questions qui me déchiraient après Born to run. Qui suis-je et où vais-je maintenant ? Il m’a montré le visage de ceux sur qui j’écrivais. Et la part de moi-même qui vivait encore en eux. »

Darkness on the Edge of Town est le disque d’une nouvelle naissance et un chef-d’œuvre à part dans la discographie de Springsteen. Un galeriste qui a exposé les photos de Stefanko dit qu’on voit poindre, sur la pochette, dans le calme de la pose et du regard, « l’attente de choses extraordinaires ». Bruce Springsteen y croyait tellement qu’il a utilisé des photos prises le même jour pour son album suivant, The River.

Bonjour amis et fins connaisseurs de notre ami “The Boss”
Après le succès phénoménal du livre “For You”, Lawrence Kirsch sort un 2ème opus, The Light in Darkness.
Je suis sûr qu’il sera à la hauteur du premier – pour ma part, je l’ai déjà commandé. Si vous n’avez pu vous procurer l’édition Collector “For You Bruce” et que vous aimeriez en acheter un (ou plusieurs),
faites-le-moi savoir.
A bientôt pour de nouvelles aventures au pays de la Springsteenmania.
RM

Après le superbe For You ce livre qui représente encore une fois une masse de travail hallucinante ne peut que figurer en bonne place dans la bibliothèque de tous vrais fans de Bruce.
Une maquette superbe, plus de 200 photos (pour la plupart inédites) et de nombreux témoignages de fans sur leurs réactions à cette période étrange durant laquelle pendant 3 ans
(et après le succès phénoménal de l’album “Born To Run”) Bruce restera muet.
Un éclairage aussi sur les premiers shows de 3 heures (et plus) que Bruce réalisera pour la dernière fois dans des salles à taille humaine alors qu’à l’horizon se profile déjà “Born In The USA”
et sa future tournée 84/85 des stades.The Light in Darkness un livre à acheter les yeux fermés avant de les ouvrir en grand !
brucespringsteen.fr

By the time the New Year’s Eve concert rolled around, I had become a full-fledged Springsteen fanatic. Somehow, we scored quality tickets, stage left, lower level. The excitement was palpable. Because the Agora concert had been broadcast on the radio (and recorded on Maxell UDXL-IIs by the likes of us), the set list was fairly well known. However, Bruce threw in more than the usual number of surprises for us on New Year’s Eve.

The unreleased “Rendezvous” (a song I may have heard on an old bootleg) and “Pretty Flamingo” come to mind

. There was also a newer song I’d only read about previously called “The Ties That Bind”, and a memorable, heavy rendition of “The Fever”. I recall being swept into the poignant “Independence Day” and the dramatic “Point Blank”, which were both as-yet-unreleased gems.

Of course the infamous firecracker incident was a surprising downer, but, although quite angry about it, Bruce moved on from it quickly and assuredly, proceeding to rock us to our core with not only the usual Springsteen rockers, but also classics such as “Rave On” and “Good Rockin’ Tonight”. By the time we were treated to both “Detroit Medley” AND “Quarter to Three”, it was a promising New Year.

All photos: ©L.Wolfson

Lee Wolfson
Cleveland, Ohio
March 2015

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland
Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 40 copies left, now is the time to order this collectible book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world. The perfect gift for the Springsteen fan in your life.
Save Now- Order Here: The Light in Darkness
* The Light in Darkness is not available in stores

Springsteen played Houston twice on the Darkness tour: the first show was July 15, 1978, in the Sam Houston Coliseum, and the second show was December 8, 1978, at The Summit. The first show was less than one week before the Rolling Stones were to play the Coliseum on their Some Girls tour so it was one heck of a week for Houston concert fans.

It took some time to get used to his cleaned up image since it had been three years since Springsteen last played Houston next door at the Music Hall. There was some concern that as he changed his look maybe he had also changed his style of performance. But when he came onstage with the words “Gimme some lights. Houston long time, no see”, all doubt was gone. The show rocked — it was a classic multi hour show.

When he returned to Houston less than 6 months later playing to a much large crowd at the Summit, it felt as if the world was getting in on the secret. As a side note, a large billboard was erected over one of Houston’s freeways. Allegedly, Bruce and a few others scaled it in the middle of the night and added their own art work

.

Bruce Kessler
rockinhouston.com

---

July 15, 1978- SAM HOUSTON COLISEUM, HOUSTON, TX
Set list

1. BADLANDS
2. NIGHT
3. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT
4. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
5. FOR YOU
6. THE FEVER
7. THE PROMISED LAND
8. PROVE IT ALL NIGHT
9. RACING IN THE STREET
10. THUNDER ROAD
11. JUNGLELAND
12. PARADISE BY THE “C”
13. FIRE
14. CANDY’S ROOM
15. ADAM RAISED A CAIN
16. NOT FADE AWAY – SHE’S THE ONE
17. GROWIN’ UP
18. BACKSTREETS
19. ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
20. THE PROMISE
21. BORN TO RUN
22. BECAUSE THE NIGHT
23. QUARTER TO THREE

 

---

December 8, 1978 – THE SUMMIT, HOUSTON, TX
Set list

1. BADLANDS
2. STREETS OF FIRE
3. IT’S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY
4. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
5. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT
6.  INDEPENDENCE DAY
7. THE PROMISED LAND
8. PROVE IT ALL NIGHT
9. RACING IN THE STREET
10. THUNDER ROAD
11. JUNGLELAND
12. THE TIES THAT BIND
13. SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN
14. THE FEVER
15. FIRE
16. CANDY’S ROOM
17. BECAUSE THE NIGHT
18. POINT BLANK
19. MONA
20. PREACHER’S DAUGHTER
21. SHE’S THE ONE
22. I GET MAD
23. BACKSTREETS
24. ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
25. BORN TO RUN
26. DETROIT MEDLEY
27. TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT
28. YOU CAN’T SIT DOWN
29. QUARTER TO THREE

---

---

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 75 copies left, now is the time to order this collectable book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are now offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world until  April 10, 2015!
Save Now- Order Here: The Light in Darkness

By Craig Hlavaty

Special to the Chronicle

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Tuesday for the first time in the venue’s nearly 25 years of hosting concerts. Springsteen’s traveling show has always been a staple of the concert calendar at places like the Summit (and then the Compaq Center) and the Toyota Center. Expect the man and his band to turn in a nearly four-hour set, judging from recent set lists.

This will also be Springsteen’s first Houston visit since 2009′s Toyota Center date touring behind that year’s Working On A Dream. He only got as close as Austin for SXSW during the promo push for 2012′s Wrecking Ball. His newest release, High Hopes, is a grab bag of covers, re-imagined live nuggets, and songs that didn’t make it onto the last few full-length offerings. It’s not an album of misfit toys, that much is for sure.

It’s hard to believe that The Boss has been bringing his brand of wrought-iron Jersey rock to Houston for 40 years — before was even The Boss, maybe just the Assistant Manager — beginning with a four-day invasion of the Liberty Hall in March 1974. He was playing two sets a night three of those nights to accommodate the crowds, something you don’t see much of anymore on a rock tour, much less in Houston.

A Houston Chronicle review of one of the Liberty Hall shows described it as “a celebration of life so intense and vivid that only the most hardened cynic could avoid becoming involved,” which means the reviewer probably met a girl at the show. The only complaint from writer John W. Wilson seemed to be that Springsteen’s voice got lost in the musical soup of the show. There is a great, full-band bootleg floating around on YouTube of that March 9 appearance on KLOL hours before they hit the stage that night. Can you imagine getting all of those people into that tiny studio off Lovett in Montrose?

Not much time passed between the era when Springsteen and band were playing mid-size venues like Liberty Hall and the Houston Music Hall and when they became arena-sized scalper fodder, capable of selling thousands of seats within hours or days. Blockbuster albums like Born to Run and Born in The U.S.A. will have that effect on a career. Springsteen played the Summit for the first time on Dec

. 8, 1978,(Darkness Tour) and again routinely every album cycle or so for a two-night stand until April 1988. He wouldn’t come to Houston again until a solo acoustic show at Jones Hall on Jan. 23, 1996 on the Ghost of Tom Joad tour. Once Bruce and the E Streeters were reunited in 1999, they returned to Houston and the Compaq Center in 2000 and 2002, the last time they would play the arena before it was turned into Lakewood Church.

In anticipation of Springsteen returning to Houston after a five-year absence, I dived into our photo archive(see Darkness photos) for some shots of him in his live element here in Houston. Also, with a little help from online a Bruce database, the aptly-named BruceBase, I was able to fill in some of the blanks on those shows you may have forgotten that you were even at.

Judging by the photos, the man has made a deal with the man upstairs to age in reverse. There are few differences between the man at 64 and at 36, give or take a few wrinkles in the face. He probably knows a few more songs now, too.

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 80 copies left, now is the time to order this collectable book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are now offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world until April 10, 2015!
Save Now- Click Here: The Light in Darkness

Darkness on the Edge of Uptown
Chicago, September 6, 1978

The Uptown Theater was a lavish theater built by the Balaban and Katz theater chain in the 1920s.  It had a palatial look and, along with several other theaters in the Chicago area including the Granada a few miles north and the Chicago Theater downtown, were the premier places to see movies in the early part of the 20th-century.  However, due to the usual litany of urban decay in the 1970s, crime, poverty and suburban flight, the Uptown Theater and its surrounding namesake neighborhood, Uptown, were quite rundown by the 1970s.  Starting in the mid-70s, Jam productions from Chicago starting booking concerts in the venue.  They booked many concerts there, including the Grateful Dead, Bob Marley and, of course, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The first time Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band played the Uptown Theater was on September 6, 1978.  As my friend and I waited in line for the doors to open in the late summer heat wave, we struck up a conversation with an older man in front of us, wearing a suit that he had probably bought in the 50s or 60s.  After a few minutes of speaking with him, we figured out that he did not realize that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were the feature attraction and instead, was waiting in line to see a movie.  I’m not sure what he did after we told him the news but I kind of felt sorry for him.

I had seen two prior Darkness shows on this tour and it was clear by the second song that this one had a little different feel to it, a bit edgier.  I don’t know if the tough neighborhood had any influence on the way Springsteen presented the show but by the second song, “Streets of Fire,” things took on a decidedly poignant tone in the mean streets of Uptown.  When Bruce jumped into the audience during the next song, “Spirit In The Night,” it seemed as if he had a little rougher time than he did the other times I’d seen him and, whether it was part of the act or not, he seemed a little mad when he got back on the stage.  He brushed off the collar of his sport coat and gave a look to those in front, like “don’t do that again.”

I’m not one to write down set lists from shows and with all the years gone by I do not have a recollection of all the songs played. As I mentioned above, “Streets of Fire” was a highlight and I also vaguely remember the cover of “Heartbreak Hotel.”

For me, the ultimate highlight of the show was “Jungleland.”  With its lyrics on urban gang wars, the rough Uptown neighborhood was a perfect setting for it. The line “and the poets down here don’t write nothin’” (by this time, he was leaving the remaining two words of the recorded version, “at all” off the performances) is what I remember most about this performance. The heat and humidity of the hot summer night filled the theater as Bruce shouted out those lines.  The song and performance reflected perfectly the rundown neighborhood, where this rundown theater stood

.

Though some of the specifics escape me, the overall memory of that hot, September evening many years ago is clear.  I am glad that Bruce chose to play the smaller venue rather than one of the city’s arenas.

The Uptown Theater has been shuttered since 1981.  There is talk of reopening it but like the relentless efforts to revitalize its namesake neighborhood, it can’t quite overcome its storied, yet troubled past.

09.06.78 Chicago, IL., intro to ‘Racing in the Street’
“This is for all the Chicago carboys…and anybody who ever wanted to go racing in the street…(music starts)…back home in Asbury, they got these two streets, Kingsley Avenue and Ocean Avenue, they form this big oval, and on Friday and Saturday nights they got…what everybody does is go out and drive around in circles (chuckles)…and somehow it´s fun (chuckles)….and I haven´t done that in a while, I got home for two days, got about ten circles, yeah, like, used to do when I was 18 or 19, now I´m 28, I got a big bus, drive around in big circles (chuckles) ….”

September 6, 1978 Set List (Provided by http://brucebase.wikispaces.com)
GOOD ROCKIN’ TONIGHT / BADLANDS / STREETS OF FIRE / SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT / DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN / HEARTBREAK HOTEL / FACTORY / THE PROMISED LAND / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / RACING IN THE STREET / THUNDER ROAD / JUNGLELAND / PARADISE BY THE “C” / FIRE / CANDY’S ROOM / ADAM RAISED A CAIN / NOT FADE AWAY – SHE’S THE ONE / GROWIN’ UP / BACKSTREETS / ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) / BORN TO RUN / BECAUSE THE NIGHT / QUARTER TO THREE

Robert M. Condren January 22, 2015
Park Ridge, IL
United States

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland Agora concert, this book is a must have.
Thanks to the Springsteen fan community for all your support. The book The Light in Darkness is now sold out.

Looking forward to getting the book, it sounds like it was really a labour of love. I found it on Google, I was doing some searches on the Winterland shows & it popped up.

My brother & I saw Springsteen twice on the Darkness tour, at Berkeley Community Theater & Dec. 16th at Winterland.
Those two shows were the apex, and also the end, of the wonderful run I had seeing live music in the bay area as a teenager in the 70s.
I was 19 in ’78, and the realities of life after high school were putting me though a great deal of discomfort. Darkness was the right album for me at the right time.
The music was never quite as good after that, and the good times never as carefree.

I only saw Springsteen live one more time, at the Oakland Area on the River tour. In spite of excellent seats, seeing him in an arena was just not the same,
& I decided to stick with the memories of the 70s shows, which also include The Paramount in Oakland in ’76. I listen to Bruce infrequently now,
and he has made a lot of records that I have never heard. That being said, I cherish the white hot memory of those shows, and having been a Springsteen fan in the pre-superstar days,
when it was like belonging to some fantastic secret society that had discovered the source of rock & roll in it’s purest, best form.

Regards,
Bruce Mushrush
Martinez, California

Limited edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time

.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 90 copies left, now is the time to order this collectable book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are now offering Free Shipping anywhere in the
world until February 5, 2015!
Save Now- Order Here: The Light in Darkness

When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform Sunday and Monday at Gund Arena, they’ll be hard-pressed to top their legendary show of Aug. 9, 1978, at the Cleveland Agora. The 1,200 fans who packed the landmark venue in its old location on E. 24th St. were treated to a 22-song marathon of old favorites and then-new tunes from the “Darkness on the Edge of Town” album.

Broadcast live on WMMS FM/100.7 to mark the radio station’s 10th anniversary, the free show was simulcast in seven Midwest markets, reaching an estimated 3 million listeners. The widely bootlegged concert captures the Boss and his crackerjack band at the height of their powers, making a rare club appearance in the midst of their first major arena tour.

What follows is a blow-by-blow account of that unforgettable night by a few fortunate eyewitnesses who were there – as well as one serious Springsteen devotee who wishes he had been.

Kid Leo, WMMS disc jockey: Obviously, ‘MMS was going to be the sponsor because we broke Springsteen. Cleveland gave him a foothold in middle America. It was the first city that embraced him outside the Tri-state area.

John Gorman, WMMS program director: That was the summer Dennis Kucinich had the vote recall. The mayor and city council were snarling at each other like dogs. Cleveland was sliding into default. The Springsteen concert was such an amazing high at the time, considering everything else was going south – and fast. As crazy as it sounds, rock ‘n’ roll was one of the few salvations in this city.

Hank LoConti Sr., Agora owner: ‘MMS gave away the tickets. People actually slept on the sidewalk the night before because it was a general-admission show. They wanted to be right up front. These four guys brought a lamp, sleeping bags, everything. I ran an extension cord out to them so they could hook up their lamp.

Chuck Crow, Agora bartender (and now Plain Dealer photographer): People were waiting to get in when I showed up for work. Someone offered me $100 for a ticket.

Jim Kluter, one of the hardcore fans known as the Cleveland Boys: Bruce used to give us 20, 30 tickets. To make a long story short, we went to Asbury Park in 1976. We caught wind that he was playing a benefit softball game. One thing led to another and Bruce asked us to play. He invited us back the following weekend. We stayed at his house. To us, he was just a regular guy hanging out with regular guys

.

John Gorman: It was very important to us that everything ran smoothly. We didn’t want a situation where a left channel cut out or a cue was missed. That would have made us look bush-league. Leo and I were very nervous.

Kid Leo: Nervous? Oh, no. This was a celebration. I remember taking a tray of my mom’s lasagna to Bruce and the band before the show. Bruce goes, “What are you, nuts? I can’t eat this. You see what I do. Do you think I could do that weighed down with lasagna?” While Bruce objected, the band cleared out the whole tray. There was none left.

Kid Leo got the crowd’s attention with the following introduction: “Ladies and gentlemen, the main event. Round for round, pound for pound, there ain’t no finer band around – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!” They came out swinging with a cover of “Summertime Blues” that went directly into a knockout rendition of “Badlands.”

John Gorman: The segue from “Summertime Blues” to “Badlands” was like launching a rocket. It was powerful. Each song just kept building and building and building.

Chuck Crow: It was the best version of “Badlands” I ever heard. I recall Bruce singing and a sea of hands clapping in front of him. I sat on the bar right next to the stage. We didn’t serve during the show. I think they didn’t want all that noise in the background because of the radio broadcast.

Sam Kopper, radio broadcast producer: Jimmy Iovine handled the music mix. He was Springsteen’s producer. That was the first time I saw Springsteen live. I was blown away. I had seen James Brown and he surely deserved his moniker as “the hardest working man in show business.” But when I saw Springsteen, I realized the mantle had been passed.

The performance continued at a breakneck pace with “Spirit in the Night,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “Factory,” “The Promised Land,” “Prove It All Night” and “Racing in the Street.” Two of Springsteen’s most popular songs, “Thunder Road” and “Jungleland” (complete with a cameo by the Cleveland Boys), closed the first half of the concert.

Hank LoConti Sr.: Bruce put on a fantastic show. It’s the best I’ve ever seen him. The first time he played the Agora in ’74, he maybe drew 500, 600. Four years later, he packed the place.

Kid Leo: It was electric. The crowd, the band, the walls – the whole setting was electric.

John Gorman: The crowd knew it was witnessing history. It would have to be one of the best crowds Springsteen has ever played to. You could feel the emotions going back and forth. The audience and the band were both having fun. The vibes were going both ways. There was a connection.

Jim Kluter: We ended up sitting in the second row. There was an iron I-beam above the stage. During the show, Bruce swung across it from one end to the other. He dropped right in front of me and Joe and stuck the microphone in our faces in the middle of “Jungleland.” We sang the line: “Explode into rock ‘n’ roll bands.”

Joe Juhasz, member of the Cleveland Boys: We were way off-key. I’m sure it wasn’t planned. If it wasn’t us, it would’ve been someone else. Everyone was singing along. It was so loud between the crowd and the band.

After an intermission, the instrumental “Paradise by the ‘C’ kicked off the second half of the show – “Round Two,” as Springsteen put it. “Fire,” “Sherry Darling” and a medley of “Not Fade Away,” “Gloria” and “She’s the One” followed.

John Gorman: The band just clicked. They were talking to each other onstage. It was raw emotion. Every single band member was right on. Everybody was reading everybody else’s mind.

Joe Juhasz: They always give 100 percent. That night, they gave more. The songs were tighter and the solos were excellent. Max Weinberg was just crazy on the drums. Clarence Clemons was right on, too.

Mary Polcyn, future wife of Cleveland Boy Joe Juhasz and fan in her own right: Clarence pulled me onstage to dance. I didn’t feel too good. We had a party at our bungalow in Parma the day before and the band came. That’s why Bruce said, “Cleveland Boys, a little party noise” at the beginning of “Sherry Darling.”

John Gorman: One thing went wrong. Clarence had a portable Nakamichi stereo. Somebody stole it from his hotel room. He was (angry). But it never showed in his performance. Springsteen even made a joke about it during “Growin’ Up.”A 13-minute version of “Growin’ Up” found Springsteen in classic storytelling mode for a rock ‘n’ roll parable that came to be known as “Teenage Werewolf.” He related how, en route to meet his maker, he ran into Kid Leo: “I go, ‘Kid, what are you doing?’ He says, ‘Praying for more watts. I gotta blast this baby all the way to New Jersey!’

John Gorman: I never saw Leo cry. But that’s probably the closest he ever came. I was standing with him when Springsteen said that. Leo was in shock.

Charles Cross, founding editor of Backstreets fanzine: Springsteen’s raps combined poetry and pop culture in this unique way. That’s one of the problems with the current tour. Bruce isn’t telling enough stories. The few stories he does tell are the same every night. Back in ’78, he was making this stuff up on the spot.”Backstreets” (dedicated to the Cleveland Boys) and a giddy version of “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” brought the second set to an over-the-top climax. A nearly hoarse Springsteen and the indefatigable E Street ensemble returned to the stage for encores of “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” “Born to Run,” “Because the Night” and “Raise Your Hand.” “I’d like to thank Cleveland for supporting us,” Springsteen told the audience. “When we first came here, we got some respect.” At 12:15 a.m., more than four hours after it began, the marathon performance ended with a surprise cover of “Twist and Shout.”

Kid Leo: After “Raise Your Hand,” Sam Kopper wanted to sign off. I said, “I’m telling you. Listen to that crowd. He’s gonna come back.” Sam said, “No, he ain’t. If you’re not gonna sign off, I’m gonna sign off.” So I read the credits. As soon as we were off the air, Bruce came back out and did “Twist and Shout.” It didn’t make the broadcast. But there are copies of it out there because the tape kept running.

Joe Juhasz: I saw Clarence backstage after the show. He was soaked with sweat. I remember looking at Jimmy. We just shook our heads. We were exhausted just from watching them.

Hank LoConti Sr.: They knew they put on a good show. Bruce was very satisfied.

John Gorman: One of the greatest compliments I ever got was from Bob Seger a few years later. He said, “Man, I heard the concert you guys put on with Springsteen. That was the greatest rock ‘n’ roll show I ever heard.” If it were put out today as a live album, I think it would outsell the live collection that Springsteen put out in ’86.

Kid Leo: That concert is probably one of the biggest-selling bootlegs, both on vinyl and now on CD, in the large catalog of Springsteen bootlegs. People who don’t know me from Cleveland recognize my name because they have the bootleg. Everything just clicked that night. It was a special point in Bruce’s career. He was coming off “Born to Run,” which had made him an American icon. It was like, can he follow it up? And he did.

Charles Cross: I wasn’t there. But through the magic of bootlegging, I feel like I was. In the annals of Springsteen shows, it was one of the most dynamic he ever did. He was just on fire that year. When we talk about the best shows that Bruce and the band are doing today, which are quite good, they still don’t come close to the ferocity of ’78. People think Bruce was always as big as he is now. He wasn’t. He was a minor act on Columbia Records who was in danger of being dropped. The success he had came from his live shows. And that Cleveland show was one of the best.

Limited edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland Agora concert, this book is a must have.
Many thanks to all the fans who ordered the book, The Light in Darkness. We are now sold out.

NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE: “AN EVENING OF INTIMACY”
Cleveland 8/9/78 comes out of the vault and into your computer
After kicking off in the not-so-recent-past with the 2012 Apollo show, one month later the archival side of Springsteen’s live downloads series jumps right into the sweet spot of the vault with its second release: The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio, August 9, 1978.

One of five radio broadcasts on the Darkness tour, the Agora, as it has come to be known, is a performance held in extraordinarily high esteem by fans who have relived it for decades through the magic of bootlegging on titles like Summertime Bruce, Agora Night and Just in Time for Summer.

But none of those titles had the benefit of being sourced from seven 15-IPS (inches per second), half-track, mixdown reel to reels, newly transferred using the same Plangent process used for the recently released Album Collection box set. The new release promises unprecedented quality from an old familiar friend.

Brad Serling, founder and CEO of Nugs.net, which handles the live series, tells Backstreets, “It’s so exciting to be a part of this — I feel like we’re unearthing a piece of rock ‘n’ roll history, to do this and not put out just another copy of something that people have had on bootleg for years.”

The show itself was a special stop on the Darkness tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of WMMS, home to one of Springsteen’s biggest and most influential radio supporters, Kid Leo. As Brucebase notes, Kid Leo memorably introduced the band to the stage to kick off the broadcast that also reached listeners via FM stations in other Midwest cities: “Good evening and welcome to the WMMS 10th anniversary concert. I’m Kid Leo, and I have the duty and the pleasure of welcoming, ladies and gentlemen, the main event. Round for round, pound for pound, there ain’t no finer band around: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!”

The set is a stone-cold Darkness tour classic, kicking off appropriately with a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” and moving through what might best be described as a core setlist for this portion of the tour (including the soon-to-be-dropped “Paradise By The C” to start the second set), augmented by the then-unreleased “Sherry Darling” (another nod to summer) and the set-closing “Twist and Shout.”

As for the tapes themselves, it took a bit of digging to find the best source. “Initially, what Toby found in the Thrill Hill archives was not a great-sounding transfer of the reels that they’d had,” Serling explains. “So they asked Sirius, and Sirius pulled out their copy — which apparently sounded better than what Toby had from the initial transfer. That’s what was originally slated for release, and even sent off to Gateway to be mastered. Meanwhile, Toby still wanted to find the original reels and see if he could make a better transfer. I happened to call him while he was working on this — I voiced concern about putting out a bootleg that people had already heard if it wasn’t the best existing sound. He said, ‘Well, it does sound better than the last transfer, but I think we can do better.’

“Serendipitously, Toby found a box of seven reels that been on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” continues Serling, “and that was it. The reels — the pre-FM, stereo mix of this show — had gone missing, and it turns out they were in this box that was on loan to the Rock Hall. And Toby had managed to find it just in time.”

Sent over to Plangent for a fresh transfer, the Agora audio was pitch-corrected and adjusted for wow-and-flutter as it was extracted from the master reels, “brought back to as sonically perfect as the tapes could be,” Serling says. “It sounded way better than Toby’s original transfer, and better than the Sirius bootleg. So we managed to push it through.”

The provenance of the reels is still not entirely clear to Scott or to Serling. They are unlikely to be the “Hank LoConti tapes,” named for the Agora’s founder who died earlier this year; a few years back, Cleveland press reported he had hoped to take the 24-track recording he made of the show and get permission to release it to benefit the Western Reserve Historical Society. “What we do know,” Serling says, “is that there is no other stereo mix of this tape in the Thrill Hill archives.”

We would suspect these seven tapes are the mixed-down and mastered reels from which copies of the show were made by Columbia to service other select radio stations when demand for live Springsteen was raging in the late ’78 and early ’79. Some have speculated the Agora was considered for a possible 1979 official live album, and though there isn’t enough evidence to conclusively state that, Serling does note, “That’s what’s interesting — that could be what this stereo mix is! The boxes say ‘Springsteen Live,’ as if it were a live album. The sleuth work involved here has been really exciting, trying to look under every rock and see what’s there. And this is the best possible version of the show we could have in our hands right now.”

In addition to CD and standard digital files, the Agora will also be available in the highest-existing High Definition: “We’re really psyched to come out of the gate with our first deep archive release and put it out at 24-bit/192KHz,” says Sterling.

The same Plain-Dealer story about LoConti’s tapes offers some heady endorsements of the show: “Former WMMS programmer John Gorman recalls in his book The Buzzard that Bob Seger told him he recorded it off the radio in Detroit, calling it ‘the greatest rock ‘n’ roll show I ever heard,’ and drummer Max Weinberg called it the best show the E Street Band ever did.”

Thanks to Backstreets.com for this incredible news for Springsteen fans.
- December 23, 2014 – Erik Flannigan and Christopher Phillips reporting

Limited edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour

. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 90 copies left, now is the time to order this collectable book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are now offering Free Shipping anywhere in the
world until February 5, 2015!
Save Now- Order Here: The Light in Darkness

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen Gift book, The Light in Darkness, less than 90 copies left.
Focusing on Springsteen’s 1978 Darkness on The Edge of Town album and tour with
amazing photos and stories

.
Free Shipping until the end of 2014!
CLICK HERE TO SAVE NOW- The Light in Darkness
*The Light in Darkness book is not sold in stores

The Light in Darkness – collected photographs and essays

It was the year the Bee Gees Saturday Night Fever album was number one for twenty-four weeks and the year a killer snowstorm hit the eastern seaboard putting us out of work and school for about a week. The year that saw us watching the beautiful Barbara Bach let down her hair for Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me and had us listening to disco and driving at night to the Eagle’s Hotel California and falling in love to Fleetwood Mac and Wings. It was the year the Sex Pistols went dark and and told us to never mind the bollocks for the last time at Winterland in San Francisco, where Bruce would give one of the most memorable concerts of his career in that December.

1978 has been exposed and laid bare for Springsteen fans. Lawrence Kirsch has collected a healthy volume of blog entries, magazine and newspaper articles, and reminiscences of Bruce Springsteen’s 1978 tour and bound them with the best tour photographs in his book The Light in Darkness. These are not concert reviews or album reviews as much as they are personal stories about the person who has written each piece. Anecdotes and reminiscences about songs of youth and joy and love and sex and hardship and identity. The songs on Darkness reach us because they seem to not only understand but to embrace the working-class struggle, family relationships, and hard-won romance. They are small town stories– not quite urban and not quite not; that are visually engaging and nerve-touching; whole lyric narratives that tell us what it is to be down and out but to want to live anyway.

Springsteen is a sort of high priest of Passaic who tells us it’s okay to not understand what it’s all about but to keep on trying anyway and to refuse all bullshit. That “it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive” and to want control and want it now. After what he had just been through with former manager Appel, it isn’t surprising to hear Bruce sing with such guttural, throaty vehemence. He is glad to be back. He is glad he’s alive and he shows it. The photos reveal a buff Springsteen with his mop of chocolate waves, buff in his sleeveless t-shirts and motorcycle boots all hipness and attitude like Marlon Brando in The Wild One.

One contributor tells us, “Music had become my savior that summer…” It was the summer her mother died from a second failed kidney transplant and the summer she went to a concert despite everything. “There are other things I remember about that night, an evening when music – particularly Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – saved my life and made me realize that I could go on…” As Springsteen tells us on “Badlands”, “It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.” And that is the point. Whatever happened to him during his enforced hiatus when he was falling out with Mike Appel. Appel was Bruce Springsteen’s first manager and producer, and is probably most remembered for his part in a contract dispute that kept Springsteen from recording for quite a while after Born to Run in 1975.

Eager and loyal fans of the early Springsteen had nothing to listen to. It was, as one fan writes, a “primitive media era”. There was no Internet, there was no news, no new Springsteen recordings. “Waiting during that time was an eternity…

But when Bruce did come back, he gave the performance of his lifetime. The ’78 Tour (some have called it “The Lawsuit Tour”) is compared to Dylan’s live ’66 performance at the Royal Albert Hall. One writer says that it was this tour, the ’78 tour, that gave “the feeling that someone out there has understood and shares my pain (and that) has kept me going many times…”

Springsteen, like Dylan, is one of few artists who inspire a real closeness between performer and fan – an intimacy that is inherent in the work, the music, and how it is performed with such gut wrenching sincerity that a large number of fans don’t simply relate – they take it personally. It is this very fact – the blurred boundary – that makes the artist so successful and that gives the music such staying power. Philippe Rezzonico says, “You cannot escape what was written for you, for your kind, for what you value in life…”

This is performance-based writing and photography and so highly personal and it is this that gives the work its strength: it is everything that you too have felt at a Springsteen concert – that palpable connection that you did not expect but is there nonetheless. Here we see Springsteen falling backwards into the crowd, venturing out into the crowd with his long-lead microphone halfway up the aisle and welcoming girls onto stage to dance. This is how Springsteen shares the show. Kirsch has collected the best images from this tour: a rose-colored light soaked Springsteen jumping with his guitar held at sharp angle, falling back at the feet of Clarence Clemons and wailing out a tune. He is sweat drenched and loving it. This book, for all intents and purposes, is the best souvenir booklet of the tour. It is a program adapted after the fact by the fans and for the fans. And that’s what it’s all about and should be about. Springsteen was the shaman – the one we chose and who traveled down the witness tree during those three-hour concerts – expressing what we feel and how we feel it with such abandon, our own personal soundtrack Springsteen.

Sadi Ranson
Providence, Rhode Island
November 2014

Limited Edition Bruce Springsteen book, The Light in Darkness.
IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, including a full 16 pages dedicated to the 1978 Cleveland
Agora concert, this book is a must have.
With less than 35 copies left, now is the time to order this collectible book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are offering savings on Shipping anywhere in the
world. The perfect gift for the Springsteen fan in your life

.
Save Now- Order Your Copy Here: The Light in Darkness

Limited edition Bruce Springsteen book.

IF you have ever considered buying this book, Now is the time.
The book focuses on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce’s iconic 4th album
and 1978 tour. Jam packed with over 100 fan stories and 200 original classic
photos from the 1978 tour, this book is a must have.
With less than 100 copies left, now is the time to order this collectable book.
And to sweeten the offer, we are now offering Free Shipping anywhere in the
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The Light in Darkness presenta il punto di vista dei fan del Boss su… “Darkness on the Edge of Town” Con Darkness on the Edge of Town Bruce Springsteen e la E Street Band presero una posizione precisa proprio quando tutto era in discussione,” scrive Vike Savoth nella prefazione di “The Light in Darkness”. “Erano pronti a pagare il prezzo di un violento ingresso nell’oblio del rock and roll prendendo le distanze dal sound e dal look che aveva dato loro popolarità e fortuna”. Con oltre 200 fotografie e 100 racconti originali raccontati dai leggendari fan di Springsteen “The Light in The Darkness” è il punto di vista dei seguaci del Boss sul suo quarto album. Vi ricordo che The Light In The Darkness ha le spese di spedizione scontate!The Light in Darkness

Libro de Bruce Springsteen: The Light in Darkness
Edición Limitada para fans del Boss.
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The Light in Darkness

… alls ihr nicht bei Greasy Lake oder so unterwegs seid und das hier schon gelesen habt: Lawrence Kirsch bietet sein Buch zum Darkness-Album und der 78er-Tour, “The Light in Darkness”, im Oktober portofrei an – auch für Europa! Es gibt noch knapp 100 Restexemplare, wenn die weg sind, sind sie weg. Das Buch hat über 200 Seiten und Fotos, alle Details findet ihr unter The Light in Darkness

Edition limitée du livre sur Springsteen : The Light in Darkness Economisez maintenant : Port Gratuit durant un seul semaine !
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10 octobre -1978 Rock & Folk par Philippe Garnier

Il est arrivé sur la scène du Forum sans tambour ni trompette, avec un sourire conquérant de jeune loup. Avec son costard de Thrift Store, sa chemise de flanelle à carreaux noirs et blancs et ses Frye boots, sa Fender toute égratignée qu’il porte le plus souvent dans son dos comme un ouvrier porterait sa musette ou sa gamelle, Springsteen avait l’air impossiblement beau et impossiblement jeune (sans sa stupide barbe).

Il nous a abordés comme si c’était à un coin de rue qu’on se rencontrait : “Vous m’avez vu dans le journal ?” il crie comme ça, tout content. Le L.A. Times lui avait consacré toute sa Calendar Section du dimanche, et le Grand Pontife Hilburn en avait tartiné trois pages bien pédantes sur Bruce. Oui, on avait lu. On savait tout sur lui ; on savait que le “boss is back”, comme le clament les T. shirts publicitaires. On savait tout sauf qu’il allait nous tuer comme ça ce soir. Badlands et Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, il va faire ça avec un aplomb absolument sans appel ; on en a les jambes molles tant ce foutu E Street Band joue bien, pompe ce Rock’n'roll dans l’énorme salle comme un gros cœur en surmultipliée. Clarence Clemons est resplendissant dans son costard vermillon ; je vous chie pas : un trois pièces VERMILLON, cinq mètres carrés de tissu pour draper sa grandeur plus que nature. Bruce et lui offrent deux pôles kinétiques tout le long du concert, bien exploités par l’éclairage et le jeu de scène, contraste que dix bouquins sur les rapports du musicien blanc vis-à-vis du noir, du big Spade, ne pourraient même pas approcher. Tennessee Williams, Mezzrow, rien de tout ça n’éclaire autant que de voir ces deux zèbres sur scène. Quand ils restent sur scène ; parce que souvent ils sont dans le public à batifoler, à se rouler dans la foule, à se laisser porter par la mer des paumes qui veulent les toucher (enfin non, personne cherche à porter Clarence Clemons…) Jamais je n’ai vu un type se nourrir autant du public et de ses réactions. Jamais je n’ai vu un type donner et RECEVOIR autant de ses fans. On a l’impression qu’il vient nous trouver pour une recharge. Et lui-même comme dynamo se pose un peu là. Le simple fait qu’il tienne le coup à ce degré d’intensité et à ce rythme-là relève déjà du miracle ; ce type est un putain d’athlète du rock’n'roll. Jamais présence aussi PHYSIQUE n’avait rempli l’espace du Forum de cette façon ; tous les gros veinards qui ont pu voir le concert du Roxy qu’il donna deux jours après peuvent frimer et se rengorger autant qu’ils veulent (il est jaloux !!!) et prétendre que c’était encore plus fabuleux, je maintiens que faire ce qu’il fait au FORUM est plus incroyable et plus exceptionnel ; c’était comme s’il était là dans le living-room ; le degré d’intimité était incroyable ; tous ses apartés portaient. Et les histoires qu’il raconte tiennent plus d’un acteur que d’un simple amuseur. Il est là devant vous, quatre-vingts kilos de chair et d’os et trois tonnes de sincérité, et je défie QUICONQUE de mettre ça en doute ou de rigoler (même le gros malin mal éclairé que j’étais il y a seulement un mois). Quand il fait Greetings From Asbury Park, il annonce : “C’est quelque chose que j’aime bien entendre sur l’album de Greg Kihn.” “I came for you / I came for you…” qu’il chante, et on n’en doute pas une seule minute.
Springsteen chante cent fois mieux que sur ses disques ; plus de borborygmes constipés et incompréhensibles ; PLUS BESOIN DES PAROLES. Et quand il joue de la guitare, alors là c’est l’extase ; comme son solo lame de rasoir au milieu de “Promised Land”.
Aux deux extrémités de la scène, il y a les deux ingrédients magiques du rock and roll de Springsteen, l’orgue et le piano. L’organiste est une espèce de phoque hirsute qui ressemble au fantôme de Brooker (je cherche Ducray sous le piano, il n’y est pas, tant pis), les deux bonshommes et leurs acolytes font tous les bons bruits au bon moment, tout ce qu’on veut entendre, anticipant nos moindres désirs

. C’est fou, et c’est assez effrayant quand on y réfléchit. Mais on n’y réfléchit pas, pensez bien. Le voilà qui présente une autre chanson, qu’il parle de sa petite sœur et de Buddy Holly ; sa petite sœur a déjà ramassé trois contredanses pour excès de vitesse, et elle conduit depuis deux mois seulement ! Et c’est évidemment “Racing In The Streets”. Et je regarde autour de moi, et je vois tous ces mecs de L.A., tous ces “hot-rod angels” et ces “shut down strangers” (beaucoup de chicanos dans le tas, d’ailleurs), et je me dis que s’il y a un coin où ils savent ce que peut faire “69 Chevy with a 396, Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor”, c’est bien à L.A.(moi je n’en ai pas la moindre idée, sauf que je suppose que ça arrache un bout d’asphalte, mais j’aime bien la façon dont ça sonne…). Et le Forum c’est rien, attendez San Diego ! Là-bas, ils en connaissent un rayon, question bagnoles…
Clarence Clemons est à genoux dans les premiers rangs en plein milieu de “Thunder Road”, et il souffle un solo qui vient de si loin et qui en même temps est si physique, la tripe, vraiment, que ça en devient inquiétant ; on pense brièvement à Dylan et son ringard de saxo de balloche, mais on referme vite la parenthèse parce que Clarence se lève à présent, cent trente kilos de musique humaine, et Bruce vient buter dans la montagne et fait sonner ses cordes de Telecaster tellement fort qu’il en pètera trois avant la fin du concert.

“VOUS ÊTES PRETS POUR LE DEUXIEME ROUND ?” hurle Springsteen après s’être arrêté seulement quinze minutes à l’entracte. Et comment qu’on est prêt. Mais quand même pas pour ce qui va suivre. La place et les forces manquent pour décrire le délire qui vous prend alors que l’autre flippé vous allonge “Adam Raised A Cain”, “The Night Brigade”, “Streets Of Fire” et tout ça. Un des plus grands moments, c’est quand il fait “Fire”, qui est je crois une des vingt chansons enregistrées pour “Darkness” et qui verra peut-être le jour plus tard (“Y’aura sans doute un pirate sous peu”, plaisantera t-il avec nous à San Diego). “Fire” est une chanson quasi rockabilly ; Springsteen prend des poses archétypales ; de loin c’est Cochran, ses jambes en X et ses allures de désossé ; des fois il rappelle l’intensité possédée d’un Kevin Coyne. “She’s The One” est l’occasion pour lui et le groupe de se lancer dans une pyrotechnie effarante ; ça commence sur un jungle-beat genre “Mona”, un Bo Diddley beat estampillé, martelé jusqu’aux deuxièmes phalanges. A San Diego, Bruce se laissera aller et divaguera dans un “Not Fade Away” absolument magique. (Après le concert, aux journalistes : “C’est la première fois qu’on fait “Not Fade Away”, mais, bon, je suis allé voir The Buddy Holly Story trois fois de suite. Et puis Gary Bussey est dans la salle.” Bussey était dans notre bus aussi, de retour d’une tournée avec Willy Nelson. Il a joué avec Bruce dans sa chambre d’hôtel et dans un club de la côte, et c’est le grand amour entre ce fils de l’Oklahoma et le Grand Rital. Sur scène, Springsteen raconte comment le film l’a aidé à percevoir Holly : “Je m’étais jamais imaginé Buddy Holly en train de bouger ; pour moi, il était toujours comme ça, à partir de la taille.” Et il prend une pose figée.
Il fait trois ou quatre rappels, selon les soirs. Au Forum, il chante une chanson tout seul au piano (“The Promise”?) puis “Born To Run”, un triomphe. Quand il revient encore, il fait ce qui ironiquement est son plus grand hit à ce jour, “Because The Night”, et ensuite il se lance dans ce qui est peut-être le meilleur moment de la soirée (sauf que ça veut dire que c’est – quand même – la fin), une version carrément ébouriffée de “Quarter To Three”, le vieux hit de Gary U.S. Bonds. Il nous fait chanter a capella comme si on était à un coin de rue, il nous fait twister, la bière monte et descend des pieds à la tête, on est sur les fauteuils à danser, à tomber les uns sur les autres, et à la fin Springsteen hurle : “I’m just a prisonner of rock’n'roll !” Ce qui dans la bouche de n’importe qui d’autre sonnerait un peu cul, mais lui il peut assumer, il l’a prouvé, toute la nuit. Il termine sur une civière, ranimé par Clarence. Jive, jive, tout ça, mais on adore tous ça, il y a longtemps qu’on ne compte plus les coups. K.O. technique.

A San Diego la salle est deux fois plus petite, mais l’impression est la même ; le son est bien moins bon, la foule est cinglée, les mômes se lancent à l’assaut de la scène, mais en rigolant, pas méchamment. Et Bruce veille au grain ; à un moment il plonge dans la foule pour séparer un videur et un excité ; il fait passer l’excité dans les coulisses pour lui éviter des ennuis ; tout ça très cool, sans démagogie, sans pour cela se mettre les videurs à dos. Mais quand il prend son bain de foule au cours de “All Night”, un des videurs comprend plus et court après en lui gueulant : “Eh, vous, revenez sur la scène !!!” Springsteen raconte ça après tout à fait ravi. Tout comme après le premier pétard il dit tranquillement : “Eh, c’est MA soirée, je veux que personne soit blessé. Pas de pétards.” Il dit ça posément, mais personne ne bronche, et les excités de la poudre à canon rentrent leur arsenal. Springsteen : “Moi je joue tous les soirs ; des fois je suis fatigué, des fois ça tourne mal ; mais ça devrait jamais. Le type qui achète un billet, c’est SA soirée ; le billet est cher, c’est beaucoup d’argent. Alors je veux faire en sorte que le type ait un endroit où s’asseoir, qu’il ne se fasse pas taper sur la gueule et qu’il ne se fasse pas défigurer par un pétard.” L’entrevue avec l’homme se passe – de façon assez appropriée – dans un vestiaire, sous une lumière de commissariat de police. Bruce s’amène dans un autre costard étriqué avec les biceps qui bougent en dessous. Maintenant je comprends pourquoi les filles le trouvent sexy. Il a vraiment tout, Al Pacino, De Niro, Brando… James Dean. Tous des gens qu’il admire, d’ailleurs. “Comme tout le monde” ajoute-t-il. Il s’amène avec  l’Est d’Eden de Steinbeck sous le bras. On lui demande s’il a un peu adapté son show à la foule de ce soir.

“On a jamais joué San Diego. Mais on y retournera ! Les gens étaient, uh, DINGUES ! Dans ces cas-là je fais un peu gaffe à ce que je fais ou à ce que je dis, pour rien provoquer d’incontrôlable. Je veux pas que quelqu’un se fasse mal à un de mes concerts. Mais, wow, d’habitude les gens essaient de grimper sur scène et je leur dis : “Bravo, t’as gagné, maintenant pose-toi là et écoute”. Et c’est généralement ce qu’ils font ! Mais en Californie, ce coup-là… L’autre soir, ces trois TRES JEUNES filles se précipitent sur moi pour m’embrasser… et… je… moi je trouve ça sympa… Mais là j’ai cette fille qui a à peine quinze ans sur moi et j’ai sa langue dans la bouche et elle la fourre aussi loin qu’elle pourra jamais aller… hum… J’étais un peu… ESTOMAQUE.”

Holly, c’est une influence importante ?

“J’étais trop jeune pour connaître la première vague, tout ce rockabilly qui est ce que j’écoute maintenant le plus. Moi, c’était plutôt les Stones, Tamla, Stax, Dylan… C’est après que j’ai remonté le courant. Mais je me souviens de la fois où j’ai vu Elvis sur l’Ed Sullivan Show ; ma mère regardait la télé dans la cuisine, et j’ai vu ça. Ça m’a donné envie de PORTER une guitare. Pas encore d’en jouer, mais d’en avoir une.”

Vous faites deux-trois accords à la Duane Eddy aussi dans le show…

“Ouais, Duane Eddy et Dick Dale… Mais sur la côte Est on trouve pas facilement les disques… surtout des compilations de disques instrumentaux, surf et tout ça… Le truc de Duane Eddy, c’est la musique du film “Because They’re Young”. Et Dion aussi. Dion était super. Steve (Miami Steve Van Zandt, le guitariste) a travaillé avec son groupe. Dion était toujours bon. Il avait un sax magnifique. Il avait tout.”

Contrairement à ce que nous laissaient entendre les avertissement des gens du service de publicité, il parle volontiers de son procès avec Mike Appel. Il prend un air songeur, comme quand on ouvre une vieille blessure devenue presque chère.

“Mike et moi on était très proche l’un de l’autre, très amis. On faisait des rêves ensemble ; moi j’allais être Elvis, et lui le Colonel. Seulement voilà, il était pas le colonel et moi j’étais pas Elvis. Ça a commencé à craquer quand j’ai voulu avoir un peu de contrôle sur ma vie ; mais je vais pas vous dire que c’était pas aussi à propos d’argent.” (sourire de loup).

S’il a effectivement enregistré près de trente nouvelles chansons, pourquoi ne pas avoir sorti un double-album ? Et un en public ?

“J’ai pensé que les chansons de Darkness suffisaient. Elles ont plus d’impact que noyées au milieu d’un double-album. Quant au disque live, il y en aura sans doute un, un jour. En attendant, ça fait le bonheur des bootleggers. Non, ça ne me gène pas du tout ; je ne crois pas que les gens qui sortent les pirates se fassent beaucoup d’argent. Ce sont surtout des fans un peu trop zélés ; il y en a qui m’écrivent pour m’expliquer : “Eh, Bruce, on pouvait pas faire autrement…” (rires)

Edition limitée du livre sur Springsteen : “The Light in Darkness” Economisez maintenant : Port Gratuit durant un seul mois !
Seulement 100 copies restantes. Cliquez ici pour commander: The Light in Darkness

‘Comprai un’audiocassetta di Darkness il giorno stesso che uscì e con il mio amico Mark Hoffman, quella notte, andammo in giro ad ascoltarla nel suo pickup.

Mark aveva un vecchio Chevy Monte Carlo che usava per gareggiare sui rettilinei e qualche volta andavo con lui a guardare.

Quando Racing in The Street ebbe inizio, semplicemente accostammo a lato della strada e rimanemmo seduti lì, ad ascoltare, in un silenzio stupito.

Avevo diciotto anni e prima di allora non avevo mai avuto un’esperienza musicale come quella, ed ora, più di trent’anni dopo, è ancora vivissimo il ricordo di me seduto nell’oscurità ad ascoltare, meravigliato.’

E’ un brano tratto dal libro ‘The Light in Darkness’ di Lawrence Kirsch, di cui avevo brevemente parlato sul forum un paio di settimane fa e che mi arrivato la scorsa settimana. La traduzione è rozza ed approssimativa ma spero di aver reso il racconto molto vivido e cinematografico di un fan (Jim Freeman) che insieme a molti altri scritti è a corredo dell’articolo sugli shows di fine settembre 1978 al Fox Theater di Atlanta

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E’ un brano che mi ha colpito come un treno (quello dei ricordi) visto che in quel periodo avevo anche io diciotto anni e a fine estate comprai il disco e la reazione fu molto simile, tra meraviglia e stupore per quanta oscurità trasudava da quel vinile e quant’erano profondi i tratteggi dei personaggi, e per quanto immaginario suscitavano i testi e le canzoni , urlate una di seguito all’altra cariche di tensione fino al punto di esplodere con violenza. Non mi spiegavo perché, nella terra promessa dell’American Dream, ci potesse essere spazio per un disco con così tanto astio, tensione, disperazione, tanto che per un periodo lo misi da parte, perso nel Wall of Sound di Born to Run. Ma era il ’78 e la percezione del sogno americano in Italia era ancora immaginifica e meravigliosa (eravamo anche un poco ingenui) e Darkness mi riportò con i piedi ben piantati per terra e di questo non posso che essergliene grato.

Il libro (formato A4+, 200+ pagine, carta patinata e ottima qualità fotografica e tipografica) è su Darkness ed il tour del 1978, con una ventina di capitoli ognuno dedicato a show particolarmente seminali (Passaic, Roxy, Agora, Philadelphia, Winterland etc) ma anche ad altri meno famosi. Non ci sono scalette e statistiche (una volta tanto) ma ci sono emozioni a fiumi nei racconti dei fans e nelle centinaia di foto molte delle quali inedite e provenienti dagli archivi privati dei fans stessi.

Ho un paio di scaffali della mia libreria dedicati ai libri su Springsteen, accumulati nel corso degli anni. Ce ne sono di biografici, molti sono solo fotografici, altri sono zeppi di statistiche e set list, ma pochi sono immaginifici ed evocativi di memorie e buone vibrazioni come questo.

Se avete voglia saperne di più, trovate tutti i dettagli qui:

The Light in Darkness

Costa 40$ (poco più di 30€) e fino a fine ottobre la spedizione è gratuita anche overseas per cui è sicuramente un affarone.

E’, come già detto nel precedente post, non ho alcuna relazione con l’autore, sono solo un cliente molto molto soddisfatto.

Pino Damonte
Arenzano, Italy
ottobre, 2014