Monthly Archives: February 2015

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

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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

 

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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

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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