Bruce Springsteen’s studio output between 1973 and 1987 marks one of the most celebrated runs from the classic rock era, but it only tells part of his story. Coupled with his enormous catalog of unreleased songs and albums, bootlegs of Springsteen’s live shows tell another crucial part of the tale. And while collections like Tracks and The Promise gave official homes to long-traded studio rarities, most of his greatest live recordings have remained unreleased.
This all ended last year when Springsteen announced an officially sanctioned live archive series, releasing full shows from throughout his career. For diehards, the opening of the vault feels like a dream come true: these are all excellent quality recordings of legendary performances. For newcomers, each of these shows could serve as a potential gateway to Springsteen, as essential as any of his studio releases. They are precisely the thing that’ll turn upgrade casual fans into obsessives.
Date: 12/31/1975
Venue: Tower Theater – Upper Darby, PA
Tour: Born to Run
Why it matters: A previously released Hammersmith Odeon concert from the Born to Run tour marked Springsteen’s first European performance: a turning point in his career, where he converted the entire crowd into Springsteen fanatics. The Philadelphia audience gathered here, however, needed no convincing. This was already prime Springsteen territory. Accordingly, Springsteen sounds comfortable and confident, but he still works for your love, even when he knows he’s already earned it.
Highlights: Understated performances like the slowed-down "Tenth Avenue Freezeout" and a quiet, stately rendition of "Thunder Road" provide the set’s most transcendent moments, forecasting the darker material to come.
Bonus points: Bruce casually references his infamous appearances on the cover of both Time and Newsweek at the beginning of "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street" with equal amounts of pride and disbelief.
Date: 8/9/1978
Venue: The Agora – Cleveland, OH
Tour: Darkness on the Edge of Town
Why it matters: In the three years between Born to Run and Darkness–what felt like an eternity amid the album-a-year pacing for rock artists in the '70s–Springsteen was fighting for the right to record his own music while also writing the darkest, heaviest material of his career. This show–performed a mere two months after the album’s release–feels like making up for lost time. The setlist is structured like one long howl, with even the more subdued tracks like "Factory" feeling like fist-pumping declarations of power.
Highlights: Here you will find the definitive version of Born to Run’s "Backstreets", dedicated to two ardent fans who had been following Springsteen on tour since '76, mirroring the song’s friendship-over-all-else desperation.
Bonus points: A quick snippet of the Village People’s "Macho Man" is woven into "Rosalita" during the band introductions, providing Clarence "Big Man" Clemons with his very own theme music.
Date: 12/31/1980
Venue: Nassau Coliseum – Uniondale, NY
Tour: The River
Why it matters: One of Springsteen’s superpowers as a live performer is simply a matter of endurance: he can go forever. This night of the River tour stands among the most bootleged concerts of his career; it’s also among the longest. Running just under four hours, this 38-track New Year’s Eve performance spans from the newly released "Hungry Heart" to rarities ("Roulette", "Held Up Without a Gun") to "Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town". One of the truly mandatory non-album recordings of Springsteen.
Highlights: "Racing in the Street" into "The River" forms the dark centerpiece of the show as Roy Bittan’s exquisite piano playing binds the two tracks together into a haunting 15-minute elegy.
Bonus points: The "Night" trilogy ("Night", "Prove It All Night", "Spirit in the Night") to open the show is a small window into Springsteen’s thematic consistency.
Date: 8/5/1984
Venue: Brendan Byrne Arena – East Rutherford, NJ
Tour: Born in the U.S.A.
Why it matters: The end of the River tour marked the end of the small shed Springsteen show—he’d graduated to stadiums and arenas as Born in the U.S.A. took Springsteen to Top 40 ubiquity. The E Street Band had been beefed up to fill the space, with prominent synths and more guitar solos (courtesy of new recruit Nils Lofgren). Playing the biggest hits of his career to the largest audiences yet, Springsteen sounds like he’s been preparing for this moment his whole career: the eternal employee of the month finally got his promotion.
Highlights: This set contains one of the most blistering E Street Band versions of "Atlantic City", hinting at what the mythical, unreleased full band version of Nebraska would have sounded like.
Bonus points: Springsteen’s mom and dad are in the audience at this homecoming show (as are his lawyer and physician, apparently), adding some extra resonance to familially-linked tracks like "Used Cars" and "My Hometown".
Date: 4/23/1988
Venue: LA Sports Arena – Los Angeles, CA
Tour: Tunnel of Love
Why it matters: For the Tunnel of Love Express Tour, previous set staples were either completely absent or entirely re-imagined; "Born to Run" is transformed from the show’s climax into a ruminative, acoustic ballad. "Wouldn’t have wrote this without you, so…" Springsteen sighs as he introduces the song, as if he’s only playing it out of obligation to his audience. Shortly after this tour, Springsteen would divorce his wife Julianne Philips, break-up the E Street Band, move to L.A., and take five years off from his career. This show is cast with a shadow, confusion and darkness that makes this era of his career so fascinating.
Highlights: The biggest takeaway here is the strength of the Tunnel of Love tracks–songs like "Tougher Than the Rest" and "One Step Up"–which rank among the most thoughtful, beautiful work of his career. If any of his albums are due for a critical reassessment, it’s this one.
Bonus points: This release has easily the best Springsteen album art in at least two decades.