1978-09-19 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ

Scheduled: 20:00 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

Springsteen's first appearance in New Jersey of the tour is a magnificent 24-song, three-hour set that was broadcast on WNEW-FM New York and nine other radio stations across the north-east, including WBCN-FM and WCOZ-FM Boston, WIOQ-FM Philadelphia and WIYY-FM Baltimore. The first night of three in Passaic includes great versions of "Because The Night" and "Fire," and what many consider to be the finest examples of "Racing In The Street" and "Thunder Road" ever. Essential. The entire show (as well as the following night) was filmed by Performance Video, a division of John Scher's company Monarch Entertainment. Scher, a renowned concert promotor, owned the Capitol Theatre. Following the show, Springsteen is interviewed by WBCN-TV news reporter Felipe Luciano.

A short live excerpt from this show (Bruce's band introduction during "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)") was officially - and exclusively - released on a promotion-only 7" flexidisc issued to subscribers of Austrian pop magazine "Rennbahn Express" in June 1981.

Official concert recording available for purchase in multiple formats, including CD and high definition audio, from Springsteen's official live download site at live.brucespringsteen.net.

Running Time: 3:04:44

^{Note: Also part of the 'Darkness on The Edge Of Town Tour 1978 8-Show CD Box Set', available on February 1, 2021 via Nugs.}

'That TV Report' by New York's "Channel 4 News," which includes partial, pro-shot colour footage of three songs from this show ("Badlands," "Spirit In The Night" and "Born To Run") and a short backstage interview.

Radio broadcast, soundboard tapes (all three nights in Passaic were recorded by the Record Plant's mobile unit, both on multi-track and live-to-two track) and professionally shot in-house black and white video. Probably one of the best all-time concert recordings.

Also, video footage is available. Released on CDs 'Piece De Resistance' ^{(Great Dane)}, 'Southside Bruce And The E Street Jukes' ^(Seagull), 'USA 1978' ^(Arriba), 'Passaic Night' ^{(Crystal Cat)} and 'Passaic Night' ^(Scorpio). Also available on CDR 'The Way It Was - September 19th' ^(None); a direct transfer of the radio broadcast and includes all the station breaks, chat and interviews as they were heard on WNEW. Released to in 2014 on CD 'Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ, September 19th, 1978' ^(Klondike) and in February 2015 on CD 'Passaic Night' ^{(Leftfield Media)}. Neither of these are official releases or sonic upgrades over other versions. All of the concert now circulate on an average-to-poor quality DVD, although a recently enhanced two-DVD version has been released, which is worth getting. Unfortunately, the last hour of the DVD only circulates with a VCR generated "timecode" on-screen display, which obstructs and distracts. Footage without the timecode does, however, circulate amongst private collectors and via Wolfgang's Vault. 'That TV Report' is circulating on fan-made DVDs.

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, intro to ´Darkness on the Edge of Town´
´´Thank you….this is uh….this is for my friend Dominic who´s at home listening….or, I guess, I wish he was at home listening….and I just wanna let you know that we´re all with you and at one time or another everybody´s got to drive through the darkness on the edge of town….. and I know you´re gonna make it….”

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, intro to ´Independence Day´
´´(?) it´s not my birthday yet (chuckles)….don´t rush it, don´t rush it, alright ? (chuckles)…. this is uh, this is a song I wrote, uh, it was originally gonna be on the ´Darkness´-album…. and I guess will be on the next one, this is called, uh, ´Independence Day´….”

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, intro to ´Racing in the Street´
´´This is….for anybody out there driving around listening to this in their car….and this is for Barbara, I hope you get, get well real soon out there, Barbara…..so we can go racing in the street…. ”

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, intro to ´Thunder Road´
´´There was this….there was this Robert Mitchum movie…..and it was about these moonshine runners down south….and I never saw the movie, I only saw the poster in the lobby at the theater (chuckles) and I took the title and I wrote this song but I didn´t….I didn´t think that there was ever a place that was like….that was like what I wrote in this song (?) you know, didn´t know if there was or not….and uh….we were out in the desert….over the summertime…..driving, driving to Nevada and we came upon this, this house on the side of the road this indian had built…..had a big picture of Geronimo out front with ´Landlord´, said ´Landlord´ over the top, had a big sign, said ´This is the land of peace, love, justice and no mercy´….and it pointed down this little road, said ´Thunder Road´….this is for Matty….”

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, intro to ´Meeting Across the River´
´´What is this ?….can I open this right now ?….this better not be embarrassing, this thing….is the present here ?….ooh, socks and underwear (chuckles)….so nice, thank you….it fits too, how´d you know my head was so big, huh ?….I´ll check this out too….oh, ´Your bankaccount is overdrawn´, no (chuckles)….oh, for you…..what´s this, the Declaration of Independence (?)….what a likeness, right ?….it´s from the Islanders, alright….thank you, Vinny, North Long Branch….alright, this is for, uh….(?)….we´re on the radio, people can´t see these things…. Clarence, stop that (chuckles) hold up the ´Applause´-sign one more time, alright (chuckles) (cheers) ok, put it down (crowd quiets down) hold it up (cheers)(crowd quiets down)(cheers) oh, that works great (chuckles)….alright, this is, uh, this is for the New York City folks that treated us so good at the Garden and stuff and this is for Eddie and the guys from the Bronx ….”

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, middle of ´Backstreets´
´´Baby, I remember you….baby, I remember you….standing on the corner….standing on the corner….of Kingsley Avenue….with your hair all up high….with your hair all up high (?)…. with an eye for every….boy that was passing you by….and I swore that for you I´d drive…. for you, little girl, I´d drive all night long….little girl, I´d drive all night long…..little girl, I´d drive all night long….just to buy you some shoes….and to taste your tender charms….to have you hold me in your arms….for just one kiss…..and a look from your sad eyes….a look from your sad eyes…..you had such lonely sad eyes and all the time they was crying, crying, crying, crying….all the time they was crying, crying, crying, crying….little girl, they was crying….and me, I was so ready to be your fool….I thought somehow that I could stop all your crying, maybe somehow I could stop your crying, maybe somehow I could stop your crying, but I didn´t know….I didn´t know….that baby´d been lying….baby´d been lying…. little girl, you´d been lying….little girl, you´d been lying….little girl, you were ly-ly-ly-ly-lying….your pretty li-li-li-lies, all them little li-li-li-lies…..and now you´re back…..well, baby, I´m back too….and I´ve been out…..and I´ve seen some things….about me, about you, and I found out….we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to stop, little girl, we´ve got to STOP !….”

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, intro to ´Sandy´
´´This is uh….this is for everybody from Sea Bright and Long Branch…..(?)….somehow I´ve lived in every one of those places (chuckles)….this is for Vinny down at the Islander….all the guys from North Beach….Dominic, and this is for everybody who´s still back in Asbury Park ….”

19.09.78 Passaic, NJ, middle of ´Raise Your Hand´
´´What ?….are you talking to me ? (cheers)….well, I´m talking to you…..in Boston, in Providence, in Worchester, in Hartford, in New York, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore, in Washington D.C, in New Jersey….are you talking to me ? (cheers) are you talking to me ? (cheers) if you´re talking to me, you better talk loud….and raise your hand…..”

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi

^{© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.}

^{Note: A full copy of the program can be downloaded.}

The Boss Homes Home

Like all great live performers in rock history, Bruce Springsteen has been heavily bootlegged on vinyl and CD, and the five live radio broadcasts from the Darkness tour were manna for home tapers and bootleggers alike. Bruce acknowledged as much himself during the July 7, 1978 Roxy broadcast in Los Angeles (the city at the epicenter of the bootleg business) when he declared: “Bootleggers out there in radioland, roll your tapes!”

Those legendary transmissions began to appear on illicit wax the following year, 1979. Live in the Promised Land (Winterland, San Francisco, December 15, 1978) was first, followed by Piece De Resistance, which pressed the Passaic 9/19/78 radio broadcast to six hot sides of vinyl in a box set. Bootleg historians say Piece De Resistance is almost certainly the best-selling Springsteen title of all time, which makes sense given that the show aired in his biggest East Coast markets.

When Live/1975-85 was announced in 1986, many presumed the legendary Passaic broadcast would provide the bulk of the Darkness tour material, but in fact, nothing from the show made the box set. The Roxy proved to be the source for all 1978 tracks featured on Live/1975-85.

The wait is finally over. Passaic 9/19/78 arrives in its glorious entirety, newly remixed by Jon Altschiler from multi-track, Plangent Processed master tapes. It offers a fresh take on the familiar broadcast version, crackling with energy and putting Bruce and the band so close you might reach out and try to touch the Big Man’s sax. It’s not a first-row seat; it is a first-row seat directly in front of the PA speakers.

Bruce is introduced with an exclamation: “The Boss comes home!” Indeed, this was a homecoming. The three Passaic dates were Springsteen’s first proper concerts in New Jersey since 1976, and the culmination of a NY-NJ Metroplex residency that included a trio of gigs at Madison Square Garden in August (his first-ever headlining the legendary arena) and three shows at the Palladium in the city just prior to Passaic. Following that introduction, it was off to the races.

“Badlands” bursts out of the gate, with more meaty guitars in the mix than we’ve heard before and Max’s drum rolls and trills snapping like someone lit a firecracker strip. Longtime fans will have heard the start of this show hundreds or maybe thousands of times before, but that familiarity coupled with the freshness of the mix makes for a thrilling listening experience. The sense of release “Badlands” delivers has never felt more tangible.

The first set features exemplary versions of core Darkness tracks “Streets of Fire,” “The Promised Land,” “Prove It All Night” with its tension-building instrumental intro, “Racing in the Street,” and the title track. We also get a preview of where Bruce is going next through “Independence Day,” played for only the fourth time in a still-evolving arrangement. The song was recorded for Darkness, and Bruce mentions it should end up on the next album. Another future River track, “Point Blank,” makes a spellbinding appearance in set two.

Along with “Fire” and “Because the Night,” Passaic 9/19/78 features four Springsteen originals that were not released at the time. While we have come to take the live performance history of these songs for granted, Bruce is virtually alone in featuring so much unreleased music in his sets, and the inclusion of songs you can only hear at the shows was part of the magic that defined the live Springsteen legend.

The first set ends with a special and apropos “Meeting Across the River.” It is the live version I’ve heard the most and my all-time favorite performance of the song, sounding moody and marvelous as Bruce spins the tale accompanied by Roy Bittan and Garry Tallent. “Meeting” into “Jungleland” (as they are sequenced on Born to Run) to close the first set is the coup de grâce for 80 minutes of sheer perfection.

Bruce begins the second set with “one for all the folks in Philadelphia listening in,” “Kitty’s Back.” The resplendent E Street showcase cooks for 13 minutes and has not sounded this crystal clear since Sally left the alley. The same can be said for a stunning “Candy’s Room,” as Steve’s backing vocals soar — you can even pick out Clarence’s baritone voice in the left channel as Bruce sings “what…she…wants…is…me.”

Riches abound as we move through “Because the Night,” “Point Blank,” a long “Not Fade Away” into “She’s the One,” and a sublime, luscious “Backstreets” before the set closes with a pacey “Rosalita.” The encore slows down to mythologize the Shore with “Sandy,” and the moment when Bruce sings, “the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open,” then asks, “is that you out there?” is a charming reminder that Passaic 9/19/78 is indeed one for the locals.

Incredibly, the encore sustains and at times exceeds the energy level of the main set. “Born to Run” is taken at breathless full speed. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out’ downshifts slightly in tempo, though Bruce remains fully committed to his wide-ranging vocal gymnastics. “Detroit Medley” presents one final opportunity to showcase the band’s chops (tune into the right channel for Stevie Van Zandt’s guitar lick masterclass) in a full-frontal rock ’n’ roll assault.

Because there always has to be one more, a final encore of Eddie Floyd’s soul classic “Raise Your Hand” closes the night, a lyrical reminder that Bruce and the band are there in service of the audience, be they inside the Capitol or listening at home in the markets Springsteen namechecks.

Though he couldn’t have known it at the time, 41 years later, Bruce gives us another chance to experience Passaic in the comfort of our own homes and marvel at the prowess of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing their hearts out for longtime fans.

^{By Erik Flannigan via Nugs.net.}

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