1978-09-30 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

This was a make-up show that had originally been slated for July 23, but which had been postponed (along with three others) due to Bruce coming down with a throat infection. On the audio Bruce can be heard apologizing for being sick and missing the original date. Regional live FM broadcast simulcast by about twenty radio stations throughout the south-eastern United States. The gig contains the only known Springsteen performance of James Brown's "Night Train" (while the stage is cleared of the fake snow that fell during "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"), and stand-out renditions of "Independence Day" and "Backstreets". Billboard magazine reported an attendance of 3,828 (a sellout) and gross receipts of $32,538.

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Darkness on the Edge of Town´´ (following ´´Spirit in the Night´´)
´´You guys are nuts out there (?)….oh, so how you´ve been down here, huh? (cheers) alright ….oh man, the first time….I remember one of the first times we were down here, we played the Electric Ballroom (cheers) all you guys weren´t there, were you? (chuckles) you couldn´t´ve, we, I remember we weren´t known too good at the time, I remember it was during, it was in last summer, I jumped off the stage and like nobody paid no attention except for this one guy who rushed the stage and I was out in the crowd and I came up and I sat next to the guy and he was standing in front of Steve and I was listening to what he was yelling, he was going ´Go, Bruce, go!´ (chuckles) yeah, I said ´No, no, I´m Bruce, that´s Steve´ (chuckles)(?)….this is, uh….here´s ´Darkness on the Edge of Town….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Independence Day´´
´´This next song, this is, uh….we´re gonna get to that, we´ll do that for you, alright (chuckles) in a while….this is a song that I wrote for, uh, the Darkness on the Edge of Town-album, didn´t make it on, it´s sort of a, it´s sort of a flipside to….´Adam Raised a Cain,´ it´s, uh, it´s a song called, uh, ´Independence Day´….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Prove It All Night´´
´´Do you think you´re ready to prove it all night? (cheers)….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Racing in the Street´´
´´This is for, uh….Mike, Mike (?)….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Thunder Road´´
´´Back in 1974 I was….I was living in this, this town called West End, it´s about (chuckles) it´s about ten minutes down from Asbury Park….and…..I walked past this movie theater…. and there was this poster in the window for a Robert Mitchum movie….and, uh, I never saw the movie, I remember I only saw the poster but I took the title and I wrote, wrote this song ….I never thought there was anyplace that was like this song, and then me and Steve and two friends of ours, we were, we drove out to Reno, Nevada and in the desert, on the side of the highway, this indian had built this house….that he, that he´d made of stuff that he´d scavanged off the desert….and out in front he had a….had a big picture of Geronimo, over on top it said ´Landlord´ and he had a big white sign and painted in red, it said ´This is the land of peace, love, justice and no mercy´….and it pointed down this little dirt road that said ´Thunder Road´….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Santa Claus Is Coming to Town´´
´´(?) we´re all on the radio tonight so (chuckles)….I wanna say….hello to everybody in Atlanta and out there, everybody down in Florida who´s listening in, folks out in Austin, Houston and Dallas (chuckles)….now….might be….it might be a little early for this next song (chuckles) but we might not see you around Christmastime so I´ve got a story to tell….(music starts)….it was a cold December night (chuckles)….it was me and Steve, we working in this bar called Student Prince, back in Asbury Park….and….we were going home, it was about three, four o´clock in the morning, we decided we´d walk home along the boardwalk….so we´re walking down the boardwalk, it´s about zero degrees, right, it´s cold, let me tell you, it´s cold as can be….and all of a sudden….we look up ahead….and we see….something….. coming down through the mist….at first….we thought it was Clarence (chuckles) but ended up, as we got closer….we heard coming through the fog and the snow, a sound….(the jingling piano intro begins and Clarence goes ´Ho, ho!´)(giggles)….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Night Train´´ (following ´´Santa Claus….´´)
´´A little early but better early than not at all (chuckles) I gotta fix this up….these guys are gonna die up here (chuckles) popcorn….I gotta, I tell you what we need, we need a….we need a little, we need a broom and we need a little ´Night Train´….
(….) Alright, that´s the clean-up crew….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Fire´´
´´Here´s a song for Mary (?), it´s on Robert Gordon´s second album, it´s called ´Fire´….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, middle of ´´Backstreets´´
´´Hey baby….it´s good to see you back again….and honey, you´re still looking fine….it´s been such a long time….but I remember you….yeah, I remember you….standing on the corner….of Richmond Avenue….with your hair piled all up high and that crazy look in your eye for every boy that was passing you by and I swore….back then I swore….that for you I´d drive all night anytime anywhere, I´d drive all night….I´d drive all night…..just to buy you some shoes….and to taste….your tender charms….to have you hold me in your arms….for just one kiss….baby, for just one kiss….and a look from your sad eyes….you had such lonely, sad eyes….you had such pretty, sad eyes….and baby, they cried, cried all night….baby, they used to cry, cry all night….(?) the rain came tumbling down….(?) tears, they fall, falling down….(?)….and me, I was just your fool….I thought that somehow I could stop some of your crying, that maybe I could stop your crying….I could stop….your crying….but I didn´t know….that baby´d been lying….baby, you were lying….baby, you´d been lying….you were so young and you could tell such pretty lies (?) I wanted to believe you so bad….I wanted to believe you so bad….I wanted to believe you so bad, I wanted to believe you so bad….and now you´re back….so now you´ve come back….well, baby, I´m back too…..and I´ve been out and I´ve seen some things….about me…..and about you…..it´s time we stopped….it´s time we stopped….little girl, we stopped, 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, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP….hiding on the backstreets….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, middle of ´´Rosalita´´
´´On the piano, Professor Roy Bittan….on the guitar, a warm round of applause for Miami Steve Van Zandt….on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W. Tallent….on the drums, the Mighty Max ….on the organ, Dan Federici….and last but not least….king of the world….master of the universe….more powerful than a locomotive….able to leap tall buildings in a single bound….is it a bird?….is it a plane?….is it the Big Man?….Clarence Clemons on the saxophone!….Hey, Big Man….´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Born to Run´´
´´I wanna thank, I wanna thank everybody for coming down to the show tonight….I wanna say we´re sorry about missing you the last time, I got sick for a few days there….I´d like to thank everybody that, that, I know there´s a lot of people listening in and I´d like to thank, thank all you folks here in Atlanta and all those people who supported the band over the past two or three years when we were off having a hard time, I just wanna thank you very much ….(?) here´s to you…..´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Detroit Medley´´
´´Are you alright there? (cheers) are you alright? (cheers) we´re not done yet, we´re just getting warmed up now….are you ready? (cheers) are you ready? (cheers) you ain´t ready for this, are you? (cheers) I don´t think you´re ready for this, are you? (cheers)(?) I don´t know if they´re ready, I can´t hear ´em, I don´t think they´re ready (cheers) I just don´t think you´re ready (cheers)….
(….) Big Man….I don´t think I can go on…..gonna need some help on the saxophone (Clarence starts playing) I feel a little better, Professor (Roy starts playing) a little bit on the piano….oh yeah….are you ready for some drums? let´s hear the drums (Max starts playing)…. everybody now (the whole band starts playing)….take it easy….this next move….I´ve been asked by the management at the theater to advise anyone with a weak stomach or a weak heart to please step into the lobby during the next section of the show….alright….for you folks out there in radioland, this next portion is strictly visual….so get in real close and look at that thing (chuckles)….first I do this….then I do that….and then….I do this…..´´

30.09.78 Atlanta, GA, intro to ´´Raise Your Hand´´
´´You wanted us to do another one, all you had to do was….raise your hand…..
(….) Now, everybody out there on the radio, I want you to get up….I want you to walk over to your dial, I want you to turn it up as loud as it´ll go, I want you to open up all the windows in the house and if the cops come knocking at your door, tell ´em ´Too bad´ (chuckles) and if they keep on knocking, tell ´em to send all the complaints to Columbia Records in New York City, New York….and if they keep on knocking (?) if there´s something they need or if there´s something that they want, they´ve got to raise their hands….
(….) You don´t think we´re gonna stop now? Just raise your hands….´´

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi

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Walk Over To Your Dial, Turn It Up As Loud As It’ll Go

I’ve written before about the role the Darkness tour radio broadcasts played in the career development of Bruce Springsteen. Broadcast live from the Agora in Cleveland, the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, The Roxy in West Hollywood, and Winterland in San Francisco, those concerts were recorded off air by thousands of people listening at home in 1978. In the years that followed, many wore out their tapes, playing them again and again as the only “official” live Springsteen product until Live/1975-85 was released in 1986.

Through the “magic of bootlegging,” home recordings wound up on illicit vinyl pressings like Piece de Resistance and Live in the Promised Land. Copies of those LPs made their way to Europe, which wasn’t visited by the Darkness tour itself, so overseas fans at least got to hear Springsteen on stage. He and the band wouldn’t return to those shores until 1981; for such Bruce-starved fans, those recordings were manna from heaven.

Without question, the familiarity fans have with the broadcast recordings of shows like The Roxy and Capitol Theatre cemented their status among Bruce’s greatest performances ever. But what if there were another?

It would be an exaggeration to call Atlanta 9/30/78 “the lost broadcast.” But compared to the other four, which were pressed multiple times on vinyl and CD bootlegs, Atlanta is the least familiar, having no meaningful history on bootleg vinyl and a limited one on CD.

The home recording enthusiasts alluded to above were certainly more plentiful in the Tri-State area, for the Passaic broadcast, than in the Southeast for Atlanta. Other broadcasts got wider distribution (the Agora show was syndicated to FM rock stations around the country after the fact) or were simply bigger events to begin with (Bruce’s Roxy appearance was the most buzzed-about show in Los Angeles in 1978). On the other hand, Atlanta and the Southeast were more of a development opportunity for Springsteen that year, and legend has it, stormy weather in the region on 9/30/78 caused reception problems for those who did record.

All of which explains why, as fans traded tapes and bought bootlegs in the ’70s and ’80s, the quality of the Atlanta broadcast, if it could be found at all, was inferior to the other four broadcast recordings, hence its outlier status. But one listen to Jon Altschiller’s new mix from Plangent Processed, 24-track analog master tapes and Atlanta is an outlier no more.

The 9/30/78 set captures the Darkness tour “picked at the peak of freshness,” as the old commercial used to say. It’s like getting a lost episode of Seinfeld, shot but never aired during Season 5. The official release of this Fox Theatre show gives us the chance to fall in love all over again with a spectacular slice of Springsteen ’78.

After a great intro to the stage, the show smashes to a start with “Good Rockin’ Tonight” straight into “Badlands.” Each E Street Band member quickly shows they are in it to win it this night, with first-among-equals Roy Bittan carrying the melodic load with aplomb, as he will throughout the night. “Spirit in the Night” sets the band-fan tenor. “Darkness on the Edge of Town” is flawless, and Bruce sings with total conviction — no more so than on a subtle lyric change, replacing “Where nobody asks any questions or looks too long in your face” with, “You can drive all night, and never make it around.”

Sonically, Atlanta offers crystalline clarity. In the stately “Independence Day,” which Bruce introduces as the “flipside to ‘Adam Raised a Cain’,” the level of instrumental detail — from Danny’s glockenspiel to Max’s hi-hat, Garry’s bass to Stevie’s delicate strumming — is breathtaking and immersive. It pulls you into what just might be your new favorite version of “Independence Day,” a sentiment you are likely to feel across several Atlanta performances. Yes, the audience is mixed just right, too.

The rest of the first set holds to the same gold standard as we move from a faultless “The Promised Land” to a scintillating, extended “Prove It All Night” that’s as good if not better than any version you’ve heard from this tour — and that’s saying something.

The same goes for “Racing in the Street.” Listen for a gorgeous and distinct bit of interplay between Danny and Roy around the 2:05 mark. The first set wraps with the peerless pairing of “Thunder Road” and “Jungleland.” It doesn’t get any better than this.

“Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” opens the second half of the show in jolly spirits, and because the fake snow that fell needed to be swept up by stagehands, Bruce and the band vamp by paying tribute to one of Atlanta’s adopted sons, James Brown. They play the Godfather of Soul’s “Night Train” so well, one would think the song was in the set every night of the tour. In fact, this is the only performance ever of “Night Train.”

“Fire” extends the frivolity before the tone turns dramatic via “Candy’s Room.” Danny and Roy again weave around each other in stunning fashion in the long intro to “Because the Night,” which includes a superlative guitar solo in yet another “name a better one” version. The second River preview of the night, “Point Blank,” surely sent anticipation soaring for Springsteen’s next album, with Danny and Roy intricately swirling behind the striking original lyrics.

E Street Band vocals in the “Not Fade Away/Gloria” intro to “She’s the One” have never sounded livelier, the guitar licks never more Link Wray than this terrific extended reading, another reminder of how special it is to re-live such a beautifully recorded document of the tour. “Backstreets” provides a tour de force denouement, with the middle section a Van Morrison-inspired, mind-blowing melange of “sad eyes,” “Drive All Night,” “you lied,” and “we’ve got to stop.” Listening to the Atlanta version will reaffirm everything you love about the song, this tour, and these musicians.

Even venerable “Rosalita” gets an intriguing instrumental introduction more than two minutes long. There are so many moments in Atlanta 9/30/78 that are just a little different from the Darkness shows we know best, and it is all the more compelling because of it.

The traditional but no less exceptional Darkness tour encore of “Born to Run,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out” and “Detroit Medley” brings us home, and the night ends with one of only eight tour performances of “Raise Your Hand,” far fewer than you’d guess because all five broadcasts are counted among those eight renditions.

With the release of Atlanta, the quintet of 1978 broadcasts in the Live Archive series is now complete, representing not only some of the greatest Bruce Springsteen performances of all time, but arguably the greatest live concert recordings in rock history.

^{By Erik Flannigan via Nugs.net.}

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