1980-11-27 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

Thanksgiving Day, and the band (not Bruce) are dressed in three-piece suits and ties for the occasion. "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" is dedicated to Vini Lopez and "The Price You Pay", in the full-band arrangement, to those seated behind the stage. Roy plays the piano intro before "The River". "Growin' Up" is introduced as the song that got Bruce his record deal with CBS and Bruce dedicates the song to John Hammond; he then tells a Thanksgiving version of the spaceman story in the midsection. Clarence sings the opening lines to Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee" as an introduction to "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)". Bruce sings a bit of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" as an introduction to "I'm A Rocker". "Detroit Medley" includes "I Hear A Train".

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Prove It All Night”
“Hello, New York City (crowd cheers)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
“Are you ready for the “Freeze-Out”? (crowd cheers)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Darkness on the Edge of Town”
“I think I’m seasick*…(crowd cheers) what’s the rush? we got all night (crowd cheers)…alright…there’s gum on my microphone (chuckles)…alright…this is for, this is for the Mad Dog, I know you’re out there tonight…can I have a little less guitar, C.J? (?)…”
[During “Tenth” Bruce used to enter the crowd on this tour.]

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Factory”
“I remember…when I was…when I was living at home…I could never understand what…what my father was mad about all the time, it seemed like he was always mad…but it wasn’t even…it wasn’t even the out-loud kind of mad where you run around yelling at everybody, it was just the way that he was…it seemed like 24 hours a day…and…after I was about 18 or 19, we didn’t see each other much any more and then I saw him a few years later…and he was, and he’d changed a whole lot and it seemed that he’d lost that …he’d lost whatever it was that was making him mad or making him angry and instead…he just became…real quiet, real quiet all the time…and in 1978 I wrote this song, this is for him…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “The Promised Land”
“I’m all shook up (chuckles)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “The Price You Pay”
“Alright, this one’s for all you guys in the backseat, alright (crowd cheers) no backseat driving, alright? (chuckles) no backstreet driving (chuckles)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, after “Thunder Road”
“Thank you (crowd cheers) we’re gonna take a short break and then we’re gonna come back and do another whole set for you (crowd cheers) so we’ll see you in a little while, alright? (crowd cheers)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, after “Hungry Heart”
“That was good, that was good (crowd cheers)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Sherry Darling”
“Dare I ask…who’s from New Jersey? (crowd cheers)(chuckles) alright, this is for you guys (crowd cheers) let’s hear some New Jersey party noises (crowd cheers) this is a party song…”Sherry Darling”…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Fire”
“Ok…this is a sad song…(violent?) sex and unrequited love…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “I Wanna Marry You”
“Bring it down, guys…alright…how many married folks we’ve got out there? (some cheers) how many divorced? (fewer cheers) this song’s for you (chuckles)…oh…I used to…I used to always sit out on the porch of my house, I used to have this house, it was on the main street downtown in this town called Freehold (crowd cheers) you couldn’t’ve ever been there (chuckles) and I used to sit outside when I was about 18…I used to, ‘round 5 o’clock every day all the girls would get off work and they’d have to walk, walk down my street coming home…and…(?)…I used to sit there…and I never used to go and introduce myself, I would never go up to anyone, right, that’s…but I can remember that….sometimes I used to…in the evening…I used to sit…right before I’d fall asleep at night…I would, I would see their faces, I would see them walking down that street…and I would imagine that I would go up and introduce myself to ‘em (chuckles)…and later I was glad that I never did, I guess…Big Man…well, sometimes at night…when I lie in bed…I still see her face…running ‘round my head…yeah, sometimes at night… when I lie in bed…I still see her face…running ‘round my head…here she comes walking down the street…here she comes walking down the street…she’s looking so fine, she’s looking so sweet…oh, she’s so fine, she’s looking so sweet…and someday I’m gonna make her mine…I know that I will…someday I’m gonna make her mine…I know that I will…someday she’s gonna stop instead of walking on by…she’s gonna stop instead of walking on by…she’s gonna stop instead of walking on by…now, my little girl, little girl…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Growin' Up”
“Oh boy, this is, uh…this is a song that I, that I auditioned with to get my record contract (crowd cheers)(chuckles)…when you go to, when you go to get your record contract…it’s a funny kind of… funny kind of thing because…I went to CBS…and…there’s this big black building in the middle of Manhattan…and you go there, they don’t let you in, you gotta, they gotta check your I.D. and they gotta make sure that you’re not coming in to…to terrorize the place or something or steal records, it’s like (chuckles) when you get there…when you go up in the elevator and I remember going up in the elevator…and I remember I saw…saw CBS lawyers…I saw my manager’s lawyers…but I didn’t see my lawyers (chuckles)…and they take you…and they take you up and you go up past the… 120th floor and you go to that floor that’s on top of the building, it’s called “X”…and when you get out, there’s clouds…and you look down and you see all the New York City down there (crowd cheers) and you look over the river…you see all the New Jersey (crowd cheers) but it looks a long ways away from there (chuckles)…and I remember…I knocked on this door…and John, if you’re still out there…John, this is for you, John Hammond…and then…
(…) It was a cold Thanksgiving night (crowd cheers) me and Clarence and Steve…we were driving down this old back road going to Hank’s Turkey Farm to steal some turkeys (crowd cheers) this was way back, we didn’t have no money, couldn’t buy no turkey so we’re driving out…way out ‘round Marlboro (crowd cheers) and we’re looking…we’re looking trying to find this place…and then just as we figured we’re just about up to it, we get a flat tire…the rear end, right tire…and so Clarence and Steve, they climb in the front seat… ’cause there’s no streetlights, it’s real dark…and we’re hearing all these turkey sounds coming out of the woods (crowd cheers) is that turkey sounds? (chuckles)(Steve laughs) and…we’re trying to decide who’s gonna get out and fix the flat…I’ve been, I’ve been afraid of the dark, I still sleep with the light on, I’m not gonna go out and fix it…who still sleeps with their light on? (crowd cheers) and so we decided we’d figure it out the American way, we would gamble to see who’s gonna go out…couldn’t do it, had one too many guys, couldn’t choose up…so we’re trying to think, well, we’ll figure this out the democratic way, number one, I’m the Boss, I don’t have to get out now (crowd cheers) number two, Clarence is a lot bigger than Steve, he don’t have to get out (crowd cheers) just as we had Steve’s head and upper torso forced through the window (chuckles) just like in that movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” this big light came flashing down from out of the sky (crowd cheers) I stuck my head out the window, I looked up and there was this big cherry-red flying saucer with long Cadillac fins and on the side it had printed “Little Melvin and the Invaders - we play weddings, parties and bar mitzvahs” (crowd cheers) and this guy sticks his head out the window, he looks down and he says “Hey, can any one of you guys tell me the way to the New Jersey Turnpike?” (crowd cheers) now…we’re not as dumb as we look, you know, we’re not gonna give out this kind of valuable information for free…so we sit there, we start thinking, we said “Hey, Mr. Spaceman…we’ll make a deal with you, you gotta give us each one wish, one wish and we’ll tell you how to get back to the Turnpike” …so he says “Ok, that sounds pretty fair” (chuckles) and first Clarence got his chance to wish, had to think real hard about this… (chuckles) as usual, he wished for his boyhood dream (chuckles) a combination, Laundromat and pizza parlor on the corner of downtown Asbury Park (crowd cheers) that’s good…you can wash your clothes, you can eat at the same time…and nobody’s thought of that yet…in a few years you’re gonna see them all over and, uh (chuckles) and then, then it was Steve’s turn…you can’t have the spaceman wish for that (chuckles)…(?)…Steve was wishing (chuckles) I don’t know what the hell his wish was (chuckles) I forget (chuckles) but then it came my turn…now…I was thinking real hard…and I remember it was real quiet and I didn’t even, I didn’t even get a chance to say it out loud…I was just thinking it in my mind…and way over in the dark, in the dark side of the highway, I seen what I was wishing for…slowly, slowly start to appear… (crowd cheers)…and let me tell you, man…when we touched…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Stolen Car” (following “Growin’ Up”)
“And that’s how it happened (chuckles)…oh, man…be right there…(long pause)…uh, this is, uh…“Stolen Car”…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Rosalita”
“I hear that clock on the wall…come on, boys…Steve, come here, man…Big Man…(?)…what time is it? (crowd cheers) it’s Boss-time! (chuckles)…(Clarence: “The night was black and the moon was yellow (crowd cheers) and the moon was yellow…(crowd cheers) and the leaves came tumbling…”)…
(…) At the far left of the stage…on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) on the guitar, poet of the soul, master of rock and roll, Miami Steve Van Zandt (crowd cheers) now, on the bass, Mr. Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) on the drums…coming to you and representing South Orange, New Jersey (crowd cheers) Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) and now from that same town…that gives you that fantastic Flemington Furs-commercial on TV, we’ve got Phantom Dan Federici (crowd cheers) now last but not least…how can I say it?…let me count the ways…king of the world…master of all things…faster than a speeding locomotive…more powerful than a bullet…able to leap tall women, I mean tall buildings in a single bound…is it a bird? (crowd: “No”) is it a plane? (crowd: “No”) hell no, what the hell is it? (crowd: “Clarence”) the Big Man, Clarence Clemons (crowd cheers)…
(…) Well, this is last chance to let his daughter have some fun… ‘cause my brand new record, Rosie, made it all the way to number one, one, one, one…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “I’m a Rocker”
“New York, New York (crowd cheers) thank you (crowd cheers) alright…alright, this is called “I’m a Rocker” (crowd cheers)…(?)… yeah, you’re looking good…gonna do the twist…it goes like this…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Jungleland”
“Thanks, I wanna thank everybody for coming down to the show, thank you (crowd cheers) thank you very much…it’s nice to be back East (crowd cheers)…alright, this is for all you New Yorkers, alright (crowd cheers)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, after “Jungleland”
“Thank you (crowd cheers) Clarence Clemons on the saxophone (crowd cheers) Steve Van Zandt on the guitar, Roy Bittan on the piano (crowd cheers) E Street Band (crowd cheers) thanks (crowd cheers) I love you (crowd cheers)…”

27.11.80 New York, NY, intro to “Detroit Medley”
“Alright, here we go…say Happy Thanksgiving to you (crowd cheers) and…(?)…now…are you ready? (crowd: “Yeah”) are you willing? (crowd: “Yeah”) are you able? (crowd: “Yeah”) to rock and roll all night (crowd cheers)…
(…) Wait a minute…I think…I think…this stage is moving…(?)… Clarence…am I hallucinating…or…do you…I think I got a vision…I got a vision…I think I got a vision…a vision…I think…I see a train coming around…(…) I see it way down there, way up there on top of the hill…see it way back there, Big Man?…I see it coming…I see that conductor dressed in black…and that engineer and that long smokestack…traveling through (?)…I hear that conductor…”Ann Arbor, Michigan, all aboard…Detroit, Michigan, all aboard…Chicago, Illinois, all aboard…St. Louis, Missouri, all aboard…St. Paul, Minnesota, all aboard…Portland, Oregon, all aboard…Seattle, Washington, all aboard…Oakland, California, all aboard…Los Angeles, all aboard…Phoenix, Arizona, all aboard…Dallas, Texas, all aboard…Houston, Texas, all aboard…Baton Rouge, Louisiana, all aboard…Birmingham, Alabama, all aboard…Largo, Maryland, all aboard…Austin, Texas, all aboard…going through New Jersey, all aboard (crowd cheers) New York City, all aboard (crowd cheers) New York City, all aboard…New York City, all aboard…New York City, all aboard…

27.11.80 New York, NY, after “Detroit Medley”
“Thank you (crowd cheers) all aboard the night train, goodnight (crowd cheers) see you tomorrow (crowd cheers)…”

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi

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