1980-12-28 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

33-song set includes the premieres of the R&B Christmas standard "Merry Christmas Baby" and Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land". "Hungry Heart" features Flo and Eddie guesting on backing vocals. Roy plays the piano intro before "The River" and Bruce sings the opening lines of "Stagger Lee" as an introduction to "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)". "Detroit Medley" includes "I Hear A Train".

Flo and Eddie (Guests)
- Howard Kaylan
- Mark Volman

Intro to “Merry Christmas Baby”
“Bring it down, band…alright, how did Santa Claus treat you? (crowd cheers) ok? yeah?…now listen…I just wanna say…Merry Christmas, Baby (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
“I’m talking about two!…I mean ten!…”

Intro to “Darkness on the Edge of Town”
“Thank you…this is…this is the first place that we played in 1978 after, after we got done with the lawsuit and everything so…here’s for all you guys that were at that first show, alright (crowd cheers) …”
^{[Actually the first place was Buffalo, NY, on May 23rd, 1978 – Uniondale was June 3rd.]}

Intro to “Independence Day”
“One, two…getting electrocuted here tonight (feedback from the mike) one, two…is this the same mike, C.J?…(intro music starts) alright, who ate dinner home with their folks? (some cheers) that’s all? (chuckles)…I can remember when I was…my parents moved out to California when I was about…19 years old and, uh…it’s funny, I was that age where, where I never missed them too much, you know, after they left…you know, I had the house…and the band moved in, we all lived there together for a while…and after a few years, me and this friend of mine decided we were gonna drive, drive across the country, it was right around the Christmastime… and we got into this little station wagon…and…and in about three days we drove out, out to California…I remember we didn’t get there by Christmas, we were on a…we were somewhere, we were like in Arizona on Christmas night…and there’s nothing, there’s nothing as lonely as like if you’re ever out on an interstate highway on Christmas night…anyway…we got there the day after and…had Christmas dinner with my folks and stuff…like everybody always gotta leave home sometime…but…but you always gotta go back too…even if it’s, even if it’s just to see that it ain’t there no more for you…”

Intro to “This Land Is Your Land”
“This is, uh…there’s a book out right now, it’s called “Woody Guthrie - A Life” and, uh…it’s by a fellow named Joe Klein…and I didn’t…I didn’t know much about Woody Guthrie till I, till I read this book, I, I’d heard a whole lot about his music and uh…it’s just a beautiful book and, and, and this is a song that, uh…was originally wrote, was originally wrote as an answer, as an angry answer to “God Bless America” and, uh…since then…it’s been used for a lot of things…but, uh…if you get a chance, you ought to pick up this book and read it ‘cause it just tells you a lot about…about the country you’re living in… ”

After “Thunder Road”
“That’s the Big Man (crowd cheers) E Street Band (crowd cheers) we’re gonna take a short break and then we’re gonna come back and do another whole set for you so (crowd cheers) we’ll see you in a little while, ok? (crowd cheers)

After “Hungry Heart”
“That’s Flo and Eddie, Flo and Eddie (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Sherry Darling”
“Alright…if you got a girlfriend whose mother can’t stand you (crowd cheers) and the feeling is mutual (chuckles)…this is for you, alright (crowd cheers) ready, boys?…everybody count “One, two, three, four,” here we go, one (crowd: “Two, three, four”)…”

Intro to “Fire”
“One, two…oh…oh, she tired me out…ok, this is for you, ok?…”

Intro to “Sandy”
“Anybody from the Shore make it up here tonight? (crowd cheers) that’s a lot…this is, this is for these two guys down here (?) alright… ready, Dan?…”

Intro to “For You”
“This is from “Greetings from Asbury Park” (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Rosalita”
“The night was clear and the moon was yellow…and the leaves… came tumbling…down…
(…) We got with us…to the far left of the stage…on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) we have on the guitar, a man who brought you such great hits as “I Don’t Wanna Go Home”… “Sweeter than Honey”…“This Time It’s for Real”…“Some Things Just Don’t Change”…Miami Steve Van Zandt (crowd cheers) on the bass guitar, Mr. Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) on the drums, representing all and everybody from South Orange, New Jersey (crowd cheers) the Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah (chuckles) on the organ…coming to you directly from the same town that gives you that “Flemington Furs”-commercial on television…Dan, Phantom Dan Federici on the organ (crowd cheers) and last but not least (crowd cheers) do I have to speak the words? (crowd cheers) do I have to say his name? (crowd cheers) is it a bird? (crowd: “No”) is it a plane? (crowd: “No”) what the hell is it? (crowd: “Clarence”) alright!…Big Man Clarence Clemons on the saxophone (crowd cheers)…
(…) Well, this is his 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…”

Intro to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
“I guess he already came but we’re gonna play this song anyway (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Born to Run”
“I’d like to thank everybody for coming down tonight, thank you very much (crowd cheers) if I don’t see you, the best of the New Year to you (crowd cheers)…”

Middle of “Detroit Medley”
“Wait a minute…I don’t think I can stop…(band stops)…now a one two three (band kicks back in)…I see a train coming on ‘round…I see a train comin’ on ‘round…coming and it’s gonna take us to some other town…I hear a train coming along…I hear a train, train, train, train coming along…well, it’s coming, it’s gonna take us, it’s gonna take my whole band home…I hear a train…coming around… train, train, train, train just coming around…it’s coming and it’s gonna take us, it’s gonna take us and bring my baby down…I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) alright…
(…) All aboard…(?)…got a long smokestack…conductor dressed in back…Ann Arbor, Michigan, all aboard…going to Chicago…all aboard…Portland, Oregon…all aboard…going up to St. Louis…all aboard…San Francisco…Los Angeles…Dallas, Texas…Baton Rouge, Louisiana…Philadelphia, PA…Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…New York City, New York (crowd cheers) Providence, Rhode Island…Long Island, Long Island…going through New Jersey…Long Island, Long Island…Long Island, Long Island…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

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In This Darkness I Will Disappear

The recently released recordings from 1979’s No Nukes concerts provide a riveting snapshot of a significant moment in time: the transition between 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town and 1980’s The River. The crackling electricity the No Nukes recordings emit is due in part to Springsteen packing the energy and excitement of a full show into a mere 90 minutes.

If the No Nukes set was a 13-song sprint, Nassau Coliseum 12/28/80 is a 33-track marathon, but a film analogy—16mm to 35mm—might be the more apt one. At an expansive 3 hours and 25 minutes, the River show captures Bruce and the E Street Band in widescreen, cinematic mode, in both scope and substance.

Given Springsteen was supporting his first double album and its 20 fresh songs, the River shows grew longer out of necessity. But the subject matter itself justified the expansion. “Independence Day,” “Stolen Car,” “Wreck on the Highway,” “Point Blank,” and “The River” are deep, narrative journeys, with Springsteen’s characters confronting existential questions and adulthood’s heaviest inflection points.

As a result, storytelling runs deeper and tone sustains longer in River shows than their predecessors. Songs like “Backstreets” and “Racing in the Street” were second-set emotional showstoppers in 1978, but contrast that with the somber trio of “Stolen Car,” “Wreck on the Highway” and “Point Blank” in the back half of 12/28/80 and there is no debate where lives are truly on the line. The Romances have given way to the Tragedies.

Like the album itself, River shows offer a compelling contrast between explorations of the dark recesses of human existence and life-affirming songs of release—a double feature, if you will, of Bergman and Capra. By way of example, Bruce follows the aforementioned trio of “Stolen,” “Wreck” and “Point” with a resuscitating take of “The Ties That Bind” when the audience needed reviving.

The expanded set also allowed Bruce to retain much of his key canon while still introducing an unprecedented amount of new music to his audience. Nassau 12/28/80 features 13 songs from The River while still carrying more than half of Born to Run, five songs and two outtakes from Darkness, key covers (“Who’ll Stop the Rain,” “Detroit Medley”), classics (“Rosalita,” “For You,” “Sandy”), and a couple of seasonal specials.

One of those, “Merry Christmas Baby,” gets the show off to a (holiday) spirited start, with Bruce channeling Otis Redding’s version in fine, lively voice and Clarence Clemons blowing a great saxophone solo.

Like most “special” shows, the telltale sign of Springsteen’s heightened, feeling-the-moment vocals can be found in many songs including excellent readings of “Darkness” and “Prove It All Night” in the first set, “For You” (such a fun first verse) and even “Ramrod” and “You Can Look” in the second set.

He’s feeling it—and who can blame him? The River just hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, and Bruce was playing the first of three sold-out, impossible-ticket arena shows in his biggest market.

The delightful performance of “For You” in the second set yields to emotive guitar strumming, the prelude to a heart-rending “Stolen Car.” It’s a particularly spare and moving arrangement of one of the saddest songs in Springsteen’s catalog, wonderful to hear so faithfully played. Garry Tallent’s bass part on “Stolen Car” is one of his finest contributions ever.

The trilogy of tears continues with “Wreck on the Highway,” which manages to convey warmth and desolation at the same time. The E Street Band’s delicate touch serves the song well, with Roy BIttan’s piano and Danny Federici’s organ weaving counterparts, while Stevie Van Zandt’s guitar rings dolefully in the right channel. Hauntingly beautiful.

“Point Blank” completes the 20-minute trip through the heart of darkness, its narrative tone resigned and resolute but no less emotionally captivating. “Point Blank” is more overtly dramatic and emotionally detached than “Stolen Car” or “Wreck on the Highway,” which makes it a thrilling showpiece, rendered here with controlled bravado and sublime E Street musicianship.

While each Nassau concert stands on its own, the one song featured in 12/28/80 not played at the next two shows is “Backstreets.” Van Zandt offers novel fretwork in the song’s intro and brilliant playing throughout, distinguishing the River tour versions slightly but meaningfully from prior incarnations. Springsteen sings with full conviction and, together with Max Weinberg’s powerful drumming, “Backstreets” becomes the set’s thematic denouement and sonic crescendo.

A few other songs from the main set merit special mention. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain” is played for only the third time ever, and the excellent Nassau version further cements the song’s status as a hand-in-glove fit with the E Street Band and one of their all-time best covers. Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” premiered this night, with Bruce telling the audience about reading Joe Klein’s book Woody Guthrie: A Life and reminding them that the song was written as “an angry answer to ‘God Bless America.’” We’re also treated to a unique “Hungry Heart” featuring Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, better known as Flo & Eddie, recreating their background vocals from the studio version.

The final hour of Nassau is immensely satisfying, beginning with “Rosalita” followed by a delightful “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” and “Jungleland,” chock full of those heightened Bruce vocals and a distinctive Van Zandt guitar solo, while the big Big Man smashes the first note and never wavers in his own solo spotlight. “Born to Run” and the “Detroit Medley” (including a long chunk of “I Hear a Train”) bring us home and conclude a quintessential River tour performance in all its cinematic glory.

^{By Erik Flannigan via Nugs.net.}

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In This Darkness I Will Disappear