1980-12-31 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

A tremendous show and one of the longest known with an astonishing 38 songs. The set includes the last known version of "Rendezvous" until 1999 and the live premiere of The River outtake "Held Up Without A Gun" (the song's only performance until 2008. The New Year's Eve celebrations include the tour's final versions of "Spirit In The Night", "Merry Christmas Baby", "In The Midnight Hour", and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" as well as the last known "Auld Lang Syne". Standout performances include "Who'll Stop The Rain", "Racing In The Street", "The River", a wonderful full-band "The Price You Pay" and an extended "Detroit Medley" including "I Hear A Train". Roy Bittan plays the piano intro before "The River" and "Once Upon A Time In The West" as a bridge between that song and "Badlands". "Cadillac Ranch" includes some lyrics from "No Money Down". The encores also include the second "Twist And Shout" and the penultimate "Raise Your Hand" of the River Tour.

An audio recording of "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" from this show was officially released on the Live/1975–85 box set. In addition, the night's performance of "Merry Christmas Baby" was officially released on 7"/12" vinyl in 1986 (as well as on the A Very Special Christmas Various Artists benefit sampler LP/CD); "Rendezvous" was officially released on Tracks in 1998; and "Held Up Without A Gun" was officially released on The Essential bonus CD in 2003.

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

Running Time: 3:47:41
Running Time: 3:42:46 (2019, Remix)

^{Note: The recording was released in March 2015 and was the fourth in a series of archive shows. It is mixed from the multi-track reels in March 2015 at Thrill Hill by Toby Scott, assisted by Rob Lebret and mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering.}

About fourteen minutes worth of amateur film footage shot from the audience - including "In The Midnight Hour", the New Year’s countdown, and the first seconds of 1981, with Bruce spraying champagne all over the front row - is circulating among collectors.

Soundboard and audience recordings are in circulation. Prior to the release of the official download, a master recording professionally mixed from the 24-track multi-tracks circulated. This recording consists of 26 of the evening's 38 tracks but many songs have fade-outs. There is also a whistling / whining noise audible during quieter moments. It does include the complete "The Price You Pay" - the closing harmonica solo is edited on 'Nassau Night' ^{(Crystal Cat)}. This recording was mixed by an assistant engineer at the Record Plant and here's the information directly from him: "I was working as an assistant engineer at the Record Plant, and we recorded a number of shows on the tour for a live album. When they came back to Los Angeles, Toby Scott was starting to mix. I asked him if he would allow me to do a mix and evaluate my skills. He let me use the 24 track masters to do one song. He liked what I did and said if I want to play some more I could. I had forgotten about the tapes until a few days ago while going through some old boxes." This pro-mixed recording is available on CDR 'Nassau Coliseum - From Master Tapes' ^(Ev2). The soundboard recording is available on CDs 'Nassau Night' ^{(Crystal Cat)}, 'Midnight Lightning' ^(Seagull), 'St. Sylvester's Day Concert 1980' ^{(Growin' Records)}, and CDR 'In The Midnight Hour' ^{(Great Dane)} as well as the five-LP sets 'The Night They Drove Old '80 Down' and 'Happy New Year'. Meanwhile, the audience tape is noteworthy for including the complete "Raise Your Hand", which is cut short on the soundboard.

Intro to “Night”
“Ready to send out 1980? (crowd cheers)…”

After “Spirit in the Night”
“Alright!…all ready for New Year’s? (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “This Land Is Your Land”
“We got New Year coming in pretty soon (crowd cheers) everybody, I guess tonight everybody, tonight’s the night when everybody hopes for the best, tries to…tries to see the promise a little bit…I remember when I was growing up…I lived…I remember (?) day after day I’d watch, watch my dad and he…when he was a real young man, he got, seemed like the, the things that were best, best about him and the things that mattered the most to him somehow either he let ‘em slip away or they got beat out of him every day as the world does to you…and…there was a point where this next song he, he forgot…that…this is a song by Woody Guthrie, it’s called “This Land Is Your Land” but (crowd cheers) he forgot that you gotta, you gotta fight for that title, that nobody’s gonna ever give you that, never (crowd cheers) and every day people gonna be trying to take it away from you and every day you gotta fight for it…so this is a fighting song for you in the New Year (crowd cheers)…”

After “Thunder Road”
“Thank you, E Street Band, Big Man (crowd cheers) we’re gonna take a little break and be back in a little while, alright? (crowd cheers) we’ll play another whole set for you, see a little later (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Cadillac Ranch”
“Alright, this is for (Mrs Potemkin??), wherever you are…”
(…)
"I wanna yellow convertible
Four-door de Ville
Continental spare
Wire chrome wheels
Stereo tape-deck
and a phone
So I can talk to my baby when I'm driving all alone"

Intro to “Merry Christmas Baby”
“Bring it down, band…I just came here tonight to say…I just wanna say…I just wanna say…Merry Christmas, Baby…”

Intro to “Sandy”
“Alright, I’d just like to…I wanna thank everybody for coming down to the show and (crowd cheers) I’d just like to, to ask you one thing: if you came tonight, it’s New Year’s Eve, I know, and if you brought any fireworks or anything, please don’t set ‘em off, please keep ‘em in your pockets or…bring ‘em back home…because with, uh, so many people, it’s so easy for somebody to get hurt or you could hurt yourself so if you brought, if you brought some fireworks, I think you guys can make enough noise without ‘em so …so I’d appreciate it if you, please, if you brought any, please don’t set ‘em off, please, when, when New Year’s comes, please don’t set off fireworks, thank you very much…and this is…it’s for Ritchie, am I right? (chuckles) alright…”

Intro to “Rendezvous”
“This is a song we did, uh, I don’t know if we did it on the last tour, did a long time ago, never recorded it…it’s called “Rendezvous” (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “The Price You Pay”
“This is for Drew…”

Intro to “Two Hearts”
“Gotta trust somebody sometime ‘cause two hearts are better than one…”

Intro to “You Can Look”
“Gotta less than ten minutes to go (crowd cheers) alright, “You Can Look”…are you ready, boys?…”

Intro to “Held Up Without a Gun”
“The time is?…who’s got a watch?…how much longer we got?…five minutes…(crowd cheers)…alright…we’re digging them out of the pit now, alright, this, this is a song that is on the flip side of the single “Hungry Heart,” this is called “Held Up Without a Gun” (chuckles)…”

Intro to “In the Midnight Hour”
“How much time we got now?….huh? how many minutes? three minutes?…gotta play two minutes…wait a minute, whose clock is right?…he says “One minute”…alright, “Midnight Hour”…
(…) Bring it down…forty-one…two…alright, guys – ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year! (crowd cheers)…here it is, 1981 (crowd cheers) you’re looking good (crowd cheers) Happy New Year! (crowd cheers) (the band goes into “Auld Lang Syne”)…”

Middle of “Rosalita”
“On the piano…for the first time in the New Year…Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) on the guitar…the magnificent…the magnanimous…the inimitable…the disgusting, no, the wonderful Miami Steve Van Zandt (crowd cheers) on the bass guitar, from Neptune, New Jersey…weighing in at 145 pounds…a man whose mother was a Tallent…his father was a Tallent…his great grandfather was a great, great Tallent…on the bass, Mr. Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) on the drums from South Orange, New Jersey (crowd cheers) uuuh, the Mighty Max (crowd cheers)(?)…on the organ…from Flemington, New Jersey…Phantom Dan Federici (crowd cheers)…oh yes…and now…and now…and now…from Norfolk, Virginia…via Sayreville, New Jersey…and what a trip it was (chuckles)…how can I say it?…should I say king of the world? (crowd cheers) should I say master of all things? (crowd cheers) should I say emperor of the entire universe? (crowd cheers) oh, he’s faster than a speeding bullet…he’s more powerful and badder than a locomotive…he can leap tall women, oh no, I mean tall buildings in a single bound…is it a bird? (crowd: “No”) is it a plane? (crowd: “No”) then what is it?…Clarence Big Man Clemons on the saxophone (crowd cheers) now I hope you took out your insurance …because now we got to hurt you…
(…) Well, this is his last chance and you can tell him, baby, I ain’t no bum…’cause me and you, we’re gonna make it…in 1981…”

Intro to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
“Here we go, last time…last time tonight, anyway (chuckles)…
(…) There he goes…brought us all presents, gotta go home now, wait till next Christmas…I can see him flying, he’s flying over Michigan…he’s flying over down South…he’s coming up through Philly…flying over New York (crowd cheers) he’s flying down the Jersey Turnpike (crowd cheers) see you next year, Santa…”

Intro to “Jungleland”
“Thank you…I’d just like to take a second, this is, I think this is about 47th show so far tonight and, uh (crowd cheers) and there’s guys that come in early in the morning, they put all this stuff up so that when we come out here you can hear real good, you can see real good (crowd cheers) I’d just like to, please, give a big hand for the guys that are in my crew ‘cause they’re the best (crowd cheers) thank you, this is for all, this is for all you guys…”

Intro to “Raise Your Hand”
“[The exit music has already started playing]…(crowd cheers) You don’t wanna go home? (crowd cheers)…”

^{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.}

My Brand New Record, Rosie, Made It All The Way To Number One

One of the most thrilling times to be a sports fan is when your team is in the midst of a winning streak. They occur in all sports, but in baseball and especially basketball, winning streaks are irresistible because of the unique way they place team chemistry, a “never give up” mentality, and moments of individual brilliance against a backdrop of ever-rising stakes. Who doesn’t want to tune in to see if your team can push their streak to 17, 21, or 33 in a row?

It could be argued that the entire live performance history of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is one long winning streak. That acknowledged, and with the benefit of hindsight and live recordings, fan consensus has coalesced around notable E Street streaks: the last two weeks of the 1977 tour with the Miami Horns; the late-’84 stretch of the Born in the U.S.A. tour.; and the final U.S. leg of Magic 2008 to name but a few.

The River tour boasts a few of its own streaks, and without question, Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve 1980 is among the best of them. A staggering run of shows throughout the Northeast culminated in a three-night stand at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. With his first chart-topping album and a Top Five single (“Hungry Heart”) in hand, Bruce and the band closed out 1980 more popular than ever.

Shows that wrapped that leg of the tour offered an intoxicating mix of musician-athletes performing at their peak, newfound confidence drawn from a long-awaited commercial breakthrough, and a continued hunger to prove it all night.

Supporting a double album of new material, that hunger was manifest in the increasing duration of the concerts and the stunning number of songs performed. In fact, until records were broken in 2012, the late-’80 River shows were the longest of Bruce’s career. Other shows and tours have their own distinct qualities, but if you are talking about a run of epic Springsteen concerts, the Thanksgiving-New Year’s ’80 streak is the reference point.

Nassau Coliseum 12/29/80 and its sister show 12/31/80 (reissued in a newly remixed and remastered edition) each stretch to 35 or more songs and live up to the legend of Bruce’s four-hour concerts by running close to that (counting the between-sets intermission). There may be other eras where the band played this well, but there is no period where they played better.

Both stunning performances are packed with delicious rarities along with some of the strongest versions of core material ever caught on multi-tracks. With a bounty of more than 70 songs between the two shows, there’s too much good stuff to cover, but here are ten things to listen for as you relive these magical nights.

1.Springsteen debuted his brilliant take on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain” three shows earlier at Madison Square Garden. It has endured as one of the band’s finest covers, popping up a few times on tours ever since. The versions performed on 12/29 and 12/31 are musically rich and heartfelt, pointing to the musical direction Bruce would explore six months hence on the band’s first proper tour of Europe.

2. Having just read Joe Klein’s biography of Woody Guthrie, Bruce covers “This Land Is Your Land” for the first time during the three-show Nassau stand, calling it an “angry song…an answer to Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’.” With the possible exception of a one-off performance of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom” in 1978, it is the first protest song Springsteen performed in concert with the E Street Band and signals the start of his public turn toward social and political commentary.

3. The paternal pairing of “Factory” and “Independence Day” on 12/29 is not only an evocative stretch of storytelling, but could pass for a dramatic monologue at a Broadway theater.

4. One of the signature sequences of early River tour shows is Roy Bittan’s mini-suite of “The River” into “Badlands.” 1980 performances of “The River” start with an original piano prelude (echoed by Danny Federici) before Bruce’s plaintive harmonica wail starts the song formally. Shortly after “The River” ends, Bittan starts into his interpretation of Ennio Morricone’s theme from the Sergio Leone film Once Upon A Time In The West. As Bittan plays the moving piano refrain, electric guitar chords start to chime in, building energy that crescendos when the intro gives way to an explosive “Badlands.” Magnificent.

5. The River tour is the height of Stevie Van Zandt’s role as backing vocalist, at times reaching the point of co-lead vocals. He’s a marvel at these shows on expected songs like “Two Hearts” and “Prove It All Night,” but listen for him in more unexpected places like the chorus of “Thunder Road” for signs of just how into it he is at Nassau.

6. Bruce’s spirited vocal on “For You” is full of fresh intonations distinct from other renditions.

7. The earnest story that leads into “Stolen Car” on 12/29 might melt your heart; the moving performance itself will have you reaching for a tissue or three.

8. The gorgeous, stripped-down arrangement of “The Price You Pay” on 12/31 starts solo. The band joins softly in the second verse, and we’re treated to the alternate third verse found in the single-disc version of The River included in The Ties That Bind box set. As good as it gets.

9. While we’ve heard the incredible version of “Incident on 57th Street” from 12/29 before (it was released as the b-side to “War” from Live 1975/85), hearing it in context of the show is so much sweeter. “This is a song we haven’t done in a real long time,” says Bruce, as he tests out the chords on his guitar. “No, it ain’t ‘Kitty’s Back.’ I hope I remember all the words….” Roy tinkles out the first few notes, the crowd swoons in recognition of the song, Max comes with his drum intro, and the lead guitar sends us soaring. If that wasn’t enough, after nearly ten majestic minutes, it rolls straight into “Rosalita” as it does on The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.

10. You want rarities? We got rarities. Beyond the aforementioned, the Nassau shows feature “Rendezvous,” the first-ever version of the “Hungry Heart” b-side “Held Up Without a Gun,” sublime seasonal nuggets “Merry Christmas Baby” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” plus Happy New Year covers of “In the Midnight Hour” and “Auld Lang Syne.” All that, plus 15 of the 20 songs on The River, including the under-played “Fade Away,” “Wreck on the Highway” and “The Price You Pay.”

A Final Note: Jon Altschiller’s new mix and mastering on 12/31/80 moves the listener from the 40th row to the first, proximity that reveals incredible new detail and musical power.

After electing to Plangent Process 12/29/80 for release, it was clear that 12/31/80 also deserved a Plangent-transferred new mix and mastering to match, as the version released in 2015 was not up to the same standards.
While the Plangent Processed and remixed version of 12/31/80 is being sold as a standalone release, anyone who bought the original can access the new upgraded audio for free via the “My Stash” section of the nugs.net app, which provides streaming access to all shows purchased as downloads or CDs (no subscription required). Previous buyers of New Years Eve ’80 can log in with the account credentials they used to buy the show the first time.

^{By Erik Flannigan via Nugs.net.}

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My Brand New Record, Rosie, Made It All The Way To Number One