1981-07-05 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

Scheduled: 20:30 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

Set includes "Thunder Road" in the opening slot for the first time. "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" includes a snippet of "Sweet Soul Music" during the band introductions. "Detroit Medley" includes "Shake" and "Sweet Soul Music". First ever Springsteen performance in the U.S. of "Trapped".

05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Independence Day’:
”How you doing ? (cheers)….you had a good Fourth of July ? (cheers)…..(?) (chuckles) ….I’d like to, I’d like to just make one announcement that’s…..if by any chance you brought any, any fireworks with you….please don’t set ‘em off in the hall, alright….keep ‘em in your pocket or throw ‘em away but don’t set ‘em off in the house….if you see somebody setting ‘em off…..tell the usher or tell a security guard because I want ‘em thrown out, ok (cheers) ….’cause….you’re gonna hurt yourself or hurt somebody that’s around you….that’s not what Independence Day is about anyway (chuckles)(cheers)…..I remember when I was a little kid…..every….every Fourth of July, my mother and father used to take…..me out to the racetrack…..in Freehold (cheers)….they used to, I guess they don’t have, they don’t have fireworks no more down there but they used to have ‘em every Fourth of July….and there used to be this cemetary….that was right on the outside of the track and there was this hill called Cemetary Hill ….and everybody used to go up there and park and sit up on the hill and watch….watch the skyrockets’display…..when I was little , I didn’t know what it was all about, I just knew that on Fourth of July we’d go there and there were all these fireworks and stuff….and….we just spent a couple of months over….in Europe (cheers)….and I found myself, I was thinking of home a lot more….than usual, from being away….I’d never been away from the States….for so long….and I started to read this book, this book called History of the United States (cheers)…..and in it….I found a lot of things that….that, that were important to know….because they helped me understand…..the way that….that my life was and the way that my life developed….they helped me understand how…..when I was a kid all I remember was my father worked in a factory, his father worked in a factory….. and ….and the main reason was because they didn’t…..they didn’t know enough…..they didn’t know enough about themselves….and they didn’t know enough about the forces…. that….that, that controlled their lives and (cheers)….and I started to read this book…..and the thing that was….that most impressed me…….was, was the idealism….it was like when you were a kid and you leave home, you leave home because you believe in yourself or you think you’re gonna do something and because you wanna be different , you wanna be different than your old man was (?)(cheers)….and that’s what happened here….and…. and the idea was….that there’d be a place….for everybody , no matter, no matter where you come from or what religion you were or what color you were…..you could, you could make a life that had some decency and some dignity to it (cheers)…but like…. all, all ideals….that, that idea got real corrupted….and….as I read through the book and I got up into the 60’s and the 70’s….and I remember (?) in the 70’s , I was in my twenties and I was in my teens in the 60’s but I felt like I’d been sleeping all the time through all those years ‘cause I didn’t know what was going on…..I didn’t know what….what the government that I lived under….was doing….it’s important to know about yourself, that’s all and know about the things around you so (cheers)…you get a chance, read that book, History of the United States, it’s good !…..”

05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘This Land Is Your Land’:
”If you got one of those green things…..give ‘em to somebody so they can throw ‘em in the trash (chuckles)….I hate those things….please don’t throw stuff around, you’re gonna hit somebody in the head…..alright….I need a little….I need a little quiet for this song, thank you…..”

05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Jersey Girl’:
”This is for….this is for Dave, if you’re out there, Dave…..”

05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, after ‘Jersey Girl’:
”That’s…..that was a song by Tom Waits….it’s on his ‘Heartattack and Vine’….”

05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Ramrod’:
”When I was over in Europe, one of the things that….that I hadn’t thought about that much before that I started to think about was….the importance of the audience…..at the show and (cheers)….and….I just want to say….that…that I’m proud that everybody’s come down to see us (cheers)….and….and whoever it is and there’s only one or two out of , I guess, twenty thousand people here tonight….that’s…that has to set off their firework in the middle of a song ….uh…..the only thing I can…I can say is…..you can do me a favor and never come back to one of my shows ever again (cheers)….because …..if you don’t , if you don’t have the respect for yourself, whoever you (?), you should at least have the respect for the people that are around you….and if you don’t have that, you should at least have the guts to come up here and do it where I can see you or somebody can see you…..”

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi

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