1984-07-27 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

Scheduled: 20:15 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

Open-air show. Many of the crowd are allowed in to hear the last song of the soundcheck. According to the Schenectady Gazette it rained steadily throughout the show. Set opens with "Badlands". For the rest of the tour "Born In The U.S.A." will be the standard opener, apart than "High School Confidential" on Halloween and "Independence Day" on July 4, 1985 at Wembley Stadium. "Backstreets" again has a lengthy intro and a short "Sad Eyes" in the middle. "Detroit Medley" includes "I Hear A Train".

Intro to "Johnny 99"
´´Thanks….is it still raining out there ? (cheers)…´´

Intro to "Highway Patrolman"
´´Thanks….this is a song about….about family….family and duty….when it comes to your family, it´s hard to know….what the right thing to do is sometimes….´´

Intro to "Darlington County"
´´Alright, time for a road-trip….´´

Intro to "Glory Days"
´´Alright, take it easy now, boys….this is a song about, uh….you know when you go out to a bar and you meet somebody….that….that you went to high school with or something ?…and they start telling you what a great time you used to have back then ?…that happens to me all the time….they´re always telling me that they remember me when….what they mean is they remember me when they wouldn´t speak to me….so….you know, they always, like, say ´Oh, Bruce, how´s the band and….remember the night we went out and you were with that girl you really liked and that guy poured beer on your head and you got mad and he knocked you out and the girl left ? (chuckles) man, that was fun, that was a great time´…well, this is for anybody in the house tonight that´s as old as me….and for anybody that´s as old as Clarence
(cheers) can´t be that many…but Clarence, he looks real good, though, he still looks good…´´

Intro to "Used Cars"
´´This is….when I was….when I was a kid, I used to sit out….my house was kind of (?) one of main streets in town….and I used to sit out on the frontporch….in the summertime, at night ….and we kind of lived in half a house and there was this guy next-door that worked in a grocery store, he had one of those, uh, shortwave radios that got in like all the different countries….and we´d sit out there….like I remember I used to sit there, I used to count, count the convertibles (chuckles)….when I was a kid, two things I always wanted was I wanted a pony, everybody wants that (chuckles) and a convertible….I remember it was a real big day when my dad used to say ´Ok, we´re gonna go down, we´re gonna pick out another car,´ that was the only time that me and my sister, she was a year younger than me, it was the only time we used to get along was when we were about to go down to the car-lot ´cause we´d start (?) my dad for a convertible (?)….we had our whining down to a (?)….but, uh, my dad, inside, inside he was a convertible-kind-of-guy but he was never…he was never quite able to get, never quite able to get there….so we´d go down and we´d come back with, like, you know, a Rambler or a Studebaker….and….anything under 600 dollars….the only way me and my sister used to be able to get him back was, was we found the exact spot in the backseat where no matter what we did while he was driving he couldn´t reach us (chuckles)…. everybody knew where that spot was, right ? (chuckles)….(?)(chuckles)….he always…said ´You´re gonna get the belt (?)´….´´

Intro to "My Hometown"
´´Old cars (?)….this is, uh….I remember when I was about ten….there was this park by my house….and, uh….in it there was this monument….and I remember I used to, my mother used to say ´Where you going ?´ when I was gonna go out and play, I´d say ´I´m going over to the monument´ and we´d go over and we´d like run all around it….and then I got a little older, I was in my first band and we were gonna get our first publicity pictures taken and we had like these, uh, these plastic, uh, plastic snakeskin vests that we all wore and shirts like, shirts like the Kinks….but, uh….I realised I, I, I grew up around this monument my whole life and I never knew, never knew what it was a monument to and I found out that there was a Revolutionary War battle that was fought just a little ways outside, outside the town I grew up in….before this tour I went down to, went down to Washington and I seen the Lincoln Memorial….which is something to see if you haven´t seen it, and I seen the Vietnam Veterans´ Memorial…it´s a real, real sad to walk through….so monuments, they´re so that you, so that you always remember…´´

After "Thunder Road"
´´We´re gonna take a short break, I´m gonna fix my hair and then we´ll be back to rock you all night….´´

Intro to "No Surrender"
´´Thanks….this is a song….about holding on to something, trying to hold on to something…. that´s gets harder to do as time goes by sometimes….this is for, uh, this is for Little Steven, wherever he may be tonight….he´s got a record out called ´Voice of America,´ if you get a chance, you ought to pick it up, it´s a real good record…. ´´

Intro to "Pink Cadillac"
´´Now this is a song….about the conflict….between worldly things….and spiritual health…. between desires of the flesh….and spiriual ecstasy….between the mansion on the hill….and the mansion in the sky….now what I wanna know is how many of you here tonight believe that if you should, and I hope this doesn´t happen, if you should pass sometime during the show due to excitement, how many of you think you´re gonna go to heaven ? (cheers) now, how many of you think that if you should pass away due to cardiac arrest during the final moments that you just might take the down-elevator instead ? (cheers) now, me, I know I´m gonna go to heaven….now, I´m gonna miss the band but I´ll get over it….they say that in the beginning….there was a Garden of Eden, there was a man, there was a woman, there was an apple, there was temptation, there was sin and parked curbside, there was a pink Cadillac…´´

Middle of "Backstreets"
´´I remember you said that….if you made it out first, you´d help me….and if I did, I´d help you….and I remember that we swore on it….then you said it was nothing but a promise…. you said it wasn´t nothing but a promise….´´

Middle of "Rosalita"
´´Ladies and gentlemen…children of all ages…we have a live galaxy of stars on stage here here tonight….beginning….at the left of the stage….the only member of the E Street Band with a full high school diploma…let´s hear it for education and Professor Roy Bittan….on vocals, from Asbury Park, Miss Patti Scialfa….on the drums, author, drummer….faithful husband, uh, uh, that´s about it, the great Mighty Max Weinberg….on the bass, bringing you the thunder from down under, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….on the organ, the inimitable, the inevitable, the irreprovable, the unbelievable, the fantastic, the unforgivable Phantom Dan Federici….and on the guitar, drumroll, please….Mr.Nils Lofgren (Nils does his trampoline stunt)….that´s incredible….and last but not least….master of all things….emperor of the entire known world….and I´d like to announce tonight his nomination for the presidency of the United States….it´s time we had a Big Man in the White House….gimme a C-L-A-R-E-N-C-E, what´s that spell ? (crowd: ´Clarence´) what´s that spell ? (crowd: ´Clarence´) what´s that spell ? (crowd: ´Clarence´) Clarence Big Man Clemons on the saxophone….´´

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Eric M.	Can't really add too much more to these reviews except to say we were there also and that's exactly how it happened with the soundcheck and the rain stopping. I couldn't believe it. The other thing I remember was there wasn't anyone in the reserved seats yet as it was only a little after 6pm, it was a nice treat for all the people with lawn seats who waited all day in the rain to get in. I've often wondered if the people who came later with reserved seats ever knew what they missed.
Dave R.	I was also at that unbelievable show at SPAC and can attest to it happening just as described. And after seeing Bruce and the Band last night at the Times Union Center in Albany, including a back to back of Sandy into E Street Shuffle, I can say that 23 years later the music still transcends us. What a great show last night and a great memory from 1984.
Haj3	This show was my first Bruce concert, and although I won't be able to produce a song by song review 21 years after the fact, I can share some of my memories … "SPAC" is an outdoor venue with some covered seating near the stage and a large, wide open lawn area spreading out behind the seating area. It was a pretty lousy day weather wise, and I remember grabbing some big black garbage bags as we headed out for the show. We figured we could use them as raincoats if we needed them, since we were going to be "out on the lawn". I had been a fan for about 5 years at that point and I was just ecstatic that I was finally going to see my hero live (I had been really bummed out that I never did get a ticket to a River Tour show!). As we drove from Albany to the show it was raining on and off, but I wasn't going to let the weather get me down. My biggest fear was that the show would be postponed. The friend I was with assured me that barring a major lightning storm the show would go on. Sure enough, as we were walking in from our car the heavens opened up. No problem - we popped on our garbage bags and forged on. We made it through the ticket takers and it was still early so we were casually making our way out onto the lawn. All of a sudden, "BAWMP, BAWMP, BAWMP" three chords and Bruce says something like "We're just gonna do a little warm-up number" I have no idea what he actually said, but everyone walking in was suddenly running in. So it's pouring now, and the first thing I ever hear Bruce sing live is "Long as I remember, the rain's been coming down …" I was just blown away, as my Dad had always been a CCR fan, and I grew up hearing them around the house. I was a Bruce Show virgin, so I had no idea he did covers such as this. Anyway, half way through the song the rain starts to let up, and I kid you not, the clouds started rolling back and shafts of sunlight are breaking through to the ground. I turned to my friend and shouted, "Can you frigging BELIEVE THIS !? … HE is GOD!" I still get goose bumps thinking back on it. The excitement of my first show, the rain, the unexpected sound check, and Bruce clears the heavens. It was unreal. I don't believe it rained at all for the rest of the show. Did they know there was about to be a break in the storm? I don't know, and it doesn't really matter. It was an unforgettable moment in my life, and I can't even imagine a cooler initiation into the "Live Bruce Club"! The show was fantastic. Some other memories and highlights … I remember seeing someone with a big "Michael Jackson Sucks" sign and thinkin' "yeah, he sure as hell ain't the Boss!" … Every song in the setlist was a first for me, so every single one of them was special… Hearing Bruce wail on the harmonica for the first time (and every time since) was just incredible … I wasn't, and I'm still not a big Stones fan, but hearing Bruce do Street Fighting Man was quite cool… . Detroit Medley to close the show was also surreal for me - just left me like - wow … It was a long, rocking show (like they aren't all - right?) that left me with a huge, sh*t-eating grin on my face. I knew that day that seeing Bruce live would be a lifelong passion of mine. 20+ years later, I have yet to find any other entertainment experience that even comes close. It just doesn't get any better …
Eric	I just wanted to back up the other reviewer's version of events, about how it was raining all day until Bruce came out for the sound check, sang "Who'll Stop the Rain?" and then the rain just stopped. Every time I tell people this story, they think I'm embellishing, but it really happened that way. There was a real sense of connection among the fans as we waited to get to our muddy spots on the lawn. People were sharing beers (because you couldn't bring them in), playing "name that Springsteen song" by singing a couple lines, and just reveling in the not-so-soft summer rain. Then there was the show itself… which remains one of the single most powerful performances I've every witnessed. This was my first time seeing Bruce live, and the concert was a powerful, joyous, moving, emotional capstone of my teenage years.
Joe	Who'll stop the rain, in the soundcheck, worked. First Northeast show of the USA tour. Amazing show.

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