1984-08-06 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

Scheduled: 19:30 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

"Spirit In The Night" makes its tour debut. "No Surrender" now includes a harmonica solo instead of the sha-la-la vocal, acoustic version #2. It will be played as such from now on for the rest of the tour. "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" includes the "Come A Little Bit Closer" introduction. Bruce sings a bit of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" as an introduction to "I'm A Rocker".

Intro to "Atlantic City"
´´All night….alright….how you doing out there tonight? (crowd cheers)….´´

Intro to "Open All Night"
´´Well, there I was….I was riding alone from New York City….I´d been working all night…. it was late, it was about 3.30…..I had the window down a little bit…..there was a nice breeze coming through….and I was feeling pretty good…..I was just driving along, contemplating getting home….making myself a ham-and-cheese sandwich….kissing my girlfriend….making another ham-and-cheese sandwich….kissing my girlfriend….making another sandwich…. making another sandwich….I was humming along, now, I´m one of those people, I never get gas until I absolutely have to….I know the exact amount down from ´E´ that I can drive to….. when my gas gauge is on ´E,´ I don´t even think about it yet….I like to, I like to pass those stations by and say ´I get the next one, I get home faster if I stop at the next one´….so I was riding on, had an eye on the gas gauge, my mind was wandering and then all of a sudden I see those red lights in my rearview mirror….New Jersey highway patrol….now, I´m also one of those people that never has his wallet with him….I always leave it home….I don´t mean to, I just forget….so the trooper comes up, ´License, registration´….I did not have these in my possession….so I give him my name, he goes back to the car, he calls me back in about five minutes and he says ´Are you, are you that rock´n´roll singer?´….I said ´Yeah, yeah, that´s me´….he says ´Yeah?´ he says ´I got some of your albums home´ I say ´Yeah, you do?´ he says ´Yeah,´ he says ´Son, you´re in a lot of trouble´….(?) he said I had all these unpaid parking tickets and speeding tickets which I had already paid….but anyway, he takes me down to the station and they impound my vehicle….and as I was sitting there, I figured that this was a good time to write down the basis of my lifestory…..so that in case anything happened and if I died or was injured that night, you wouldn´t have to read all about this stuff in the National Enquirer….so I sat there and I said ´How did all this begin?´….
(….) So they finally let me out on my own recognicence….I was walking up the highway 4.30 in the morning, trying to catch a ride…..then I saw this little cafe….and inside there was this ….waitress and she just kind of looked at me and said….´Don´t worry, honey….´cause we´re open all night´….´´

Intro to "Nebraska"
´´Oh….thanks….this is, uh…..they say that all the new, all the new technology and everything are supposed to be bringing the world….a whole lot closer to you….but, uh, it seems like there´s more people that feel isolated from their jobs and isolated from their family and community and government all the more all the time until you get, uh, you feel a certain sense of powerlessness sometimes…..you just explode….´´

Intro to "Glory Days"
´´Oh yeah!….this is about….all those people that come up to you in a bar on the weekend….. who you ain´t seen in about ten years…..and they start telling you about what a great time they had in high school….personally, I had a terrible time in high school….I hated high school ….I don´t like high school….but I´m making up for it now….alright, are you ready, boys?….is the people ready? (crowd cheers)….´´

Intro to "Used Cars"
´´Thanks….this is a song about….old cars…..´cause old cars never die, they just break down all the time (chuckles)….oh….´´

Intro to "My Hometown"
´´This is….I remember when I was a kid, there used to be this park near my house….uh, it was over behind the courthouse and there used to be this monument in the middle of it and I can remember when my mother´d ask me where I was going all the time, I´d say ´Well, we´re gonna go play over, over by the monument´ and we´d go over there and I spent a lot of time over there and then, then when I was 15, I was in my first band, we had to get our….had to get out publicity pictures taken and we had, uh, we had these, these like plastic, make-believe snakeskin vests and we had these frilly shirts, uh, like the Kinks used to wear (chuckles) and…and we had all our poses down and we, we went over by the monument and we stood on it and like, you know, this….this….had to look mean all the time, that was the only, you could never smile, that was out, any pictures we found ourselves smiling, we´d throw out (chuckles) so, had to look bad (chuckles) but, uh….it wasn´t till I got pretty old that I even knew what the monument was a monument to and there had been a battle, the Battle of Monmouth, was fought just outside (?)(crowd cheers) let´s hear it for the Battle of Monmouth (chuckles) but, uh, just before we went out on tour, I went down to Washington and I saw Lincoln Memorial, which is really something to see, not far from that is the Vietnam Veterans´ Memorial….and uh….but anyway, I guess it got important to me as I got older to know, to, to know a little more about where I was coming from and where we all are coming from before I could understand and see where we´re going right now….´cause everything that happens here, happens in your name and in my name and we all kind of share the responsobility and the shame and the glory….´´

Intro to "Cadillac Ranch"
´´Are you talking to me? (crowd cheers)….´´

Intro to "No Surrender"
´´Thanks….oh….this, uh (?)….this is a song about trying to hold on to something….it gets harder to do….every day, in some ways….but uh….when I think about it, I always realise how lucky I am, I was….real fortunate that when I was young, I found something I liked to do, I dreamed of doing something and, and my dream came true, I guess….that´s pretty lucky (chuckles) but uh….here´s hoping yours does too….´´

Intro to "Pink Cadillac"
´´Now, this is a song….about the conflict between worldly things and spiritual health…. between sexual desire….and spiritual ecstasy….between the mansion on the hill and the mansion in the sky, between the cynics and sceptics and the true believers, now what I wanna know tonight is how many out there think that if during the show - and I hope this doesn´t happen - you should die from excitement….how many of you think you´re gonna go to heaven? (crowd cheers) now, how many of you believe that if during the final moments of this evening´s performance you should pass away due to cardiac arrest, heart failure or some other fatal disease, that you´re gonna end up taking the down-elevator? (some cheers) well, now, me, personally….I know that I´m gonna go to heaven….now, the band….don´t pack your overcoat….pack your bermuda shorts (chuckles)….you see, ´cause in the beginning, there was a place called the 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….´´

Intro to "Bobby Jean"
´´Alright….if you´re out there with a good friend, this is for you tonight…..´´

Intro to "Rosalita"
´´In a little cafe on the other side….of Hoboken…..
(….) Alright….ladies and gentlemen…..and children of all ages and everybody else too….it´s now my honor to introduce to you the members of the E Street Band….beginning with at the piano….the most intelligent man, the most educated member, a man who gave up a scholarship to Harvard University in unusual sexual practises to tour with the E Street Band this year….that´s dedication, dedication….he wrote that scientific study about the lost tribes of Hoboken, his PhD in sexual promiscuity, a man who - as life itself - is both short and sweet, and the only member with a real high school diploma…..Professor Roy Bittan….he´s got the brains, he´s got the brains…..next, on the bass, bringing you the thunder from down under, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….and in the back, from Long Branch, New Jersey….Miss Patti Scialfa….on the drums, author of the soon-to-be-best-selling-novel The Big Beat, the Mighty Max Weinberg…. on the organ, the inimitable, the immovable, the irreprovable, the unbelievable, the impractical, the incredible, the unfathomable, ladies and gentlemen, the original sinner, Phantom Dan Federici…..lookout, girls, he hates to be alone….and on the guitar….drumroll please….Mr.Nils Lofgren…..(Nils does his trampoline stunt)….that´s (?)…. and now, last but not least….the man….I ran out of words to describe him and as I was sitting at my desk the other night, he moved me to write this verse….´C´ is for Cool, which grows and grows….´L´ for his (?) which comes and goes….´A´ is ´cause he´s the Apple of my eye ….. ´R´ is because he´s the king of the world, he´s still just a Regular kind of guy….C, L, A,R ….´E´ is ´cause he´s Everything near and dear to me…..´N´ is ´cause there´s Nothing like him and there´s never ever gonna be….´C´ is for that C-note he owed me since 1963….´E´ is for Everything else, you put that all together, what´s that spell? (crowd: ´Clarence!´) what´s that spell? (crowd: ´Clarence!´) what´s that spell? (crowd: ´Clarence!´) my buddy, Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons on the saxophone….I´m humbled….´´

Intro to "I´m A Rocker"
´´Now, is you or is you not a rocker?….come on, everybody, clap your hands, you´re looking good, gonna sing you a song, won´t take long (?)….´´

Intro to "Born To Run"
´´I´d like to thank everybody for coming down tonight…..thank you very much…..(?) when I was a kid, I heard the music of Elvis Presley coming over the little radio into my house…..it opened up a whole new world for me, a whole ´nother different way to, I could see the things around me and all, all it was kind of saying to me was, like, let freedom ring and so….that´s all we´re trying to do here tonight but remember you gotta fight for it every day….´´

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

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The Time Is Right For A Palace Revolution

When the Born in the U.S.A. tour kicked off in late June 1984, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band had been off the road for more than two and a half years — or eternity, by Springsteen standards. Contrast that with their previous longest hiatus from the road, 21 months that passed between the end of the Darkness tour (January 1, 1979) and the start of the River tour (October 3, 1980). Prior to that, Bruce and the band had played a significant number of shows every year since 1972.

Not only did 1981-84 represent the longest gap between proper concerts, but the Born in the U.S.A. tour also marked the first personnel changes within the band in ten years, as Stevie Van Zandt stepped out, Nils Lofgren stepped in, and Miss Patti Scialfa expanded the E Street Band from six to seven full-time members.

The song catalog was growing, too. As a double album, The River contributed many new tracks to 1980-81 setlists, but in 1984, Bruce was again supporting two albums’ worth of new material, with one of them a true departure: the solo acoustic Nebraska.

All of which is to say that the early weeks of the 1984 tour marked a period of material change and recalibration to the established Springsteen live show. We can hear that process thrillingly in progress with the release of 8/6/84.

This concert was the second night of an unprecedented ten-show stand at the Brendan Byrne Arena in E. Rutherford, NJ. The sold-out run was strategically placed seven weeks into the tour, which gave the new line-up and material time to gel. With but two exceptions (Montreal and Saratoga Springs), all dates prior to the Jersey stand featured two or three nights in a given market.

Multi-track recordings from 1984 are limited to this Brendan Byrne run, and the Live Archive series has already released two of its finest shows, opening night (8/5/84) and closing night (8/20/84), each worthy in its own right.

What makes 8/6/84 distinct from its predecessors is that it represents what fans in 1984 referred to as the “B” or alternate set. Famous for ever-shifting setlists, when Bruce would play a second or third show in a given city in ’84, he typically changed out songs in the Nebraska mini-set and encores, as well as selected others throughout.

The setlist on 8/6/84 offers eight such changes to the opening night 8/5 setlist (nine if you count, and we should, “Do You Love Me?”). Collectively, they expand our overall perspective of the tour as represented through the Archive releases.

First up is the tour premiere of “Spirit in the Night,” a staple in 1978 that was omitted for all but three airings circa 1980-81 and resurrected here as a surefire crowd-pleaser for the New Jersey homecoming. It’s the third pre-Born to Run song to be featured in a 1984 setlist up to this point, joining “Growin’ Up” and “Rosalita.” The version is a fine one, with the Big Man’s saxophone on point.

After a bang-up “Atlantic City,” “Open All Night” makes its Archive Series debut from this tour. It offers one of most entertaining moments in these early ’84 shows thanks to Bruce’s introduction to the song, a tale of late-night driving on the NJ turnpike and racing the gas gauge needle (hovering around E) before getting pulled over by a highway patrolman. The officer seems to sympathetically recognize Springsteen, only to then drop the hammer on him with the memorable line, “Son, you’re in a lot of trouble.”

When I think of “Open All Night,” this is the arrangement permanently saved in my memory banks, and it is wonderful to have it for the first time in Archive quality. I can say the same for “Nebraska,” and while this is the version released on Live/1975-85, context is everything. This candidate for a definitive reading of the song sounds even better complete with Bruce’s prescient introduction (absent on the 1986 box set) about new technology making people feel isolated from their jobs, families, community, and government. The E Street Band provides perfect, subtle support, with Danny Federici’s glockenspiel and Roy Bittan’s Yamaha CS80 synthesizer adding disquieting, ethereal layers to the track.

“Trapped” is also the previously released version we know from the We Are the World album and Essential. Following “Nebraska” and still riding Bittan’s CS80, it comes off like the cathartic final scene of the mini-set, release coming via Clarence’s sax solo and the soaring voices that carry the chorus.

The end of the first set and start of the second stay true to the core ‘84 setlist, with “Because the Night” the next change from night one, with Bittan brilliant on piano and Patti stirring on the chorus. After a “Pink Cadillac” ride comes a flawless “Fire,” with Clemons’s rich baritone voice in full duet with Bruce’s lead vocals.

The main set comes to a close with “Racing in the Street,” a song that would evolve considerably as the tour wears on, truly coming into its own with a stunning synthesizer-backed story intro in October, November, and December ‘84 performnaces. Those elements aren’t here yet, but as Bittan carries the song through its epic conclusion, we get beautiful, fresh guitar interplay between Nils and Bruce that suggests the song is undergoing a rebirth.

As we move to the encores, Springsteen’s mood is summed up by the “whoop, whoop, whoop” vocal he drops around the 1:50 mark of “Rosalita,” perhaps a simple utterance of joy that night two of this most important 10-show stand was nearly in the books. But not before a few other highlights.

“I’m a Rocker” is a fantastic addition to any encore, and the ‘84 edition gets its due here. And yes, that’s Roy Bittan’s voice you hear loud and clear in the right channel of the chorus. Danny’s faux Farfisa sounds great, too.

But they saved the best for last. Arguably this show’s greatest contribution to the Live Archive series comes in the form of a song only performed on this tour.

Springsteen covered the Rolling Stones’ classic “Street Fighting Man” 28 times, all but one in the summer and fall of 1984 (the last was London 7/6/85). This marks the first official release of the song by Bruce and the E Street Band.

Paired brilliantly in a doubleshot with a potent “Born to Run,” “Street Fighting Man” declares, “What can a poor boy do, except to sing for a rock and roll band,” a sentiment Springsteen was likely feeling as the biggest rock star in America during an election year. “Street Fighting Man” is a call to arms, telling us the “time is right for a palace revolution” against those in power. Its inclusion in the set is a not-so-subtle suggestion of where Springsteen stood just a few months ahead of the 1984 Presidential election.

A year later, Bruce famously introduced his cover of Edwin Starr’s “War” by stating,“blind faith…in your leaders…will get you killed.” “Street Fighting Man,” first played on opening night of the tour, and “War,” debuted at the final L.A. shows in ’85, can now be viewed as thematic bookends questioning U.S. leadership, something Springsteen continues to do in 2020.

The more I listen to this performance of “Street Fighting Man,” the more electrifying it sounds. Bruce carries the way with his impassioned vocals, but the band’s contributions are integral, as Garry channels his inner Bill Wyman, Nils finnesses an intricate guitar lead, and Patti pulls the chorus up to the next level.

One song later, Bruce asks the audience, “Do You Love Me?” After hearing “Street Fighting Man” again 36 years later, in an even more important election year, the answer is: now more than ever.

^{By Erik Flannigan via Nugs.net.}

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