1984-09-08 Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

Set features the live premiere of "State Trooper", the last song from Nebraska to be performed. "Growin' Up" features the bear story. "Backstreets" include an extended introduction and a brief "Sad Eyes" interlude in the middle. "Detroit Medley" includes "Travelin' Band". Following the show Bruce is interviewed by British disc jockey Roger Scott for a two-hour radio special titled A Conversation With Bruce Springsteen. The program was pressed on three records, distributed to over 200 Westwood One radio stations and broadcast over the weekend of December 14, 1984. The special consisted of the interview (which was conducted at two in the morning) and eighteen studio tracks.

Intro to "Nebraska"
´´This is a song about, uh…..you can´t seem to, you can´t pick up….a paper or turn on the TV today….without, uh….seeing people that got so….they ended up isolated from their friends or isolated from the jobs that they were working at….isolated from their government….till they feel a certain sense of powerlessness sweep over ´em….and they explode….”

Intro to "Glory Days"
´´This is a song….this song is kind of….about….before I wanted to be a guitar player….I wanted to be a baseball player….you know….and I was gonna take the traditional hard road, I started when I was in Colonial League, I was only about seven, then I went to Little League, then I went to Babe Ruth League….by the time I got into Babe Ruth League I was 15, I had amassed a career hitting average of a 156….but I didn´t let it discourage me….but around that time I kind of got interested in a couple of other things….one, I got interested in the guitar…. that was the one that I got good at….the other one, I´m still looking for some volunteers who wanna practise, practise, practise….but anyway, by the time I was 15, I….I kind of, it wasn´t too bad ´cause the games were on the weekdays and then the rock and roll shows were on the weekends….but we had this one rained-out game that they rescheduled for 8.30 Saturday morning so that Friday night like I was out playing at some club and I got home home like three or four o´clock….and then the next morning the guys came by to get me to go to the game, I hear ´em knocking at the door and I told my mother, I said ´Mom, Mom, go down and tell ´em, tell ´em that I´m sick, I´m too sick and I can´t go´….and so mother, you know, she´s gonna go down and lie for her son and I hear her ´Oh no, boys, Bruce is so sick this morning he just can´t make the game´….I´m resting in my bed, you know….but then they come back about 20 minutes later and I hear ´em at the frontdoor and they´re going like ´Oh, Mrs.Springsteen, we only got eight guys and if Bruce don´t come to the game, we´re gonna forfeit the game, it´s gonna be the end of the season, please, Mrs.Springsteen, he´s gotta come, he´s gotta !´….and so….I´m laying there bed, you know, and then I hear ´em coming upstairs so now I really gotta make believe like I´m sick so I´m kind of laying there in my bed…..you see, I always sleep with my guitar….my girlfriends, they don´t like it but they get used to it (chuckles) sometimes the guitar sleeps on the outside (chuckles) so, anyway, they come up and they start begging me, you know, and I´m like laying there trying to make believe like I´m really sick so finally, I´m one of those people that when people start begging me I, I can never say ´no´….you know….if somebody comes up to me on the street and like wants 25 cents or something, I always give it to ´em (chuckles) and so, anyway, I get on my uniform, I go down to the field and I get out in the rightfield, my normal position…..and things were going pretty good, you know, the game´s going along and nothing was getting hit to me and I was just kind of standing out there beginning to enjoy the weather….the game was almost over and I kind of started daydreaming….I dreamed there was a girl….she was climbing over the outfield fence….she was walking right out onto the field….she said it was too hot for me to be wearing this baseball uniform….and then all of a sudden, pssssh !….´I got it….I got it, I got it´….I dropped the ball, the runner scored, we lost the game….I suffered deep humiliation in front of my friends….but that was the day that I decided to give up sports and dedicate the rest of my life to rock and roll….and I haven´t regretted it since….anyway, this is a song about how all things must pass and how it ain´t nothing but glory days….”

Intro to "The River"
´´This is uh….I remember when I was….when I was a kid, there was nights when I´d come home and I felt like I just couldn´t go in the house…..and uh…..there used to be this park with this river running through it that I used to go down to….now everytime I go back to my hometown, I always stop by there…..this is for, uh…..this song´s about everybody´s gotta have someplace they can go when they can´t go home…..”

Middle of "Growin´Up"
´´Well, there I was….I was still going to high school….but I was having a lot of trouble….I was doing real bad in my studies….I was getting sent down to detention hall all the time….. and finally they sent me to the guidance counsellor….to give me some guidance…..so I kind of sat there…..you know, he said ´Mr.Springsteen, what´s the problem ?´….I said ´Oh´, I said ´I don´t know, I just….I just don´t know what I´m wanna do with myself, I ain´t got no, no direction in my life, I don´t know what I wanna be, I don´t know what I wanna do, I got no faith, ain´t got no hope, ain´t got no confidence´…..he said ´Well….that´s too big a problem for me, you better go home and talk to your folks about it´….and so I went home, I went into the kitchen, my father was sitting at the kitchen table….I sat down across from him and said ´Dad, I got a real problem here that I need your help with now, you see, I don´t know what I wanna do with myself, I´m, I´m lost, I ain´t got no faith, I ain´t got no hope, I ain´t got no confidence, I mean I feel terrible´….and he said ´Get me another beer out of the icebox´…. this was depressing…..so I went down to Asbury Park…..and I was in this little club and I was in the men´s room and I looked on the wall and it said ´Advice and answers to all problems, big or small, call this number´….so I got a dime and I went out and I put it in the phonebooth and called….it rang once….it rang twice….and then I heard (Clarence: ´Hello´) ….and it was some guy called Clarence ´He-who-knows-all´ Clemons….and so….he gave me his address and I went over to his house and knocked on his door and came in….we kind of sized each other up for a while….we decided that we´d make a good team…..and he, he said he had a map to the secret of the world that he hadn´t got a chance to use yet but that he thought it was the time that me and him go find the answer to all our problems….so we got in his old Oldsmobile and we drove south….down Route 9….through the wind, through the rain, through the snow, through the heat until we got way down deep south into the New Jersey pines….it was a scary ride….and we parked by the side of this dirt road….and Clarence said that what we were looking for should be just right over into those woods…. so deep into the forest we went…..the forest was a scary place, there were noises coming from everywhere…. first it sounded like werewolves (crowd howls) then it sounded like lions (crowd roars) then it sounded like killing cows (crowd moos) it was a dangerous place….we followed the map till the map said ´Turn left at the big shade tree´….now, we could tell it was a shade tree because it had its shades on…..(?)….and deep into the forest we went…..Big Man, there ain´t, there ain´t no wild animals here, you don´t think ? then what about, they ain´t got none of like, there ain´t no like grizzly bears in New Jersey or nothing, is there ? you sure ?….(?) there ain´t no like, there ain´t no man-eaters in New Jersey, no ? I think I hear something behind us, I think there´s something behind us…..Big Man….whooa ! and there it was, this big old grizzly bear but he seemed kind of like, he was kind of friendly….yeah….he wasn´t mean, he just said that he was just lonely, that he ran away from the circus, that there wasn´t nobody to play with out in the woods….I could tell by the way he wore his hat that he was smarter than the average bear….and he said that he´d take us to find the answer to our problems…..so we followed the bear into the woods and there in the clearing in the moonlight, we saw the answer to our quest….now we knew that everything was gonna be all right….and we stood there in the moonlight and…..and…..and…..when we touched….”

Middle of "Backstreets"
´´And I remember that we swore on it….I remember how we swore on it…..and that we said it´d last forever and forever and forever….we said it would last forever and forever….and then you said it was nothing but a promise….I remember you said it wasn´t nothing, it was just a promise….it was just a promise…..(?)….come home, darling, come back, baby, come back, darling, come back, baby, come back, darling….´cause I miss you so much….”

Middle of "Rosalita"
´´Ladies and gentlemen….it´s now time to introduce to you….the members of the E Street Band….beginning to my far left, the most educated member of the E Street Band….the only member of the band with a full high school diploma….you may have read his papers on the lost tribes of Hoboken, you may be familiar with his theory of promiscuity….the only man who gave up a scholarship to Harvard University….why ? to do this tour with the E Street Band, ladies and gentlemen, the educated, the dedicated, the confiscated, the sexually liberated Professor Roy Bittan…..and next on the vocals, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes….the lovely, the beautiful Miss Patti Scialfa on the vocals…..and next the gentleman that brings you the thunder from down under, that puts the bass in your face, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, the one, the only Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass guitar….on the drums, the man that puts the heat in the beat that gets you up off your seat and moving your feet, author of The Big Beat, the Mighty Max Weinberg on the drums ….and to the far right of the stage, the inimitable, the inevitable, the incourageable, the unforgivable, the unimaginable, the incredible, the immoral, the original sinner, ladies and gentlemen, Phantom Dan Federici on the organ….lookout girls, he hates to be alone….and next, from South Jersey…..Jim the Dancing Bear….don´t worry, ladies and gentlemen, he´s completely docile….and on the guitar, a drumroll please….Mr.Nils Lofgren (Nils does his trampoline stunt, at which he doesn´t apparently succeed the first time as Bruce yells ´One more time´)….(?)…..and now….a man for whom there is no description….when they made this guy, they broke the mold….all I can say´s he´s the king of the world, the emperor of the universe, the next President of the United States….a close personal friend of mine…..gimme a C-LA-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….”

Intro to "Born to Run"
´´I wanna thank everybody for coming down to the shows that we did here in Hartford, thank you….I know, uh….I just wanna let you know that we appreciate it and uh….guess when I was a kid, (?) the first thing that…..that made an impression on me….was when I heard the music of Elvis Presley and….it was the only thing in the town that I grew up in and around the people that I grew up with, that kind of set my mind free to imagine some of the possibilities that are out there…..so I´ve been a lot luckier than most, I get to, I get to live a piece of my dream out every night….and I hope, I just wanna say I hope you get to live out a piece of yours….”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Rocco

On our way to our first show since the River Tour 8/7/81, driving along the Mass Turnpike with my buddies going to the Hartford show. 4 of us in my 78 Volvo, great stereo, plenty to drink and no tickets! We assumed faith would be rewarded. As we are exiting the Mass Pike at the Sturbridge toll booth, I am not paying attention to the road and hit the high curbed median strip and get a double blow out!!! We limp over to the side of the road, about 200 feet from the tolls. It's 6:30pm and we are about 45 minutes from Hartford. We keep our spirits high and get to changing one of the tires. I run up to the toll booth and ask to use the phones, (remember the days before cell phones?)I call 10 service stations all of who cannot help us or do not answer, it is Saturday evening on Labor Day weekend!! We are screwed! As I am jogging back to the car, the boys already have the tire changed, it is now, 6:50 PM, we are brainstorming and as we are, BITUSA is blaring from my very loud stereo. Traffic is busy and we then hear a couple horns blowing, looking towards the traffic, we see a Volvo cutting across the toll lines towards our breakdown. The car rolls up and out jumps a guy who asks if we are going to see Bruce Springsteen. He has Jersey plates. He is heading in the other direction, but is a huge Bruce fan and heard the music, he GIVES us his spare tire in exchange for promise of a return favor 'someday', he drives off. It is now 7:00PM. We change the tire and get on our way. Hartford here we come! We arrive in Hartford at 7:50 and begin to plan on how we are going to find 4 tickets for a show that is starting in 10 minutes. As we sit at a red light we assign who will go to what corner and how much are we willing to pay for the tickets, if we can find any. At the light a van pulls up next to us, they are singing and playing Bruce loud, they look over to us and roll down their window. First words out of their mouths…… "hey we have 4 extra tickets, do you need any??" UFB! We scoop up the tickets for face, park the Volvo with it's spare tire and adopted tire, run to the Civic Center, go in with our just bought tix and walk into the arena just as BITUSA starts. That is the stuff dreams are made of. The show was spellbinding, Downbound Train incredible. What a night. Faith was rewarded.

Noel

Night 2, my second show ever. Working in Downtown Hartford never felt special to me, until I went to have lunch at the Civic Center, soaking up what atmosphere I could for my first ever Bruce show later that night. Hoping for a glimpse of my hero, or anybody connected to Bruce, something not completely decipherable came over the PA about Springsteen Tickets. I saw a mad dash by a half dozen people from every corner of the civic center atrium/mall. I joined hoping I had some money in my pockets for tickets. I was able to buy 2 in the third row in a side section, Clarences side. My first glimpse of Bruce was now going to be a doubleheader, back to back nights. Still on a natural high from Night 1, I found my seat almost on top of Clarences Sax collection with a clear view of Bruce's mike. The show again was excellent. And quite a few of my favorites skipped in Night One made the second show, Spirits, Prove it all Night, and the River. Night 2 was just as powerful as night 1. Thanks you Bruce.

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