1984-09-18 Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

Final show of a six night stand at the The Spectrum in Philadelphia. First "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" of the tour, and at the time the earliest known date they had ever performed the song ahead of Christmas. Set also includes excellent versions of "State Trooper", "I Fought The Law" and "Point Blank". "Growin' Up" features the bear story. "Detroit Medley" includes "Travelin' Band".

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´I´m Goin´Down´
´´Thanks, this is…..this next song, this is a song, uh, about the fickleness of love…..it´s kind of how, you know, when you first meet somebody, everything they do is great….you know, everything they wear, they look beautiful, everything they say, they´re brilliant….you know, it´s like ´Oh honey, do you wanna go out or stay home tonight ?´….like ´Oh honey, I don´t care just as long as I´m with you´….anyway….and then your friends call you up and you´re busy all the time, you know, they try to get you to go out, you say ´No, no, I´m kind of busy, can´t go out Monday´, ´Well, how about Tuesday ?´, ´No, no, I can´t go out Tuesday, I got something I gotta do´, ´Well, how about Wednesday ?´ ´No, I can´t go out on Wednesday´…. that´s when they always know you´re in love, they say ´Well, he must be in love´….but anyway, you know, you take ´em over to their folks´ house and the minute their parents are out of the room, you´re fooling around with ´em all the time and they´re fooling around with you…..´Oh honey, not here !´….you know, but pretty soon, come back about four or five months and you hear like…..all of a sudden what was so brilliant, ´That´s the dumbest thing I ever heard´ (chuckles)….´How´d I get mixed up with somebody as stupid as you ?….Damn, I don´t know how, Jesus !´….anyway, it kind of ends up like…..”

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, end of ´I´m Goin´Down´
´´She broke my heart…..so I had to go pick up my buddy….and head on down to Darlington County….somebody gonna love me down there…..”

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Glory Days´
´´Now….this is a song….about ancient history….you see, before…..before I wanted to be a guitar player….there was something else I wanted to be…..a lover, no, no….no, I wanted to be….a baseball player….I started in Little League when I was but a lad…..and I went to Babe Ruth League when I was in high school….but now, by that time I´d gotten interested in a couple other things….now, one of ´em was the guitar….which I had become proficient at…. now, the other one…..I´m still working on that one….so if anybody would like to help, just shout (cheers) but, anyway, it wasn´t too bad when I was in high school because we used to do the rock and roll shows on the weekend and then I used to play baseball during the week ….except this one time, one time the game got rained-out and they rescheduled it for like 8 o´clock Saturday morning….so now I´d been out late the night before, I gotta admit I was beginning to lose my commitment to the sport and so when the guys came by to pick me up in the morning….my mother came upstairs and I said ´Mom, go downstairs, go down and tell ´em that I´m sick and I can´t come and, and, I´m just too tired to get up…..so downstairs she went and I heard her at the door: ´Oh, boys, I´m sorry, Bruce is too sick (chuckles) he can´t play baseball today´, I said ´Oh, thanks, Mom, thanks´, she´s lying for her son….you know, I cuddle back in the covers and I´m real warm….but then about 20 minutes later there´s a knock on the door….and they´re back and my mother goes to the door and I hear ´em, I hear ´em saying ´Oh, Mrs.Springsteen….Mrs.Springsteen, if Bruce don´t come to the game, we only got eight players, we´re gonna forfeit the game, it´s gonna mess up the whole season, please, Mrs. Springsteen, he´s gotta come, he´s gotta !´….so, so my mother, she sends them upstairs….oh brother, now I gotta make believe like I´m really sick, so I´m lying there in bed …..this is just what my bedroom looks like, I have all this stuff….I always sleep with my guitar too…..my girlfriends, they don´t like it but they get used to it (chuckles) anyway, so like they come upstairs and like I´m trying to make believe I´m sick but they´re begging me and they´re begging me and I´m one of those people that I can´t say ´no´, you know, I can never say ´no´….like if somebody comes up on the street and asks me for 25 cents, I always give it to ´em and….I can never say ´no´ to anybody so I get my uniform on…..I go down to the field…..I take my normal position out in the rightfield….and I´m standing there…..and it´s kind of a nice day and I´m starting to wake up and I´m not feeling too bad and the game´s going by, I´m praying that nobody hits nothing to me…..and like the game is real close, it´s tied scores, the bottom of the eighth and I´m out there and I start daydreaming a little bit, you know, like….there´s this girl….she´s climbing over the outfield fence….she´s coming towards me…..we lay down in the rightfield grass….she´s telling me it´s too hot to wear this baseball uniform…..and then all of a sudden, gssssh !….I dropped the ball, the runner scored, we lost the game….I suffered defeat and humiliation in front of my peers….but, anyway, that was the day that I decided….to give up my sports´ career in favor of dedicating my life to rock and roll…..and I´m glad that I did too….anyway, in the end all things must pass and it ain´t nothing but glory days….”

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Growin´Up´
´´Now, once upon a time….in a land not too far from here….
(….) Now, there we were….it was a night just like tonight….except it was hotter and it was in June….and it was raining….I´d just met Clarence…..I was working in the bowling alley setting up the pins…..he was working at the massage parlor, I mean the lawyer´s office…..we didn´t know what to do with ourselves….we didn´t have no money, we didn´t have any good jobs, we didn´t have no direction, we didn´t have no guidance, we needed some, we needed some faith, we needed some hope, we needed, we needed a close physical relationship with members of the opposite sex….we needed some girls !….so Clarence, seeing how depressed I was, being my buddy, decided he´d lift my spirits and he said he knew these two girls just on the edge of town and we could go out and have a date with ´em….sounded good to me….so we got in Clarence´s old Oldsmobile….and we started driving….and we drove south down Route 9….out of Freehold….down into Bricktown….down through Lakewood, down through Tom´s River….down into the pines….it was raining, it was snowing, we got hit with a heatwave….and then all of a sudden on this dark backroad….we got a flat….and it was so dark out, we couldn´t decide whether to roll up the windows and stay in the car till morning ….or to go out and see if we had a spare…..so this being a democracy, we decided that we´d choose to see who was gonna get out and check the trunk….(?)….I won….but then I went out and checked the trunk….there was nothing, the trunk was empty but Clarence said not to worry because he knew where there was a gas-station just on the other side of those woods ….so into the forest we went….it was dark in there….it was spooky….the wind was blowing through the trees…..we came upon this big shade tree…..I could tell because he had his shades on….there was spooky noises coming from everyplace…..it sounded like werewolves (crowd howls) it sounded like lions (crowd roars) it sounded like killer cows (crowd moos)
oh….and then we got into the deepest part of the forest…..I said ´Now, Big Man, there ain´t nothing dangerous in here, is there ?….none of them killer chipmunks ? there ain´t no like, there ain´t nothing, no, no dangerous wild animals, is there ?….there´s nothing, you sure ?…. I hear something….Big Man´, whooa ! and there it was, this big grizzly bear but instead of trying to eat us up….he was kind of a friendly kind of guy…..gave me a kiss….he said that he really wasn´t mean, he was just lonely and that he´d run away from the circus….and he was staying out here in the woods all by himself and if we´d be his friends, he´d help us with our problem….so we shook on it….and into the woods we went….and there in the clearing, the clouds pulled away from the moon….and the moonlight shone down on the answer to our quest….we stood there in the middle of the forest….and then….and then…..and then…..when we touched….´´

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Jersey Girl´
´´This is for all the Jersey girls out there….´´

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, middle of ´Rosalita´
´´Alright now….it´s party time…..and it´s also time to introduce the illustrious, the industrious members of the E Street Band….beginning with a gentleman to my far left…..the most intelligent member of the E Street Band…..the man who not as only does he have a grammar school but a full high school diploma…..a gentleman that turned down a scholarship to Harvard University….where he was working on his BA in unusual sexual practises….to join the 1984 with the E Street Band…..you may be familiar with his studies of the lost tribes of Hoboken, you may be famliar with his theory of promiscuity, a man who turned down the higher education in order to rock the nation….on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan….that´s right….and next…..on the vocals….from Long Branch, New Jersey….an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes…..boys, she´s single out there !…..the lovely, the talented, the beautiful Miss Patti Scialfa on the vocals….and now the gentleman that puts the bass in your face, that brings you the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, if he has some kids, they´re going to have a little bit of Tallent, on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….and next, on the drums, the man that puts the heat in the beat to get your asses out of your seats and moving your feet….the Mighty one, Max Weinberg on the drums….(?)….alright, alright…..and now….a gentleman on the organ…..what can I tell you ? he´s inimitable, he´s inevitable, he´s incredible, he´s unbelievable, he´s unfathomable, he´s impressionable, he´s immoral, the original sinner, on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici….and of course, from South Jersey, Jim the Dancing Bear….don´t worry, ladies and gentlemen, he´s completely docile….and now on the guitar….the newest member of the E Street Band…. the incredible, a man as sweet as life itself….Mr.Nils Lofgren on the guitar (Nils does his trampoline stunt)….and now next a gentleman, goddammit, he don´t need no introduction ! ….so gimme a C-L-A-R-E-N-C-E, what´s that spell ?….what´s that spell ?….what´s that spell ?….Clarence Big Man Clemons on the saxophone…..´´

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Santa Claus is Coming to Town´
´´Now….this is uh (chuckles) ready ?….this is something a little special for Philadelphia because….we might not be seeing you….for a little while so this is the Crazy Bosses´ Christmas in September !….
(…) Oh, here he comes now….you guys getting an early start on being good ? (cheers) gonna get a lot of presents this year….I hope so, maybe we´ll get back to see you again too….(?)….”

18.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Born to Run´
´´Thanks….I want to, uh….just take a minute and thank, thank all you guys for coming down to these shows that we did here in Philadelphia….and I know, uh…..I know a lot of youse been here more than one night (chuckles)….and uh…..I know you gotta wait in long lines for tickets and stuff and I want you to know that we appreciate it…..and uh, I´d like to thank Tony from the Spectrum here, wherever he is (chuckles) for doing such a good job for us and uh….I guess, I always consider myself real fortunate in that, in that I get, when I was a kid, I dreamed about doing something and I get to live out a little piece of my dream every night…. well….this is, uh…..here´s hoping that you get to live out at least a little piece of yours….”

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi

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