1988-06-22 Villa Park, Birmingham, England

Scheduled: 18:00 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

Edwin Starr guests on "War". "Adam Raised A Cain" includes "Hoochie Coochie Man" in the midsection and outro and "I'm A Man" in the outro. Bruce sings the opening line of "Mannish Boy" as an introduction to "Two Faces". "Cover Me" includes "Gimme Shelter" in the outro. "Born To Run" is solo acoustic. "Light Of Day" includes "Born To Be Wild" in the midsection. The outro of "Glory Days" features the organ riff of "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)". First ever performances in England of "Who Do You Love?" and "Have Love Will Travel".

Edwin Starr (Guest)

Intro to "All That Heaven Will Allow"
‘‘How you doing out there tonight ? (cheers)…alright, now, this is more like it, this weather here….it’s nice…..like back home when it gets around the middle of the summer, we get a lot of, gets real sticky, real hot and humid, you know….but right this time of spring, the air stays real clear….you get out, you take your, take a walk, I like to take a walk in the park and see if any of my old friends are still around…..oh, I can hear the birds singing now (cheers) oh yeah, they sound good (chuckles)….hey, hey, man, what you doing, alright, oh, what’ve you been doing ?….yeah (?) I ain’t talked to you in a long time, you don’t ever call me up….what do you got ?…..oh (chuckles) Clarence got a little boy now….there´s a little Big Man running around out there….he´s got little shades and he´s got a little silk suit, little saxophone and a whole bunch of little girlfriends (chuckles) his own apartment (chuckles) he looks good, that´s nice….. yeah….man, I remember…..I remember I was with you the night you met your wife…. Clarence was always falling in love every time we went on the road…..he´d come knocking at my door like in the middle of the night : ‘Bruce, Bruce, I just fell in love…. I´m gonna get married’ ‘Yeah, yeah’….then he met this girl….she came walking in the room at this little party we was at….and Clarence runs into the bathroom right away, you know….and I follow him and he´s standing in front of the mirror, you know, checking himself out, fixing his hair….splashing on like his patchuli oil and stuff so (chuckles)…you were (chuckles) and then, then he comes out and he kind of sidles up to her in the bar….and he starts talking all this stuff…..he has on what I, I call it his ‘love-face’…..that means he’s being a whole lot nicer than he really is, you see (chuckles) but it worked, worked good, ooh yeah, you know….remember what it´s like the first time you see somebody you dig like that ?….what it feels like when they come walking in the room ?….hey, Richie, sing it, guy, come on, man…..straight out of New Jersey, ladies and gentlemen….man, we used to stay out all night, you know, drinking, used to jam all night long, gotta do that again…..wanna do it tonight ?….you ready tonight ? you ready to stay out tonight ? (cheers)….alright, let’s do it and bring your saxophone, alright, see you later….”

Intro to "Spare Parts"
‘‘How you doing out there, you alright ? (cheers)….good…..oh, there was…..there was this guy and this girl, they met in this little shot-and-beer bar….down along the coast…. in this little beach town…..and he was, uh, he was kind of young, I guess he was in his early 20’s….and uh, he painted houses in the day….took all his money and put it….you know, went out and had a good time or he’d put it into his car….and she was a little bit older….I guess she was looking for somebody to….that’d love her….and they met in this little local club, they started going out and she liked him a lot, she was always…. she’d always be talking about him….he was one of those, uh, kind of sweet tempered guys, you know, not, not too serious…..always, uh, had some sort of stupid joke to tell ….you know, kept her, kept her kind of smiling….and they got along real good and they, they got this little….apartment about two blocks in from the beach in the wintertime….was a little garage apartment, had two or three rooms and a little, like, sun porch….and uh, I guess that was the first time he´d ever really lived with somebody and they kind of set up house and…..things were nice….and then she got pregnant…..and they were happy….he saved his money for the first time, went downtown and…..and bought her a ring, came back and surprised her with it…..and she went down and picked out a wedding dress and told her mama and her papa….and uh, I guess something happened, I guess he got scared, maybe he was a little too young but ho took off….and the problem was that she never really let him go…she kept him in her mind and she kept him in her heart and at night when she laid in bed….she’d see his face…..and remember like stupid….silly things that he´d done…..and the problem was that he wasn´t ever coming back….and so the world took those old memories and it took those old dreams and it broke her heart with ‘em every single day….because there comes a time when you gotta take the past and you gotta put it away….well, this is a song about a woman struggling to understand the value of her own independent existence….and the value of the life of her child….taking those old dreams, putting ‘em away, finding something new and beautiful now in her life…..”

Intro to "You Can Look"
‘‘Alright, where was I ?….I remember when I was a little baby crawling across the floor heading for a tv-set, my mom’d say ‘Now, don´t touch that thing’….now, I can remember going into a little department store, going into the toy department, saleslady’d come running up….’Son, no, no, you can look but don´t touch that thing now’….and then I remember going out on my….date with, uh, with my girlfriend in high school and she´d look at me late at night, we’d be sitting in the car and she’d say ‘Now, don´t touch that thing…..you can look’….and then she´d look at me and say ‘What is that thing ?….you better put that thing away now….you´re gonna hurt somebody with that thing.’….”

Intro to "I’m a Coward"
´´Is there anybody alive out there tonight ? (cheers)….is there anybody that can feel the living, breathing spirit down in their souls tonight ? (cheers)….that´s good….because tonight….I’m a man here with a mission….and what I wanna know is…..do we have any rough, tough Birmingham men out there tonight ? (cheers)….do we have any badass, macho English men out there tonight ? (cheers)….oh yeah…..well, I’ve seen men that would swim rivers, that would climb mountains, that would wrestle with the beasts of the jungle….but there was one thing that scared ‘em to death…..there was one thing that when they got next to it, they ran home like little babies to their mommies …. you wanna know what that one thing was….do you wanna know what that one thing was ?….I’m talking about L….U…V, I’m talking about love…..love scared ‘em to death ….when they got next to love, they started shaking and they started quaking….and they ran on home…..back to their loneliness….back to their loneliness…..and do we have any heroic English ladies out there tonight ? (cheers)….I mean do we have any brave, courageous, rough, tough Birmingham women out there tonight ? (cheers)….because, girls, I’m talking to you too…. I’ve known women, women that would date the horn section in this band…..I’ve known women that would jump from an airplane but when they got next to love, they ran home …..because they got scared…..and frightened….. now, I’m not down here tonight just pointing my finger at you….I´m down here tonight because I´ve got a confession I´ve got to make and what I wanna say is…..I have sinned !….that´s right…..and I don´t need no Jimmy Swaggert to forgive me…..he can kiss my ass, baby….I’m down here tonight to say…..that I´m a brave man…..what I´ve got to testify to is….that I’m a coward when it comes to love……”

Intro to "Born to Run"
‘‘Oh, this is a song I wrote about 15 years ago now….was, uh, I was 24 years old….I was living in this little house a block or so in from the beach in New Jersey….and uh ….first time we ever came to England….it was 1975…..we played the Hammersmith Odeon….oh, we were scared, you know, we’d never been, uh, never been out of the States….and I sang this song that night…..and since then I guess it’s kind of grown old and grown up with me and I’ve sang it about every night I’ve been on any stage since ….and it’s funny ‘cause when I wrote it, it surprises me how much I knew about my life when I was that young ‘cause the questions that I asked myself in this song, I´ve been chasing down the answers to ever since…..and I put this guy and this girl and I put ‘em in this car and they kind of, they just went out onto the highway with the idea of running and never ever coming back…..searching for a little, a little freedom someplace…..but as I got older I realised that that individual freedom without a connection to something, to friends or family or some sort of a community ends up feeling pretty empty and meaningless….and I put all these people in all these cars and I got in with ‘em and as I grew older I realised that I was gonna have to figure out someplace for ‘em all to go….so down the road we went…..and uh, I guess those people were all searching for something that they might call ‘home’ and I realised that that home isn´t over the next hill or up the highway or where you grew up but it´s buried deep inside of all of us someplace waiting to be set free by somebody’s love…. and guts (chuckles)….so I’d like to do this for you tonight wishing you all that you all may find whatever it is you’re searching for….good luck….”

Intro to "Sweet Soul Music"
‘‘Now, this is the part of the show where, uh…..I look out into the crowd, you see….. and I´m trying to see if anybody looks like their ass is dragging, if they´re tired or not out there….you guys look a little on the tired side to me…..yeah…..don´t they, don’t they, band, they look a little on the tired side…..I don´t think they can take it out here ….I don’t think so…..are you sure ?….are you sure ?…..(?)…..”

Intro to "Have Love Will Travel"
‘‘Well, I’m here tonight, I’ve come thousands and thousands of miles across the ocean ….because I’m a man with a job to do…..I’m here because I want to let you know (?) is there anybody out there that needs a little love, is there anybody out there that needs a little affection, is there anybody out there that needs a little respect, is there anybody out there that needs a little personal attention ?….well, you came to the right place….. because I came all the way from the United States….to the great shores of England and Birmingham to let you know that my motto is ‘Have Love Will Travel’…..”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

^{© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.}

Tunnel Of Love Express stops in England

Greetings Facebonkers. The Bruce Springsteen spring and summer UK tour anniversaries are coming to an end now, but I have one more epic tale left. Having wrapped up the "Born In The USA" tour on Sunday, I'll now turn my attention to its follow-up, the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour in summer 1988, when Bruce performed five UK stadium shows in Birmingham, London and Sheffield. At first, my intention was to focus only on these shows, but I just kept on typing and researching and I've ended up with a two-part history of the entire tour, in my usual fine detail, that's being posted exactly 32 years after the Sheffield gigs. Don't you hate it when that happens?

The tour was one of Bruce's most unusual undertakings, but as you'll read, while there was a lot of love going on at the front of the stage between him and Patti, things weren't quite so harmonious behind the scenes with the E Street Band. Again, most of the basic framework for this story came straight out of my head, but I also used a number of sources to double-check the facts and obtain additional info, which I'll list at the end. Hope you enjoy this post as much as all the others, whether you were at the shows back in the day, or only found out about them last week. I should point out that all opinions expressed herein, particularly those in relation to "BITUSA", "Spare Parts" and Patti Scialfa's backing vocals, are my own. Of course, you're entitled to disagree, but you may be completely wrong.

Saunders over and out.

BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE TUNNEL OF LOVE
PART ONE

When the "BITUSA" world tour (the first to see Bruce appear in Japan and Australia as well as Europe and the USA) ended in October 1985, there was a sense that now he'd reached the mountaintop, he wanted to descend to the foothills. "I'd had enough of the big time for a while and looked forward to something less" he revealed in his autobiography years later. "BITUSA" was primarily a fun rock and pop album that went viral before social media was invented and was the focus of a marketing campaign that aimed to conquer the known universe. However, apart from the widely-misinterpreted title track, the social commentary of "My Hometown" and maybe one or two others, the material had little depth or substance. The album was finely-crafted, expertly-produced Bruce-lite that worked on the radio, was exciting live and had massive commercial appeal, but it was not his finest hour as a writer, unless you measure artistic success in terms of units sold and profit earned. Bruce later described it as a "grab-bag". He felt the title track stood by itself, but the rest of the album was "a group of songs about which I've always had some ambivalence". In contrast, Bruce's 1987 follow-up album is acknowledged as one of the best of his career. While "USA" was recorded in famous New York studios with the E Street Band, "Tunnel Of Love" was primarily a solo effort, made at Bruce's new home studio with minimal input from the band.

Bruce played a variety of instruments, synthesisers, a drum machine and whatever else he could lay his hands on. It was a thinking man's record, relationship-based, personal and introspective, with not a fist-pumping anthem in sight. There were no Waynes in the lyrics either, but there was a Bobby who forgot to pull out into moving traffic. At least I think that's what it means. It should have come with a big sticker that warned: "Contains material that is unsuitable for stadiums". More on that later. Apart from the 12 songs on the album, two more, "Lucky Man" and "Two For The Road" were released as B-sides to the "Brilliant Disguise" and "Tunnel Of Love" singles. In the UK at least, these were both released in 7" and 12" vinyl form, and the "Disguise" 12" included a free poster.

Bruce revealed that, as with his first solo LP, "Nebraska", he "hadn't planned to do any touring" for "Tunnel Of Love" but changed his mind when "Brilliant Disguise" was a "left field" hit and the album made it to the top of the Billboard chart. "Sitting at home while a record containing some of my best and freshest writing went untended didn't seem right". His decision was inspired by a desire to re-connect with his core audience but could also have been forced upon him by financial circumstances. In his 1999 biography "Springsteen" author Christopher Sandford suggests that a solo tour was originally planned, but it was "nixed by an unholy mix of marketing and management sorts" and probably also by accountants. He suggests that Bruce was one of the millions affected by the Black Monday stock market crash in October 1987, the month that "Tunnel" was released, so it's possible that he was short of a few bob and actually needed to hit the road whether he wanted to or not. Wikipedia states that a solo tour of 3000-seat venues was booked, but Bruce chose not to go ahead, deciding that the tone would be too dark. It was replaced by a US arena tour with the E Street Band. Announced in early January 1988, it would be followed by a series of dates in Europe that were still being planned. (Bruce finally launched his first solo tour seven years later and this lost original plan was filed under "Alternative Springsteen Tour History - US/1988/Solo". We can only imagine what the set lists might have included).

The show that Bruce created around the "Tunnel" material turned his old set structures inside out. Cornerstones were dropped and rarities "Be True" (only played once in the past) "Roulette" (never played) and "Part Man, Part Monkey" (not even known) were introduced. The obscure "Light Of Day", previously only played at a few club shows, now occupied the set-closing, pre-encore spot. Familiar and obscure covers "I'm A Coward", "Have Love Will Travel", "Boom Boom", "Sweet Soul Music" and "Love Me Tender" were added and the remainder of the set was comprised of material that fit the theme of love, sex and relationships, like "Cover Me", "I'm On Fire" and "She's The One". The latter returned to regular use for the first time since the "Darkness" tour, as did "Adam Raised A Cain" and "Raise Your Hand", while "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)" was recalled to active service for the first time since 1981, in its original rockabilly guise. Bruce also made space for socio-political commentary ("Seeds", "War" and "Born In The USA"). The last three were holdovers from the "USA" tour and appeared incongruous in a set that was more personal than political. "Adam" seemed out of place as well, because of the fathers and sons angle, but all four provided powerful counterpoints to the "Tunnel" material and would be played with an intensity that made them highlights of the show. Several hits were retained for the encore section, although "Born To Run" was reworked as a solo acoustic ballad. Old favourites "Rosalita" and the "Detroit Medley" appeared in this spot for a while, but were eventually dropped. The show was radically different to those on previous Springsteen tours. Material was picked to adhere to a specific theme, and most of it was either new, obscure or hadn't been played in years.

The broad concept of this new show was, as Bruce described it, "love as a scary amusement park thrill ride". A rock version of a fairground Tunnel Of Love ("This Is Not A Dark Ride" was a theme of the merchandise) to which the audience and the band (via a ticket booth when they came on) paid the price of admission. Apart from the revamped setlist, there were various changes onstage. The blue jeans and sweatband of three years before were gone. Bruce "wore a suit for the first time in a while", repositioned the band members (who also "dressed up"), brought Patti Scialfa (now big-haired and mini-skirted) to the front to be a "sexy female foil" and added the five-piece Horns of Love, which comprised Mario Cruz and several Asbury Jukes and Disciples of Soul veterans (La Bamba, Mark Pender, Eddie Manion and Mike Spengler). Every aspect of the show was new, designed to "signal to the audience that they should expect something different".

Tour rehearsals took place on a military base in New Jersey, and Little Steven was brought in to help compose the horn arrangements. (Rolling Stone said backing vocalists may be added, and that Steven might join Bruce on tour for a while. The former was more plausible than the latter, but in the end, neither happened). In keeping with Bruce's wish to downsize after the "BITUSA" years, the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour of the US (the first with the E Street Band to have an official name and the last to have a mid-show break) consisted of only 43 concerts, which was the lowest number on Bruce's home turf since 1977 (the last time that he'd used horns with the E Street Band, but not as much as he would in 1988). Unusually credited to Bruce Springsteen "featuring The E Street Band" as though they were just guests at their own gig, the tour began with three concerts in Worcester (near Boston) in late February and ended with five at Madison Square Garden in New York in May. En route, there were five more at the LA Sports Arena, 12 two-night stands and six one-nighters. The UK music press featured several reviews as the tour progressed across the States and Rolling Stone magazine ran two features.

To coincide with the new tour, a third single was released in the US only, pairing "One Step Up" with "Roulette", the first time this famous bootlegged "River" sessions outtake had officially seen the light of day. This was a big deal because there were comparatively few non-album Springsteen songs at the time and a new addition was welcome, especially that one. Back in the day, "Tracks" was a decade away and fans had to collect such rarities by hunting down single B-sides. This was the final single from "Tunnel" in the States, but two more would follow in Europe.
Because of its length and the fact that Bruce had chosen to play indoor arenas again, the tour didn't cover the country as comprehensively or reach as many people as before, so predictably demand was high and black market prices were higher. The set lists remained comparatively static as the tour progressed, in keeping with the tightly choreographed nature of this travelling circus, which had more pre-planned routines and moments of pure theatre per square inch than any previous E Street outing. Garry Tallent later said that the tour was "unlike anything we'd ever done in that so much of it was staged. There was really no spontaneity. We had our parts and we needed to stick to them if the show was going to make sense". His comment masked deeper concerns but I'll deal with those at the end.

As news of the US tour slowly filtered through (there was no interweb back then), UK fans kept their eyes peeled for any indication that the Tunnel Of Love Express might be pulling into a few stations over here. They didn't have to wait long and were soon confronted by a regular series of conflicting reports, shifting options and differing scenarios which took two whole months to resolve. The first rumour of a UK date came as early as January. The NME reported that promoter Harvey Goldsmith was trying to get Bruce to play the new Docklands Arena in London, which was due to open in the autumn. "If Goldsmith pulls off his scoop," they continued, "it seems likely other provincial shows would be added". The idea sank without trace, but other rumours soon replaced it. As the tour got underway, the NME waded in again with a story that Bruce had "lined up a series of British shows in July and August. It is believed Springsteen will play around a dozen concerts in arena-sized venues, thus avoiding massive capacity stadia like Wembley".

This was very promising news. A series of indoor shows was preferable to another swing around football grounds, parks and an Irish hillside. The report then suggested that the gigs would feature an hour's worth of solo acoustic performances and two hours with the band. This didn't ring true because Bruce had already established the format for the shows and it was unlikely to alter in Europe.

This report could have been a version of Q magazine's story that Bruce had considered an acoustic tour at first and then thought about "supplementing it with a band set". They also speculated that "it would seem practical for him to start off indoors in America, come to Europe to play outside and return home to make the most of the late summer to do the same". Sounds questioned whether the show would retain its intimacy if it went outdoors in Britain. "Of course not", it concluded. "No one can rock 60,000 with the lid off as well as 18,000 under a roof. The "Born In The USA" tour proved that if it proved anything".

In mid-March, Melody Maker brought the less encouraging news that Bruce's "extensive tour this summer" would now include "indoor AND outdoor venues". Several nights at Wembley Arena in mid-June and a concert at Cardiff Arms Park on June 22 were possibly on the cards, as were an extra date or two back at Wembley Stadium "to accommodate the expected huge demand", even though "rumours say the Boss has a downer on playing large stadia". The NME mentioned the Cardiff gig and suggested there would be three nights at Wembley Arena and maybe a similar number at Birmingham NEC. There were also "strong rumours" about two shows at St James' Park in Newcastle.

Meanwhile, the national press got in on the act by reporting that Bruce would be playing at Wembley Stadium on June 24 and 25 and that "other dates in August will be announced later." They said the concerts had been brought forward "for maximum impact" in advance of Michael Jackson's seven nights at the stadium. Some kind of announcement looked imminent, then suddenly the grapevine fell ominously silent, without explanation. A month slipped by without any further news and all enquiries to CBS or Harvey Goldsmith were met with "a deafening silence".
In mid-April, the NME reported that the tour was still expected to comprise "around a dozen dates" in late June and early July, but that most would now be in "large outdoor venues". The following shows were likely to be included:

June 22 - Cardiff Arms Park
June 23 - Wembley Stadium
June 24 - Wembley Stadium
July 9 - Knebworth Park
July 10 - Knebworth Park

Jon Landau reportedly flew in to check out "several venues" the previous week and Harvey Goldsmith had successfully argued for music to return to Knebworth after a fatality in 1986. He'd assured the local council that the artist he had in mind would "attract a more mature audience" and they'd issued a licence for July 9/10. A third Wembley gig was still an option, as were concerts at Newcastle St James' Park and Edinburgh Murrayfield. Other reports on Capital Radio and in the national dailies were said to be groundless and that no shows had been confirmed.
The official announcement of Bruce's 1988 gigs finally came in late April. It seemed that all known venues in the country had been under consideration at some point, but the final list bore little resemblance to any other version, even including two venues that hadn't been mentioned before:

June 21 - Birmingham Villa Park (Aston Villa FC)
June 25 - Wembley Stadium
July 9 - Sheffield Bramall Lane (Sheffield United FC).

These would be Bruce's first appearances in Birmingham since 1981 and his first shows in Sheffield. The first of these dates was only seven weeks away, but demand was high, which ensured quick sales. Tickets cost £17 (plus 50p booking fee), were limited to four per person and could be ordered by post (cheques or postal orders with SAE) from a London PO Box address or via several credit card hotlines. Sounds mentioned the chance of an "additional venue which could be confirmed in a week or two". Another Wembley gig (June 24) was also an option, but neither happened. Instead, another show at Bramall Lane (July 10) was announced in mid-May (tickets by post and phone and via other agents in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham, Middlesbrough, Hull, Newcastle and Bradford) and a second date at Villa Park (June 22) followed at the end of the month, little more than three weeks before it was due to happen. Because of this, tickets were available directly from the Aston Villa box office and various agents (including Birmingham Odeon and NEC, Leicester Town Hall, Coventry Poster Palace, Oxford Apollo and others) as well as via the usual credit card hotlines.

Having initially been given the impression that Bruce would be playing an indoor UK tour, fans were faced with a return to football stadiums. A strong sense of disappointment hung in the air, especially in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Northeast. For the second consecutive tour, Cardiff Arms Park and a venue in Edinburgh had been rumoured but lost out to dates in England. The explanation provided for the increased venue size was that there weren't any 20,000-seat indoor arenas in this country, so Bruce's people had to book "smaller open-air venues this time around". To be fair, this excuse carried some weight in the 80s, but is less true today. There was apparently nothing suitable at that size in London, according to a spokesperson for Harvey Goldsmith, "which is why he's back at Wembley". The "lack of suitable venues" excuse was hard to believe. Dates pencilled in at Wembley Arena and Birmingham NEC seemed to have solved the problem in the UK's largest cities. Several more shows in bigger concert halls further north (as in 1981) would have been sufficient to create the 12-date indoor tour that was originally proposed. But at some point, the decision was made to focus on outdoor gigs in Europe. It's easy to assume that the accountants won the argument and put forward a convincing proposal to take the easy option and maximise profits in the summer months.

It could be argued that apart from being a prisoner of rock 'n' roll or a prisoner of love, Bruce was also a prisoner of fame and that outdoor gigs were the only way to meet the huge ticket demand unless he doubled the length of the tour by playing multiple nights in various smaller venues. (The original plan to play 12 indoor shows in the UK would have taken three weeks, without factoring in other countries).

After finishing his US shows, Bruce had an 18-day break before opening the European tour. Back in late April, it was said to be starting in Rome on June 11 and ending in Munich on July 17. In the end, it began in Turin on June 11, wound up in Barcelona on August 3 and consisted of 24 concerts, six more than his "BITUSA" Euro jaunt in 1985, which had been unusually short for such an all-encompassing world tour. A 25th show, a second date in Turin, was put on sale but was cut due to disappointing sales. Ticketholders were allowed to attend the first night instead. Given his huge popularity in Italy and Spain, this tour was surprisingly the first to have gigs in both countries on the same itinerary and to include more than one appearance in either. Bruce had previously only played one arena gig in Spain (1981) and one stadium concert in Italy (1985). Venue capacity at the other European shows ranged from 30,000 to 50,000, but dropped as low as 20,000 in West Berlin and reached 80,000 at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on the final night. In addition, his famous concert in East Berlin attracted an estimated crowd of 120,000 to 160,000 and in theory, an audience of millions tuned in to the worldwide live broadcast (his first in 10 years) of the first set in Stockholm on July 3. Amnesty International had announced their "Human Rights Now!" world tour earlier that day, which aimed to raise awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on its 40th anniversary. Bruce, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N'Dour had been recruited for the tour which was going to run for six weeks during September and October. Bruce emphasised his involvement live on the air to provide maximum publicity.

Inevitably, the move into large outdoor venues brought some adjustments to the set. During the first three weeks, material from "Tunnel" and many of the rarities which made the shows in America so unique gradually dropped out in favour of more familiar songs. "Be True" didn't make it past the first two gigs. "Roulette" was only performed three times. "Love Me Tender" and "Part Man, Part Monkey" only appeared once. By late June, "Have Love Will Travel" and "Backstreets" were gone. "Seeds" followed in mid-July. Dependable crowd-pleasers like "The River", "Because The Night", "Twist And Shout" and "Bobby Jean" were added to the set at the start of the tour. "Downbound Train", "Cadillac Ranch" and "Badlands" joined them in early July. In the final week, "Born To Run" reverted to the full-band arrangement and "Thunder Road" and "The Promised Land" turned up on two occasions. By then, the ratio of "Tunnel" to "BITUSA" songs (roughly 8 to 5) being performed had been reversed. As they often had in the past, the concerts grew ever longer and Bruce ended up playing almost twice as many encores as he did on the opening night in Worcester back in February.

While most of the additions to the set were predictable, a few were anything but. At the end of June, Bruce unearthed two more songs that hadn't seen action for a decade. One was Bob Dylan's classic "Chimes Of Freedom", which ended the first set, and the other was the instrumental "Paradise By The 'C'", which began the second set, just as it did back in 1978. Bruce and the E Street Band have always been an excellent cover band and "Chimes" was one of their absolute best and a highlight of the summer tour. Two other surprises hidden up Bruce's sleeve were once-only performances of "Quarter To Three" in Stockholm and "Follow That Dream" in Basel.

Tune in tomorrow for Part Two of "Behind The Scenes In The Tunnel Of Love", which covers Bruce's return to the UK. Well, England anyway.

^{By Mike Saunders via Facebook.com.}

The Tunnel Of Love Express stops in England

Greetings Facebonkers. Here's the second and last part of my in-depth look at the"Tunnel Of Love" tour 32 years ago. If any of you have problems reading the text in any of the images, I may post a third section with a series of close-up views of the worst-affected parts. But for now, settle down, pour a nice pint of Earl Grey (other teas are available) and enjoy the story of the UK shows, what happened afterwards and much more besides.

Saunders over and out.

BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE TUNNEL OF LOVE
PART TWO

On June 21, little more than seven weeks after the first UK shows had been announced, Bruce steered the Tunnel Of Love Express into New Street station and took a branch line up to Aston Villa. To coincide with the tour, "Tougher Than The Rest" was issued as the third "Tunnel" single in the UK. The 7" vinyl version came in two different sleeves. There were also two 12" singles with individual sleeve designs (one of which was a fold-out poster of Bruce) and content. Among the track configurations were "Roulette" and live recordings of "Tougher", "Be True" and the solo acoustic "Born To Run" from Los Angeles and Detroit in March and April.

Bruce's dates in Birmingham gave UK fans the first chance to see him play since 1985, to experience the "Tunnel" show and get used to everybody's new positions. Max was now on the left with Roy and Garry; Nils, Clarence and Danny were on the right; Patti was next to Bruce at the front and the horn section were at the back of an uncluttered, minimalist stage. It was only the fifth concert of the Euro tour, but the set was already evolving. Eight songs from "Tunnel" were featured, the highest number of the five UK shows. It was good to hear them but there was a nagging feeling that they would sound a lot better indoors in the dark. Bruce obviously felt the same. He wouldn't play "One Step Up" again and both "Ain't Got You" and "Two Faces" fell by the wayside within a few days.

One of my personal favourites was the powerful performance of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom", a mainstay of the tour. It was a perfect distillation of the essential elements of the 1988 show, with biting guitar and vocals from Bruce, solos by Clarence and Roy and the horn section in full flow. It was a high-energy blast of E Street R&B. This gig is arguably most memorable for the fourth and last performance on the entire tour of Woody Guthrie's 1940 ballad "Vigilante Man", which Bruce had recently covered for the album "Folkways: A Vision Shared". Both in terms of its subject matter and musical arrangement, it was a perfect companion piece to "Seeds" and deserved a more regular spot. My memory of how I got there and who I hung out with is vague, but I can remember queuing outside to get a good position (there was no pit back then, just a GA free-for all). I'm assuming I was aiming for the front, but failed miserably and ended up halfway back in the midst of the throng. You may think that I learned my lesson about crowds at Slane but the will to get as close as possible dies hard. Luckily the level of inebriation was lower than our Irish experience and I escaped unscathed but exhausted, due to the fact that I'd engaged in some inadvisable high-kicking and similar boisterous insanity during "Glory Days" and other hits in the eight-song encore. Consequently I chose to sit for the next show, which included a guest appearance by local resident Edwin Starr on "War", Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" leading into "She's The One" and a fiery "Adam Raised A Cain" which had snippets of "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I'm A Man". We may not have noticed this back in the day, but we now have Brucebase.

Apart from the two gigs, those attending the West Midlands events also witnessed a show. Or was it a gig within a show, a theatrical production which included music or a rock show with additional sketches? You decide. Suffice to say that the audiences were the first in the UK to see the E Streeters buy imaginary tickets from Bruce's bowler-hatted assistant Terry Magovern's booth when they walked on; to witness Bruce throwing a bunch of roses into the front row and shooting the shit with Clarence on a park bench as an introduction to "All That Heaven Will Allow"; to enjoy a routine featuring the horn section (as singers) and various wives and girlfriends during "You Can Look"; and to watch a succession of steamy performances from Bruce and Patti, who weren't faking it. By then, the status of their affair had gone from rumour to open secret to international tabloid headline after paparazzi had snapped them on their hotel balcony in Rome with minimal clothing. Bruce's three-year marriage to Julianne Phillips was in tatters and his private life was the subject of gossip columns, which introduced a degree of scandal and sleaze to the tunnel of lust. (One Irish newspaper referred to Patti as "the secretary" to her Boss).

Musically at least, the merits of Patti's sudden promotion to guitar-toting, front-of-stage partner in crime were open to question. Her strumming was inaudible. It's a shame some of her backing vocals weren't. I'd be the first to agree that Patti is a talented songwriter and singer of her own material (her debut CD "Rumble Doll" is worthy of close attention) but I've always felt that when she tries to shout and scream above the band, subtlety goes out the window and her voice adopts the tone of a wailing banshee. This was particularly noticeable on "Spare Parts", which is, I have to say, Not My Favourite Song. I always felt that it was the odd one out on the "Tunnel" album, being the only rocker among a series of slow to mid-tempo ballads. It might have benefitted from a similar low-key arrangement, but I'd rather Bruce had left it off altogether. Wikipedia says that it "lacks the subtlety and understatement of the rest of the album" and I would have to concur. The clumsy line about Bobby not pulling out didn't help. I ain't no prude but that was unnecessarily crude, dude. I was no fan of the live version either, especially as it was introduced with an overly sentimental explanatory story (with piano accompaniment) about a woman "struggling to understand the value of her own independent existence". To me, it sounded like an artist struggling to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Sometimes Bruce will try to attach deep significance to lesser material or evolve an undeserving song into an epic onstage and this was a prime example of that. A worthy subject certainly, but he could have written a better song about it. Maybe it's just me. OK, rant over, carry on.

Three days later, Bruce moved south to Wembley Stadium for his major London show. Sadly I don't remember it particularly fondly, mainly because of the vastness of the venue (twice as big as Villa), the fact that I was around two-thirds of the way back and because of the annoying woman behind me, who talked all the way through "Backstreets". In the UK that's a criminal offence, punishable by non-stop 24-hour exposure to all the Arthur Baker remixes until perpetrators are contrite. I had no complaints about the performance itself. According to my timing, it lasted exactly three hours and 30 minutes, not including the intermission. Both "Part Man, Part Monkey" and "Love Me Tender" were played for the only time on the European tour. "Have Love Will Travel" appeared for the final time, Edwin Starr returned for a second crack at "War" and Bruce finished off with a mere 10 encores, including Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music". This was a permanent fixture in the set, a two-minute gem with Bruce's "Spotlight on the Big Man, don't he look great, he's lost a lot of weight!" lyric adjustment. (Alternatively he might have said, "He's very slight and he's standing on the right!") The soundcheck gave clues as to what Bruce might have played in an alternate universe, with covers of "25 Miles", "Lonely Teardrops" and "Across The Borderline".

While I was in London, I hung out at the Mayfair Hotel with my friend Denise. Back then it was Bruce's regular residence in the capital when visiting on tour. They kept fans out on the street, but I had a hold-all full of clothes and they allowed us inside because they assumed we were guests. We ended up speaking to Garry Tallent and Eddie Manion. At one point, the area around the lifts began to fill up with security staff and we kept a watchful eye. Soon afterwards, the lift doors slid open to reveal Bruce and Patti, who were quickly surrounded, escorted through a side door we hadn't noticed before and whisked outside into the night without a smile or a wave. To be fair, it was their day off, so we didn't complain too much.

After Wembley, Bruce played two shows each in Rotterdam and Stockholm. For UK fans, the live broadcast was roughly halfway between the Wembley and Sheffield gigs. All over the country, thousands of fingers pressed record buttons at the same time. "Hello Stockholm, hello USA, hello world!" said Bruce as he walked on. It was an amazing 90 minutes in FM quality, displaying the kind of clarity and detail that you just don't get from huge PA stacks in a stadium. It concluded with that stunning performance of "Chimes Of Freedom" and left me wishing that they'd let the rest of the gig go out as well.

Bruce then went to Ireland for a single concert in Dublin, en route to his next UK shows in Yorkshire. I bypassed the Irish appearance (his first in Dublin itself) and I'm not entirely sure why now, particularly because it took place at the RDS, and not in a massive sloping field. As I made my way to Sheffield I was a man on a mission who had decided to get to the front whatever it took. In actual fact, it took a feat of endurance that lasted approximately 12 hours and involved getting very wet. Having checked into my local B&B, The Peace Guest House (ironically named because the owner had a heated exchange with a guest during breakfast), I looked forward to returning to a smaller venue after London, even though it was a stadium.

On July 9, I walked to Bramall Lane and started queueing with a bunch of like-minded individuals. Approximately four hours later, the gates opened and we smashed the Yorkshire 100-metre record in our bid to reach the front barrier. Mission accomplished, we then waited very patiently for another three or four hours before the show started. After that, all we had to do was stand for four more hours watching Bruce do his thing onstage before trudging home to bed. It was tough on my legs even then and to add insult to injury, it started to rain and the large "Tunnel Of Love" banner slung above the stage regularly dripped on me. That exhausting 12-hour shift might have scared off lesser mortals, but it was all worth it to watch the action from close quarters. I can still remember Bruce and other band members running past me just a few feet away. The first Sheffield show was a typical example of how things had changed. Only five songs from "Tunnel" remained in the set. "Chimes Of Freedom" had a prime position, "Paradise By The 'C'" made it feel like 1978 again, and "Downbound Train" and "Cadillac Ranch" replaced some of the lost material. The introduction to "You Can Look" had by then developed into a separate song entitled "Don't Touch That Thing" and show opener "Tunnel" included a snippet of "Tears Of A Clown".

After the show, I walked back to my less than peaceful guest house, tired and wet, probably hungry and thirsty, but happy smiley nevertheless. I brought my friends Dan, Tony and Lisa with me. They'd missed their connection and had nowhere to stay, so I sneaked them into my single room and divided up whatever spare bedding I had. They spent an uncomfortable night on my floor, shivering so much that my wardrobe door was rattling. I felt guilty taking the bed, but I'd paid for it and had just survived a very long day in challenging conditions. I didn't fancy doing that again, so I decided to sit on July 10. The next morning, the others (dry, stiff and rusty) wandered off to look for accommodation with actual beds and I went to breakfast to find out who was disagreeing with the landlady.

The second night in Sheffield was a cracker which included the only performances in the UK of "Roulette", "Can't Help Falling In Love" and "Lonely Teardrops". Bruce ended his last UK show with an 11-song encore that was an hour long and was equalled only by the second Stockholm show. The horns were superb on "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out". From the steel mills to the Crucible, the little pretties (and big blokes) raised their hands. The final "Twist And Shout" brought an end to a 34-song show and to Bruce's brief two-part visit to this country. By which I mean England. He didn't finally play Wales with the E Street Band until 2008 and didn't get back to bonny Scotland until 2009.

The Star newspaper produced a 16-page B&W "Live At The Lane" special to celebrate the Sheffield gigs and I ordered a few copies by post a few days later. It was a nice souvenir to have, but the print quality was rubbish, as was the paper that it was printed on. B&W prints of live pictures featured inside could also be ordered from the Star's photo sales department.

After Sheffield, Bruce returned to the European mainland for three more weeks of concerts, including his consecutive gigs in East and West Berlin with vastly different crowd sizes. He ended with gigs in Madrid and Barcelona in early August.

The attendance figure on the final night was nearly six times greater than it had been at the first US show in late February. In his book, Bruce noted that he originally had the option to continue the "Tunnel" tour in the USA after Europe, but his decision in mid-May to accept Amnesty International's offer of a headline position on their Human Rights Now! world tour from early September through to mid-October ensured that the "Tunnel" tour ended after five months and 67 shows. It remains Bruce's shortest tour in support of a new album in the past 40 years and the only one not to include any gigs in his home state of New Jersey. After Europe, Bruce had a four week break before starting the Amnesty tour (minus the horn section) at Wembley Stadium on September 2, a bonus sixth UK performance that year but less than half its usual length.
It was interesting to see Bruce and the band blasting through a compact, fat-free, 15-song set that was largely comprised of greatest hits and best bits, after the "Tunnel" marathons. They were effectively playing a prolonged encore. With the benefit of hindsight, I'd rather have seen the two indoor gigs in Paris than this one show at Wembley, but it was fun to be there. I could've done without "Spare Parts" (the only time it was played on the tour), but it was good to get the full-band "Born To Run" and "Chimes Of Freedom", with all five artists onstage at the end, was once again magnificent. We didn't know at the time, but it would be over ten years before we saw the E Street Band again.

As the Tunnel Of Love Express pulled into the sidings, a four track Springsteen live EP was released in North America, to benefit Amnesty International, with the Stockholm version of "Chimes Of Freedom" as the title track. The three live songs previously released on the UK "Tougher" releases (the cover design was identical to one of the 12" singles) completed the set. It was issued on 12" vinyl and cassette, then on a 3" CD with some of the tracks edited for space, and then finally as a standard 5" CD with the cuts left in. Later reissues restored the tracks to their full length.

In October, "Spare Parts" was released as a single in the UK. It was the fourth and last here and the fifth overall. Typically, it came in 7" and two different 12" formats, which included a live recording of the song from the July 9 Sheffield show, plus the live "Chimes Of Freedom" from Stockholm and other live and studio cuts, all previously released. A limited-edition CD version came in a circular tin. (It's rumoured that the release was delayed to allow Bruce's wedding ring to be airbrushed out of several cover photos). The "Spare Parts" singles were complemented by a live video from Sheffield (most likely also July 9) that began with shots of the city and of fans outside and inside the stadium. This was the first time footage from a UK concert was featured in a Springsteen video. It's on the "Complete Video Anthology 1978-1988" DVD set, as are the conceptual videos Bruce made for "Brilliant Disguise", "Tunnel Of Love" and "One Step Up", and the live video for "Tougher Than The Rest".
While it wasn't identical to its predecessor, it was difficult to escape the fact that the Euro "Tunnel" tour slowly took on the feel of "BITUSA" Part Two. For the majority in attendance that was likely not a problem, but for those who would have preferred new album material and rarities, the concept of the original US "Tunnel" gigs was gone, sacrificed to satisfy big stadium audiences. That's not to say that the performances were any less enjoyable but it was just a shame that fans in Europe didn't get to see Bruce indoors instead of being left to ponder what might have been.
The "Tunnel" tour could have been a new beginning for the E Street Band, the answer to the question "where do we go after "BITUSA?" But it was just a victory lap (apparently with less camaraderie) in advance of an inevitable split, albeit a temporary one. Bruce reveals in his autobiography that he viewed the culmination of the "BITUSA" tour as the end of an era for them. "For all intents and purposes, my work with the E Street Band was done. We would tour once more on 'Tunnel Of Love', but I would use the band in such a way as to cloud its former identity. I didn't know it then, but we'd be finished for a long while." The end-of-tour celebration continued with the release of "Live 1975-1985" in 1986 but the following year, the band members noticed that Bruce was distancing himself from them and their status in the organisation was diminishing.

Peter Ames Carlin's biography "Bruce" (2012) suggests that the trouble began during the recording of "Tunnel Of Love". It was effectively a full-band album, but largely created by Bruce on his own, without his old cohorts. He'd apparently finished it to his satisfaction but decided to bring in each band member separately and invite them to improve upon the parts he'd recorded. The entire band is name-checked on the sleeve, but few of their individual contributions made the final cut. Garry Tallent, like Clarence Clemons, was only featured on one track, and felt that the process was too fast and very demeaning. Things failed to improve after that as they prepared to hit the road. According to Carlin, the band were expected to adhere to various "ideas, structures and strategies" relating to the tour. These included meeting the costumier to put together an approved set of stage clothes and, for the first time, to sign personal contracts, which only heightened the tension. "To some, it suggested mistrust" said Bruce, explaining that he insisted on them to protect their future together. Another problem was the "Featuring the E Street Band" billing. Max Weinberg said that Bruce used to be "one of us, now we were a completely separate entity". There was a sense that they'd become hired hands, playing the part of the E Street Band in a theatrical production, where they were required to remain in place and reproduce their parts. Bruce said the tour was "an intentional left turn" both for audience and band, and they were "disoriented by it". Garry Tallent was outspoken in his criticism. It "wasn't the real thing", he said. "The magic was gone. It got me thinking that maybe the band should have ended after "USA'".

A sense of comradeship came back during the Amnesty tour, where they travelled together and had shared experiences. Clarence Clemons even said it was his favourite tour, but the writing was on the wall. Bruce now had experience of making entire albums by himself and had been exposed to different kinds of music and musicians. He could see the benefits of working with other people. In 1989, he underwent a divorce, not just from Julianne, but also from the E Street Band. They'd become too co-dependent, a break was needed. He called each member in turn and said they were free to accept other offers for an unspecified time. Nobody was fired. Some were more hurt than others, but few were surprised. When the big reunion finally happened over a decade later, everyone had changed. The band members were all mature, experienced, independent people with real lives outside of E Street. Bruce had therapy, married Patti and had three kids. The break had been beneficial for everyone and they launched into a new era of touring with a mutual understanding and a different perspective. Bruce also broke away to do a second solo tour and another with the Sessions Band without ruffling feathers.

Back in 1988, outsiders like us were blissfully unaware of any problems behind the scenes. The lack of spontaneity simply wasn't apparent. Maybe it was an early incarnation of Bruce's famed magic trick. For me, the theatrical aspects didn't work that well and distracted from the music, as did the "Bruce and Patti show" and the press hysteria, but these were small gripes. It's hard to believe that such great music came out of a tour that was allegedly riddled with tension and stress. This was the first time that Bruce used a horn section in Europe and their contribution shouldn't be underestimated. They added a new dimension to the songs and displayed a sense of fun that appeared to be natural, even if every single trumpet toot and sax honk had been micromanaged within an inch of its life. The "Tunnel Of Love" tour was one of Bruce's most uncharacteristic moves and best achievements, with many definitive performances. The concerts were simply too long to maintain one coherent theme throughout. Instead, they were a blend of the following:

The "Tunnel Of Love" tour
The "BITUSA" Tour Part Two
The Back To 1978 Show
The Rarities Express
The E Street R&B Revue.

For three decades afterwards, fans only had the live B-sides and a tape of the Stockholm broadcast as audio souvenirs, but thanks to the Springsteen live archive series at Nugs.net, it's now possible to buy four soundboard recordings from the "Tunnel" tour in a variety of audio formats:

Detroit (March 28)
Los Angeles (April 23)
New York (May 23)
Stockholm (July 3).

If you've yet to discover them, you're strongly advised to do so immediately. They're all top quality historical artefacts, but for me at least, Stockholm has the edge. It's acknowledged as one of the best shows of the European tour, it features 11 encores, it lets you hear the unbroadcast second half of the show from 32 years ago and it has versions of "Boom Boom", "Adam Raised A Cain" and "Born In The USA" that should carry a health warning because they're guaranteed to totally burn your ears off dude.
Bruce and the E Street Band might have broken up for good, but now they're Blood Brothers until the end. Let's hope we get to see them all again, at least one more time.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

^{By Mike Saunders via Facebook.com.}

Brucebase Wiki

Site Navigation

Tunnel Of Love Express stops in England

The Tunnel Of Love Express stops in England