1977-05-28 Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA

With his lawsuit with Mike Appel settled only about 18 hours beforehand, an upbeat Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt drive to Philadelphia to attend an Elvis Presley concert. This was Van Zandt's first Presley show. Bruce had seen Presley in concert once before (at one of the four Madison Square Garden shows of June 9–11, 1972). Although Springsteen was a big enough star at this point to have been given V.I.P. treatment if he'd sought it, Bruce and Steve attended the show merely as members of the public. As fate would have it, this gig in Philadelphia turned out to be one of Elvis' last. The bloated, drug-affected Presley's final public performance was a few weeks later in Indianapolis. In a late '70s interview Springsteen commented that he and Van Zandt drove back to New Jersey without saying a word to one another, such was their disappointment with the performance. However, he would later say that he enjoyed the show tremendously.