1977-03-24 Music Hall, Boston, MA

Scheduled: 20:00 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

The show features "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" and the first known Springsteen version of Jackie Wilson's 1967 hit "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher". The tour's final "Growin' Up" features the gypsy lady version of the story of the wishes. Bruce sings the opening lines of "Stagger Lee" as an introduction to "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)", which also features a snippet of "Theme From Shaft" in the midsection. There are some great photos available that you can view on our Gallery tab.

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Night’:
”Are you ready to step out….out….out in the street …”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Incident on 57th Street’:
(cheers) ”Kids, kids (chuckles)…..this is a song for the King….”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze Out’:
”Have you surrendered yet ?….”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Growin’Up’:
”Boys are gonna beat me up when I’ve had this show….(long pause)….I auditioned with this song….to be a…..rock and roll star….let me see how’d I do that….oh….
(….)There I was….it was me and Miami…..and the Big Man…..we was riding down this dark road…..back home in Jersey (cheers)….(?) doing 30 miles….all of a sudden boom! flat tire, right….we’re way , 20 miles out of town, we’re out on the backroads, it’s dark…..’course we ain’t got no spare in this old car, right…..so like we were trying to figure out what we’re gonna do…..so, we see off in the woods….we see this little light shining….so we said ‘Let’s head for light, maybe somebody lives over there and….we can, uh…..check it out, right’….so we go off, we were walking through the woods and it’s dark and there’s all, uh…..woods’noises and stuff and we are like….we are as scared as we can be, right, we’re all huddling together…..all of a sudden, we walk about half a mile and we come into this little clearing…..there´s this gypsy lady sitting in the middle of the woods, right….sitting there, right…..looking at us, says…..’You guys got a flat tire out there, huh ?’….we said ‘Yeah’….she says ‘Well, I tell you what….tonight’s your lucky night…..stumbled onto the old gypsy lady here….you know, I ain’t been in business too long’, we said ‘What are you doing out here in the woods ?’, she says ‘I used to work in town…..used to make that love potion number 9’, this was the same gypsy, right…..they finally….they caught her cutting it with Hawaiian Punch and like the union threw her outside of town….so she’s just standing out there, she’s saying ‘Listen, come on……you guysm you got…..you guys got three wishes’, right…..’Three wishes, gypsy lady gonna be generous tonight, just gotta hurry up, I got a midnight appointment with my analyst, come on, kid, you’re gonna make me late’…..so we’re thinking, right, she said ‘Miami, you gotta wish first…..you wanna….tell me what you want, you wanna….you wanna be a millionaire, you wanna break the bank ….in Las Vegas ?….you wanna…..you wanna know the winning numbers down at the track tomorrow ?’….for some reason….Miami opted…..for a red suit (cheers)…..which immediately guaranteed him a lifetime membership in the band, right (cheers)….so….boom ! the gypsy lady (?) and he’s standing there in a red suit looking cozy, she goes next to the Big Man…..says ‘Big Man….you tell me what you want….you want a new car ? …..(?)….you wanna be a king ?’….for some reason….. the Big Man….opted for a tuxedo, right (cheers)….this (?) a haberdashery (?) , I couldn’t figure it out….just like magic….so she comes to me next…..she says ‘Ok….Boss (chuckles)….forget about these other two jerks, what are you gonna wish for ? You wanna be emperor ?….you wanna be king ?….you wanna own your own laundromat down on 20th and 5th ? ….(?)….I was thinking (?)….I thought about….wishing for a spare tire so we could get outta there for once (chuckles)…..then I changed my mind…. I said ‘Gypsy lady…..I got a good number and I know what I want….I want….(?)….I think I wanna be….think if I had a wish….if I only had one wish….and it was the only wish I was ever gonna have in my whole life….I think I would wish it….and I think I would wish…..that I wanna be…..that I wanna be…..that I wanna be….that I wanna be….a rock and roll star….”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Backstreets’:
”(?)….Hold me in your arms…..and we will ….steal away…(?) it in your heart…and slip away….(?) to arms….and it’ll be all right….let the rain wash…..let it wash the tears from your eyes…..don’t cry….don’t cry…don’t cry….
(….) Just me and you girl…..I remember this guy….he abandoned his car on this field….’bout a mile and a half outside of town….at night…me and you and Billy….we used to hitchhike out there….and the outside was really stripped…..it was about 400 feet off the tracks….my baby….my baby’d take me riding in the back…..baby take me riding in back…..way down by the railroad tracks….and he’s got cleats on his boots , baby’s heels are stacked….hey, in the backseat….oh, in the backseat….in the backseat…in the backseat….of that old Cadillac…..I remember…..was that night, was that night, it was raining….these kids set fire to this abandoned farmhouse….’bout 500 feet off the tracks….they had these machines down there, they had these engines down there….there was this fireroad (?) where kids used to race till the cops came and chased them away…and I remember sitting in the backseat of that car , we could….see that house burning, watch the flames across the sky….and then….she kissed me….and the rain came roaring down….yeah, she kissed me….and the rain came tumbling down….and she kissed me…..then she kissed me….oh, she kissed me….and then she promised…..then she promised….then she promised….and then she lied…..and then she lied…. oh, those pretty li-li-li-li-li-lies…..her pretty li-li-li-li-li-lies…..those pretty li-li-li-li-li-lies…..I remember standing on the tracks, running back into town, just me and Billy….I remember Billy down on the beach with a shotgun shooting at the rats, just shooting at the shadows, pointing half-crazy….I remember standing on the rocks just wishing…..just wishing that God would send some angels…. to blow this whole damn town right into the sea….just once that God would send some angels….blow this whole fucking town right into the sea….just wishing God would send some angels to blow it all away….just wishing God would send some angels and blow this whole damn town right into the sea….blow this whole goddamn town right into the sea…..just blow it all away, please….just blow it all away….just blow it all away…just blow it all away…just blow it all away….just blow it all away…. just blow it all away….blow it all away….blow it all away…..”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, middle of ‘Rosalita’:
”We got with us tonight….with all the degrees and all the keys….the only member of the group with a full high school diploma…..a warm round of Boston applause….for the Professor Roy Bittan (cheers)….(?)….on the guitar we got a man…(?) from Asbury Park….feel the sunny skies and beaches of Miami….the man who brought you such great hits as…..’I Don’t Wanna Go Home’….’Sweeter Than Honey’….poet of the soul, master of rock and roll…..Miami Steve Van Zandt (cheers)….on the bass guitar, a man whose mother was a talent….his father was a talent….Mr.Garry W.Tallent (cheers)….. on the drums the Mighty Max (cheers)….on the organ Phantom Dan Federici (cheers) …..yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…..yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah….all the way from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania….the Miami Horns (cheers)….now, how can I say it ?….do I have to say it ?….do I have to say it ?….are you ready for the king of the world ?….for the master of the universe ?….for Mr.Hollywood himself ?….for the biggest man in the world ? …. the Big Man on the saxophone, Clarence Clemons (cheers)…..

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Quarter to Three’:
‘‘(?)….I’d appreciate if people do not throw their junk onstage…..there’s enough trouble up here already….where was I, oh yeah…..(?) to your hearts for these boys have been passed down from (?) in memorial….joined me tonight and said…..”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Little Latin Lupe Lu’:
”Are you prepared….for a heart seizure…..Max, gimme the drumbeat….here is a song… it won’t take long….”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘ Higher and Higher’:
(after leaving the stage)Crowd is cheering, and Bruce motions to the people all the way up in the back (the balcony?), and says (while laughing) "Cheap seats! Cheap seats!" - inferring the lower ticket prices. He gets a bit of a boo/backlash at the comment from part of the crowd. ‘‘That was a joke, we kid like that all the time….you’re being so serious out here….alright…..gonna sing you home with this one here….everybody clap your hands…..”

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘Thunder Road’
´´This is for the boys from Cleveland (chuckles)….all you guys can (?)…Professor, please….´´

24.03.77 Boston, MA, intro to ‘You Can’t Sit Down’
´´That ain’t all…..that´s not it….´´

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi