16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, Bill Graham intro
“Rather than tell you about last night, which was magic, let’s just talk about tonight. On a Saturday night in San Francisco, Mr. Bruce Springsteen (crowd cheers) …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Good Rockin´Tonight´
“How you doing? (cheers) How many of you guys were here last night? (cheers) Who wasn't here last night? (cheers) Alright, well, this is tonight. Have you heard you the news? There´s good rocking tonight….”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Badlands´
“Are you alive? …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Rendezvous´
“Thanks….this is a song that, uh, we never recorded but, uh (someone yells a request) we´ll do that later, we got a long time, we´ll do that later….this is a song, this is for Greg Kihn, this is called ´Rendezvous´….”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro & end to ´Spirit In The Night´
“Ready to catch the spirit? (crowd cheers) … (fan gives him a hat) … My head’s too big already see (chuckles) … band …”
(…) You guys were good”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Darkness On The Edge Of Town´
“What do you guys got? … <long pause> … This is Darkness On The Edge Of Town …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Independence Day´
“Can't drink on the job….here´s a song I wrote, uh….a couple of years ago, I guess, I was, uh….originally gonna put it on the Darkness on the Edge of Town-album…..this is, uh, it´s called ´Independence Day´….it´s for my Pop….”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro & end to ´Prove It All Night´
“Is everybody in San Francisco ready to prove it all night ? (cheers) …
(…) … Dan Federici on the organ …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Racing in the Street´
“This is for everybody…who never had a car when they were, old enough to have one (chuckles)….this is for all the San Francisco night riders too, this is ´Racing in the Street´….”
(…) "…tonight, tonight, the strip's just right … I forgot the words … (cheers) I wanna blow them off in my first heat…"
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Thunder Road´
“Back in 1974, 1975….I was walking by this movie theater….I saw this picture, had this poster of this Robert Mitchum movie….and it was this great picture….and I took the title of the movie and I wrote a song and uh….but I never thought there was any place that was like this, you know, like this song (?) didn´t know and….we went, me and Steve, we went out to, drove from Utah down to Reno, Nevada….and along the side of the highway, we came upon this house that this Indian had built out of stuff he’d scavenged off the desert and it had a big picture of Geronimo out front, underneath it it said ‘Landlord´ and it had this big white sign and painted in blood-red, it said ‘This is the land of peace, love, justice and no mercy’ and it pointed down this dirt road that said ‘Thunder Road’….”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Jungleland´
“The Jersey Shore beer drinkers….this is for all you guys way up on the hill way back there, you doing alright? (cheers) hellloooo! … This is for Lila …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Santa Claus Is Coming to Town´
“It was a night … just like this … how cold was it? … it was colder than this, though, it was about 10 degrees, me and Steve were sitting in this little bar about a block off the beach in Asbury Park … now … there was nobody, the whole town was deserted, it was, matter of fact, it was Christmas Eve … and it was just … we were sitting there, I remember my girlfriend left me and his girlfriend left him at the same time … these things happen in life, you learn to accept (chuckles) so, anyway, we were drunk and we were sitting at the table, you know, we’re going on about how lousy everything is … it was just us and these two other guys, these two other big guys down at the other end of the bar … now, we were upset … and we could tell that they were more upset than we were ´cause they kept staring at us, giving us the evil eye all night long … I might be small … but let me tell you … I’m scared too (chuckles) … So, we figured we’d stand up and before these guys got a chance to come down and give us any trouble, we’d show ´em we got some moves … so … they slowly started edging towards us … WHOA! … Man, … this guy was big and ugly … and I could tell he didn’t like dudes with big noses … You were safe. Your nose’s as big as my nose … So, anyway … we decided we’d do the smart thing … We threw our bottles of beer at them and ran out the door!´ (chuckles) … So, we were walking on the boardwalk and now it’s freezing, it’s cold, it’s snowing … We were going … ´No money, I have no girlfriend … what are you gonna do tonight? You’re gonna go home and you’re gonna go to bed, right? Gonna put them little Pop-Tarts in the toaster … get in bed, go to sleep … and another one, hope that Johnny Carson´s on. You hope that he’s there? (chuckles) … Who cares if he’s good? … So… . we get home. You gonna stay (?) … sleep on the couch and keep me company. We’ll talk all night or something… So, we get there….(?)….visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads (giggles) … not them kind of plums, right? (chuckles) … It’s like … sugarplums (chuckles)(?) … So,(giggles) … So, lis[ten], ´Steve, what you, what you, what you ask for for Christmas?´ … Your own Laundromat? (chuckles) … So, he asked me what I wanted. I told him I couldn’t tell him … So, about three or four in the morning we hear this scratching, up on the roof … We figured for sure IT’S THESE TWO DUDES from down at the bar, they found out where we lived … and they’d come to beat the hell out of us … Oh shit … So, we get our clothes on, we go upstairs, we climb up the little ladder. It’s real dark on the roof. We can’t see too much … It’s darker than this … It’s darker than that … Sure enough, we’re standing there on a snowy roof trying not to slip … We hear somebody over by the chimney … I say ´Steve, you go around that way, I go around this way, you hit ´em at, I hit ´em on the, alright?´ … (Bruce makes some funky noises like they bopped the dudes over the head) … We believed we could do this kind of stuff (chuckles) … Anyway, there he was, sure as shit and all duded up in a little red suit, trying to stuff my Christmas present down the chimney: a ´57 Chevy (crowd wildly cheers) … with a little brunette in the front seat … and damn if he wasn’t trying to get it down there! … We said ´WHOOAH, SOME CHRISTMAS!’ …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´The Fever´ (following ´Santa Claus Is Coming to Town´)
“Merry Christmas, all you guys….oh, somebody requested this, this is ´The Fever´….”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Fire´
“This is a request … ‘And when we kiss, Fire’ (chuckles) …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Point Blank´
“You wake up one morning and find out you’ve been shot point blank…..”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, outro to ´She’s The One´
“… Are you feelin’ alright? (crowd’s cheering) …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, middle of ´Backstreets´
“’til the end … ‘til the end … just me and you, baby … just me and you, girl … just me and you, baby … just me and you, girl …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Rosalita´
“You all warmed up now? (cheers)….
(….) On the piano….the only member of the band with a full high school diploma….let´s hear it for education and Professor Roy Bittan….. he’s got it on top …..on the guitar, master of soul and poet of rock and roll, let´s hear it for ignorance and Miami Steve Van Zandt…..on the bass guitar, the elegant Mr.Garry W. Tallent….on the drums, let´s hear it for North Jersey and the Mighty Max Weinberg…..on the organ, let´s hear it for….red-headed Italians and Dan Federici….and last but not least….king of the world…..master of disaster….your next President….is it a bird?….is it a plane?….then what is it?….the Big Man, Clarence Clemons on the saxophone….”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Born to Run´
“I wanna thank you all for coming down to the show….we ain't been up here that much and I wanna thank you for giving us, these last two nights, they've just been great and you guys have been great … If you can take it to stand up that long, I do it but I´m crazy, you guys (chuckles) … here we go …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Detroit Medley´
“Thanks (wild cheers) … <long pause> … Sounds like you’re ready for something (cheers) … Is the band ready? (‘No!’)… Is the people ready (Crowd: ‘Yeah!’) … Is the guitar ready? In G? … a-1, 2, 3, 4 …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, middle of ´Detroit Medley´
“Hold tight … (band down) … I think we just made a mistake … and these 2 guys with the high school diplomas … Now, who was listening on the radio last night? (cheers) … Now there was one part to this song … that no matter how hard you listened . .. and no how close you got … and looked in your radio … you gonna miss it … Now, I feel obliged to repeat that part again tonight (cheers) … No? (chuckles) … No? (cheers) … It´s dangerous … You guys like to live on the edge, huh? (cheers) … Well, what everybody was doing that night, it was me and the Big Man, first we did this … then we did this … and then … we did this … no, we didn't do that last night, this is the first time we did this tonight (chuckles) … What we did do … is we did this … and then, we did this (chuckles & laughs) … (long pause) … Alright (‘The Dance Move’ starts and music resumes) …”
16.12.78 San Francisco, CA, intro to ´Quarter To Three´
“So, you guys think you can take it up here, huh? (Crowd cheers) … a-1, a-2, a-1, 2, 3, 4 … <Sing-A-Long> … (band stops) … That’s all I can stand! (band starts and stops) … I can’t stand no more … (band starts & stops)(Crowd cheers) … Where am I? (Crowd: 'San Francisco!') … Where? (Crowd: 'San Francisco!') … Where? (Crowd: 'San Francisco!') … Am I Dead? (Crowd: ‘No!’) … Or is this heaven? (Crowd: ‘Yeah!’) … Have you guys been takin’ any funny stuff? (Crowd: Yeah!’) … (band stops)(crowd’s cheering) … <long pause> … Are you done? … How you do it? … I'm just a prisoner … OF ROCK AND ROLL! … Do you know what I mean? <Cuts out>
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi & Roulette909