The latest exclusive release from the Bruce Springsteen Live Archive Series comes from Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on June 22, 2000.
Check out archivist Erik Flannigan’s essay on this performance below, then give this must-listen show a spin. CDs and Hi-Res downloads are now available for order, or stream Springsteen’s entire archival concert catalog plus the latest with a nugs subscription.
Tenderness In The Air
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, June 22, 2000.
By Erik Flannigan
What makes a great Springsteen concert is deeply subjective and often tied to what we bring to the occasion ourselves: who went with us (my future husband!); when we saw it (the day after graduation!); how long have we been looking forward to it (finally, after 11 years the E Street Band is reuniting!).
What makes for a thrilling Springsteen concert is perhaps more definable. An element of the unexpected plays a significant role, and for those who see many shows and tours, getting songs in the set that we’ve never witnessed before. Some of the thrill lies in the risk the artist takes in playing material that’s not battle-hardened; we feel rewarded by the chances they’ve taken on us.
It’s in this context of thrilling that a night like The Roxy 1978 stands out. We can continue to debate which Darkness tour radio broadcast is the best, but what’s undeniable is that when the stakes were high, with all of Southern California listening (and many recording, too), Springsteen chose that moment to unveil two major new songs (“Point Blank” and “Independence Day”) along with two previously unperformed covers, and not obscure ones: Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” (to open the show, no less) and Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel.” Not to mention the Roxy set contains two other covers (or three if you count “Mona”) and THREE further unreleased originals (“Paradise By The ‘C’,” “Fire” and “Because The Night”). Bold AF.
At the Christic Institute benefit shows in 1990, performing his first solo sets since the early days, Springsteen debuted a jaw-dropping SIX unheard new songs and played piano for the first time since 1978. It was mind blowing. Occasions this thrilling are few and far between.
Perhaps the last took place in New York City in the summer of 2000. Across setlists for those ten nights (after test-driving “Further On [Up The Road]” and “American Skin [41 Shots]” in Atlanta), Springsteen worked in four totally new songs, a handful of fresh rarities that hadn’t been played on the tour (including two on the last night), and, for good measure, resurrected some of Reunion’s deepest cuts.
June 22, 2000 ticks every thrilling box. The show opens with the world premiere of “Another Thin Line,” the second song (after “Code of Silence”) Springsteen co-wrote with Joe Grushecky that appeared at the end of the Reunion tour. The theme is one of trying to convince yourself and those you love of survival in the face of deepening economic hardship. “Another Thin Line” has a British Invasion feel to the groove, coupled with deep E Street flavor from Danny Federici’s organ solo and Clarence Clemons’s saxophone. Great vocals, too. It serves as a confident opener, bearing no signs that the band had never played it on stage before — like “Code of Silence” ten nights prior.
The resurrection of “Don’t Look Back” is what the Reunion tour is all about, packed with charging exuberance as Springsteen reaches for the high notes in the bridge. This could be the track’s definitive live airing. “Don’t Look Back” leads into “Prove It All Night” and in some parallel universe, that’s been happening since the Darkness tour. Stevie Van Zandt shines in his call-and-response exchange that drives the denouement ahead of a frenzy of guitar.
The fifth night at MSG delivers a great first act and vocal gems throughout. In “Two Hearts,” Bruce soars across “there’s one thing that I KNOW” and Steve joins in to answer “that’s if you think your heart is STOOOOONE.” “Something in the Night,” the perennial Darkness outlier in concert, is marvelous in one of only six Reunion tour appearances. Patti Scialfa brings an Emmylou Harris touch to the bridge of what could be a Gram Parsons song if it shifted from hard rock to Cosmic American Music.
A faithful arrangement of “My Hometown” is fittingly paired with “American Skin (41 Shots),” the peak of the new material showcased at MSG 2000. The brooding arrangement shows off E Street’s broad musical palette and, as affecting as the lyrics are, it’s the guitar solo that triggers catharsis reminiscent of the Big Man’s work in “Trapped.”
The mood needs lightening in the second stanza and we get that from “Out in the Street,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” and the summer special, “Sherry Darling.” And then there’s “Secret Garden,” released on Greatest Hits in 1995 and performed at two promo appearances that year. June 22 marks its proper in-concert premiere. It’s a delicate, considered rendition: the near-whispered vocals between Springsteen and Scialfa let us into intimate territory not visited by many other songs. Roy Bittan’s piano carries the musical gravitas and Clarence puts the final touches on this watercolor with a spare, touching solo.
Soozie Tyrell, who joined “Youngstown” earlier in the evening, returns to weave violin into a striking “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Neither the solo structure nor the blistering electric take, this moving “Joad” is a full-band, sepia-toned reading. Nils Lofgren’s pedal steel offers a country contrast to Angelo Badalamenti-style synthesizer lines that make the “Joad” of this period a pleasant rediscovery. “Backstreets” brings us home, and for all the nuanced explorations contemporary versions of the song have taken, this powerfully straight-ahead edition hits the spot.
Bruce kicks off the encore with one more newbie, “Further On (Up the Road).” A sneaky Farfisa keyboard part adds appealing incongruity to the full-blooded rocker that knows how to stick the landing. “Ramrod” features a guest appearance by Max Weinberg’s daughter Ali on keyboards, and perhaps that was the wrench that throws off the ending, as half the band starts “Born to Run” while Springsteen is still turning over the engine one more time on “Ramrod.” The 25-song set’s final treat is a fully realized “Incident On 57th Street.” Hearing Danny loud and clear at the start feels so good as the band plays the classic with supple confidence.
June 22, 2000 is both a great performance on its own and part of a thrilling stand where risks were taken and rewarded. Collect ’em all.
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