Am 4. Juni 1984 kam das siebte Bruce Springsteen Studioalbum „Born in the USA“ in den Handel. Drei Wochen später startete die weltumspannende „Born in the USA Tour“ mit einer ausverkauften Show im „Civic Center“ in St. Paul, MN.
Die Konzertreise umfasste 156 Auftritte in den Vereinigten Staaten, Kanada, Australien, Japan, Irland, England, Schweden, Holland, Deutschland, Italien und Frankreich. Insgesamt spielte die Tour 85 Millionen Dollar ein und steht damit auf Platz 5 der „Highest-Grossing Tours“ der 1980er Jahre.
Erfolgreicher waren nur Pink Floyd („A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour“ 1987 – 1989), Michael Jackson („Bad Tour“ 1987 – 1989), The Rolling Stones („Steel Wheels Tour“ 1989 – 1990) sowie David Bowie („Glass Spider Tour“ 1987).
Zwischen dem 5. und dem 20. August 1984 traten Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, Nils Lofgren und Patti Scialfa zehn Mal vor je 21.084 Fans in der „Brendan Byrne Arena“ in East Rutherford, NJ auf.
Die „Brendan Byrne Arena“ (andere Namen: Continental Arena bzw. IZOD Center) wurde am 2. Juli 1981 an der 50 State Route 120 in East Rutherford, NJ feierlich eröffnet. Als erster Künstler durfte Bruce Springsteen sechs ausverkaufte Konzerte in dieser Arena spielen.
Die 85 Millionen teure Veranstaltungshalle war Heimat der „New Jersey Devils“ (bis 2007), der „New Jersey Nets“ (bis 2010) sowie des „Seton Hall“ Basketballteams (bis 2007). Im Januar 2015 wurde die Arena wegen zu hoher Unterhaltskosten geschlossen. Insgesamt trat Bruce Springsteen 55 Mal in dieser Indoor-Arena auf.
IZOD Center, East Rutherford, NJ
Schon am ersten Abend – 5. August 1984 – begeisterte er die Zuschauer mit der Tourpremiere des Tom Waits Covers „Jersey Girl“ und einer lustigen Geschichte, die er zum Song „Growin‘ Up“ beisteuerte:
„It was a night just like tonight, a long, long time ago.
I’d just met Clarence, he was working in the pizza parlor, I was working in the Laundromat. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We had no direction, we had no guidance, we were frustrated and then Clarence decided that what we needed was a couple of girls. This made a lot of sense, so we got in his old car and we started to drive. He said they lived just a little ways outside of town, but we drove and we drove down into the pines … and then we got a flat, it was dark, it was scary, clouds covered the moon, there was a lot of strange things going on.
So we were trying to decide whether to roll up the windows and lock the doors or go out and see if there was a spare. So being that this was a democracy we decided we’d shoot for it. I won but then I went out and looked and seen if there was a spare nothing, the trunk was empty so Clarence decided that he knew where there was a gas station just on the other side of the woods.
So into the forest we went. Big Man, there ain’t no like big wild animals in New Jersey, is there? There ain’t no big wild animals in the pines right?
You sure? You positive? I think I hear something … You sure now. You sure?
I think I hear something … Big Man … Whooo!
Then I lost Clarence. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
Big Man, Big Man, don´t do that!
Don’t do that! … and then … and then out of the sky we seen what looked like a falling star fall off into the trees. And we went a little further and the moon shone down on this clearing and there in the clearing we saw the answer to our quest … and then … when we touched … „
Setlist – 5. August 1984 – Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ:
Born in the USA, Out in the Street, 10th Avenue Freeze-Out, Atlantic City, Johnny 99, Highway Patrolman, Prove It All Night, Glory Days, The Promised Land, Used Cars, My Hometown, Badlands, Thunder Road, Hungry Heart, Dancing in the Dark, Cadillac Ranch, Sherry Darling, No Surrender, Pink Cadillac, Growin‘ Up, Bobby Jean, Backstreets, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Jersey Girl, Jungleland, Born to Run, Detroit Medley, Twist and Shout
Am 8. August 1984 kam er beim Song „Used Cars“ (Nebraska, 1982) auf seinen Vater zu sprechen:
„In my house my father was the kind of guy, he never liked to go out, never went out to dinner or nothing, never went out to the movies. The only thing he used to love to do was on Sunday he used to love to take us all out in the car for a Sunday drive. That was nice, except nobody wanted to go, but he kind of used to insist. I can remember my mother she’d wake us up to go to church and she had this technique where she’d give you ten minutes, then five minutes and then she’d be standing over you with a cold glass of water „You gonna get up?“ … „Are you gonna get up now?“ … „No, just five more minutes, Ma, just five more“ … „Got the water“
Anyway, I’d go downstairs, you know, I was altar boy … only for about two, only for about two Masses. I couldn’t learn all that Latin, you know, I used to go, I used to kneel and I used to like, the kid next to me used to know a bit. You can’t tell with Latin, it sounds, you do that, that sounds like that’s what you’re saying so … I did couple of services, I remember my dad, my dad, I’d never see him in church, I used to say „Mom, you know, what about Dad?“, „He went to the early Mass“. My father went to the early Mass his entire life … Anyway … He used to take us out on those drives, and he’d take us to the drive-in. There was only two kinds of movies: you could keep your head above the backseat or you had to lay down on the backseat, but he always bought these old cars, hundred dollars a piece he used to pay for them, I can remember at the end of the night we’d always be pushing the thing backwards out of the spot because it’d never go in reverse … well, time to get a new one“
Am letzten Konzertabend – 20. August 1984 – begrüsste Bruce Springsteen seinen langjährigen Weggefährten Steven van Zandt auf der Bühne. Little Steven verlies die E Street Band kurz nach Fertigstellung des Albums, um an seiner eigenen Solokarriere zu arbeiten. Little Steven begleitete die E Street Band als Gitarrist und Sänger bei den Tourpremieren von „Two Hearts“ und dem Dobie Gray Klassiker „Drift Away“.
Setlist – 20. August 1984 – Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ:
Born in the USA, Out in the Street, Atlantic City, Johnny 99, Highway Patrolman, I’m Going Down, Darlington County, Glory Days, The Promised Land, My Hometown, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Badlands, Thunder Road, Hungry Heart, Dancing in the Dark, Cadillac Ranch, 10th Avenue Freeze-Out, No Surrender, Cover Me, Prove It all Night, Pink Cadillac, Growin‘ Up, Bobby Jean, Backstreets, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Two Hearts, Drift Away, Born to Run, Detroit Medley, Twist and Shout, Do You Love Me
Bruce Springsteen: Live 1975 – 1985
Vier Songs („Nebraska“, „No Surrender“, „Reason to Believe“ und „10th Avenue Freeze-Out“) der Auftritte in East Rutherford, NJ wurden ein Jahr später auf der 5 LP-Box „Live 1975 – 1985“ released.
„Live 1975 – 1985“ war das zweit meistverkaufte Live Album aller Zeiten. Nur Garth Brooks „Double Live“ aus dem Jahre 1998 wanderte in den Vereinigten Staaten öfter über die Ladentheke. Es wird angenommen, dass seit 1986 ca. 13,5 Millionen Exemplare der „Bruce Springsteen Live 1975 – 1985“ Box weltweit verkauft wurden. Die „Recording Industry Association of America“ (RIAA) bedachte das Live Album mit 13 Platinauszeichnungen.
Mehr Infos:
Wird geladen ...