The next release of Bruce Springsteen’s Live Archive series, and the first full concert recording from the “Born in the U.S.A”. Tour: August 5th, 1984. This was the opening night of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s ten-night New Jersey stand at the Meadowlands Arena from early in the 1984-’85 world tour. Brad Serling from nugs.net tells us, “The big news with this one is its our first DSD release — an audiophile format that’s 64x the resolution of a CD.”
The latest archival release from Bruce Springsteen finds him at the peak of his commercial peak, performing in support of “Born in the U.S.A”.in 1984. This is the first complete recording to be officially issued from that tour.
This 1984 concert, taped at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., follows earlier releases focusing on shows at Cleveland in 1978 and Springsteen’s most recent live concerts in support of the 2014 album “High Hopes“. Thirty of that tour’s 35 stops were also made available via live.brucespringsteen.net.
On Aug. 5th, 1984, Springsteen and the E Street Band played songs from “Born in the U.S.A”., which was released two months earlier, as well as a bunch of older favorites. The concert also featured their take on Tom Waits‘ “Jersey Girl.” You can see the complete set list below.
The E Street Band had recently been remade during this period following Steven Van Zandt‘s departure. Springsteen added both Nils Lofgren and Patti Scialfa, who would eventually become Springsteen’s wife, to the lineup. The Aug. 5th show also marked the first of 10 nights at Brendan Byrne.
Following on from the release of their New Year’s Eve show from Nassau Coliseum on December 31, 1980, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have confirmed the latest volume in their ongoing live archive series. Pre-orders are open now for Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984. The release is a bittersweet one for New Jerseyans; the Byrne Arena (later the Continental Airlines Arena and the Izod Center) opened in July 1981 in East Rutherford’s Meadowlands and earlier this year was closed, likely for the final time.
Springsteen and the E Street Band’s August 5, 1984 concert from the Born in the USA tour, which commenced in June of that year, was recorded with the Record Plant Remote Truck by Toby Scott. Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984 marks the first complete release of a show from the landmark tour which solidified Springsteen’s reputation as the most electrifying performer in rock and roll. The tour introduced audiences to Nils Lofgren on guitar (replacing Steven Van Zandt) as well as The Boss’ future wife Patti Scialfa on vocals and percussion. August 5th was the first of a ten-show stand at the arena, and includes a number of the songs from the chart-topping, international smash album (including the title song, “Glory Days,” “My Hometown,” “Dancing in the Dark” and “Bobby Jean”) as well as staples like “Thunder Road,” “Jungleland,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and “Born to Run” plus favorite covers such as “Jersey Girl” and the “Detroit Medley.”
The show was recorded live with Record Plant Remote by Toby Scott, assisted by David Bianco and Jim Scott. It was transferred from 24-track analog tape to PCM 24 bit/192khz at Sonicraft in Freehold, New Jersey. The multitracks were mixed by Toby Scott at Thrill Hill, assisted by Rob Lebret. This release has been mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering.
Due to the high quality of the recording, it will be offered in Direct Stream Digital or DSD ($39.95) – a format with 64 times the sampling rate of CD – as well as the usual options of MP3 ($9.95, 256 kbps), FLAC or Apple Lossless ($12.95), HD-Audio ($24.95, 24 bit/192 kHz, FLAC-HD or ALAC-HD) and CD-R ($23.00). CDs will not begin shipping until June 11, but those purchasing the CD have the usual option to pay an extra $5.00 to obtain the MP3s now.
All five volumes of The Bruce Springsteen Archive Series – plus a number of recent concerts from 2014 – are available at Springsteen’s official live store for download and physical purchase.
Bruce Springsteen’s Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984 Track List
“Born in the U.S.A.”
“Out in the Street”
“Tenth 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 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”
“Travelin’ Band”
“Twist and Shout”
The Fat Angel Sings 