The Best Year Of My LifeJEMS Date: 14 Sep 1981 Location: Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH Format: – Duration: –
artwork available | original info file available
Disc 1:
01- ROCKIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD
02- PROVE IT ALL NIGHT
03- THE TIES THAT BIND
04- DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
05- FOLLOW THAT DREAM
06- INDEPENDENCE DAY
07- TRAPPED
08- TWO HEARTS
09- WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN
10- OUT IN THE STREET
11- THE PROMISED LAND
12- THE RIVER
13- THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
14- BADLANDS
15- THUNDER ROAD
Disc 2:
01- HUNGRY HEART
02- IT'S HARD TO BE A SAIN IN THE CITY
03- CADILLAC RANCH
04- SHERRY DARLING
05- PROUD MARY
06- Intro
07- JOHNNY BYE-BYE
08- RACING IN THE STREET
09- RAMROD
10- ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
Disc 3:
01- I'M A ROCKER
02- JUNGLELAND
03- BORN TO RUN
04- DETROIT MEDLEY
05- QUARTER TO THREE
Title: The Best Year of My Life
Source: Aud
Taper/Label: JEMS
Known faults:
Volume fluctuations during start of Rockin All Over the World; end of Prove It cut; volume fluctuations between Darkness and Follow That Dream; cut in Out in the Street; cut in Rosalita.
Notes:
While introducing Born to Run, Bruce said the past year of touring was the best year of his life, and it's hard to argue with that considering that it was the year Bruce went from a cult artist to a full blown rock star.
It is interesting to note that Bruce opened this show, the last show of his first full blown international tour, with "Rockin' All Over the World," a song that recently opened the final show of the European leg of the current tour. A ceremonial "last show" song, perhaps?
The "new" songs from the summer of '81 --"Trapped," "Follow That Dream," "Johnny Bye Bye" -- plus the covers of "Proud Mary" and "This Land Is Your Land" (all of which are played this night) absolutely point to the direction Bruce was heading in and became manifest in Nebraska and Born in the USA. He'd gone from regional to national matters as we would hear loud and clear on the next two albums.
Other set list notes include the final rock performances of "Saint in the City" and "Ties That Bind" ("Saint" would be played on the solo acoustic Tom Joad tour in 1996) until 2000 and 1999 respectively.
And, of course, it is worth noting that, whether he or Bruce knew it at the time or not, September 14, 1981, would mark Steve Van Zandt's last show on stage as a full-time member of the E Street Band for 18 years, not to mention the final time he would be known as "Miami" Steve, as he would heretofore become Little Steven, launching his solo career a year later with the fantastic album "Men Without Women."
