Floom2

I concede that it’s difficult to judge these releases within the context (time period) that the shows were performed. I can clearly recall the hullabaloo surrounding this epic run in the summer of ‘81. He opened the joint, for Pete’s Sake. Springsteen himself said, of the reaction of the fans at the Meadowlands: “it felt like we were The Beatles”. This is a great addition to the archive series. As an aside: the contemporaneous reviews of that released ‘75 Hammersmith show were not all raves. It was his return later that year that had been hailed as the barnburner.

Nah, he was right. That’s why that show remained unreleased for decades. That perspective was shared by a few folks that were veterans of many Springsteen shows by ‘75 Were your PARENTS even born in ‘75?

It ain’t the tapes. This is a show performed by a pro who, despite not being at the top of his game, still goes out and punches the clock. I noticed right off that the energy level seemed low, but I come away stunned and impressed by what I can hear as Springsteen’s sheer effort to crank it up for the fans. Lets face it, it’s 2020 and ANY show from The River Tour will garner enormous enthusiasm from the cognoscenti (that’s us) i remember when Hammersmith was released to great applause despite even Springsteen’s assertion that the show was a disappointment i love this archive release. I can hear a great performer working hard to push through.

This. Perfect.

Here’s one: Jungleland is a pretentious bombastic mess along the lines of that Meatloaf song about the dashboard. Live it up.