Springsteen & Richmond - The Complete History, Smashing Pumpkins, Gongzilla

Been watching a ton of Olympics or at least trying to in between all the commercials. Is it just me or does it seem like they show about three minutes of games and then five minutes of commercials?

Saturday, out at the Charlottesville Pavilion, Smashing Pumpkins or whatever is left of them, will be playing. Doors open at 6, show starts at 7 and tix are $41. It looks like its Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain so they do meet my 50% original band member rule to call them by the band name.

Saturday night here in Richmond at the Capital Ale House Downtown, is Gongzilla. According to the Captial Ale House site: "Journalist Bill Milkowski called GZ “simply mind-boggling”. The group is a mass of contradictions in perfect balance. A band with international roots (USA, Quebec, Philippines); GZ has a reputation for concise songs and transcendent jams. All this emanates from the fusion origins of Bon Lozaga and Hansford Rowe who met while playing in one of the idioms seminal groups – Gong. Bon and Hansford decided to tinker further with the Petri dish that was Gong, and begat a further evolution. They formed Gongzilla and released a series of Mahavishnu-esque improvisational rock albums featuring second guitarists on each one, including jazz fusion legend Allan Holdsworth, David Torn and David Fiuczynski, and a number of drummers, including Pierre Moerlen and Gary Husband. " Doors open at 9 and tix are $7.

I did get to check out the Capital Ale House Downtown Music Hall for their free Blues N Brews Happy Hour last week. The beers, as always, were excellent. The venue is very nice with the front windows opening up almost from floor to ceiling to let a nice breeze in. If you are going to talk, however, plan to do it between the band sets. The place isn't very big and even though we sat toward the back, it was still very loud.

Last and certainly not least, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are coming to the Richmond Coliseum on Monday. Show starts at 7:30. As of right now (Wednesday 10:43 PM), the show is completely sold out. However, if you don't have tickets yet, but want to go, keep checking that Ticketmaster site. Tickets, and often good ones, have been known to pop up as the show date approaches. I once scored second row tix to see Bruce on the Tom Joad tour on the day of the show.

In honor of that, here is the info on every show Bruce has played in Richmond. This comes from the Brucebase site, a great site for Bruce setlists. The only thing that would make this better would be a search engine ala the excellent Grateful Dead Setlist Program. But I did the searching for you so here it is. This will help show Bruce's long connection to Richmond. If anyone out there has any recollections of these shows, please post them in the Comments.

UPDATE: The Richmond Times-Dispatch has an article today with Bruce memories from Richmonders and many of the shows below are mentioned: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/entertainment.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-08-14-0009.html.

Hope to see you at the Bruce show and I hope to see you up front in the pit. Bruce, if you read this, please play "Kitty's Back"!

Tony Jordan

Note that the dates are European style - day/month/year

01/06/69 - MONROE PARK, RICHMOND, VA
VOODOO CHILD / JENNIFER / CROWN LIQUOR
Complete set details are not known, although the three above-mentioned songs are from a fan recollection that's deemed reliable. "Jennifer" is a known Springsteen composition from the period that has yet to circulate on any tape. This is CHILD's (Bruce's band) first trip to Richmond and this is a free outdoor concert. New Jersey band BROTHER DUCK also makes the trip and opens the show. CHILD's performance here has huge impact and many more trips to Richmond will follow over the next 18 months. MERCY FLIGHT drummer Davy Hazlett is in the audience.

19/09/69 - FREE UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. One show, with CHILD having sole billing. Held indoors at the University's "Center" (a venue that would later change it’s name to “The String Factory” in May 1970)

20/09/69 - FREE UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
SISTER THERESA (3:52) / RESURRECTION (8:05) / GARDEN STATE PARKWAY BLUES (19:34, end cut) / THE WAR IS OVER (11:10) / KT-88 (3:45) / GOIN DOWN SLOW (15:22)
ONE show, held indoors at the University’s “Center”, with CHILD the lone act on the bill. The above-mentioned setlist is taken from a circulating 62-minute indoor audience recording of only fair sound quality. This is currently the earliest known CHILD-STEEL MILL audio in circulation. This audio first surfaced over 27 years ago but quickly became cannibalized in the tape trading pool. In 1977 two of these tracks (“Sister Theresa” and “Resurrection”) appeared on the vinyl boot “RESURRECTED” without any source information. The remainder of the audio has never been issued on any mainstream LP (or CD) boot and since the early 1980’s has tended to circulate with tracks missing. Fortunately it has begun to circulate again in recent years on CDR in its original 62-minute edition. There are discernable edits between tracks and this is not the complete show, which is likely to have lasted about 90 minutes and included 2 or 3 additional songs. However it is all the audio from this gig that is known to exist. All songs are complete except for “Garden State Parkway Blues”, which is faded out prematurely and could be missing several minutes. “KT-88”, an instrumental, is introduced by Bruce as a new creation. This is the only circulating performance of “Sister Theresa” and the flute-like sound heard on this track (and others in this show) is a recorder being played by Vini Lopez.
Over the years there has been considerable speculation regarding the time and location of this audio. The earliest traded specimens of this audio identified the source as a date-unspecified 1969 gig a Richmond club called “The String Factory”. Since no verified gig date at The String Factory was found in any early timeline sources, some collectors began assigning the audio to other gig dates. Consequently this audio has been linked to a plethora of shows from 1969 and 1970. It turns out that the early source identification was fairly accurate. This material is indeed from 1969 in Richmond – but it’s from “The Center”, which changed its name to “The String Factory” in the fall of 1970. This performance is prior to March 1970, as it features Vinnie Roslin on bass and background vocals. Although there were several shows at The Center during the Vinnie Roslin era, the sound of a heavy thunderstorm can be heard outside the building during “Garden State Parkway Blues” - this allows the candidate gigs from the winter months to be eliminated. Note: this audio may be from the previous evening’s performance on the 19th.

01/11/69 - VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
No set details known. ONE show, double bill, held in the VCU Gym, with CHILD headlining and Richmond band RAIN opening. Following this show the band returned to New Jersey only to learn that another progressive rock band from Long Island, NY was not only using the name “Child”- they’d also just released an album under that name on the Roulette Records label. Consequently this Nov 1st gig is believed to have been the last gig performed prior to the band’s decision to change its name from Child to “Steel Mill” (a name suggested by a friend of Vini Lopez). For the remainder of November and December the group’s promotional material tended to incorporate both names in order to minimize confusion.

20/11/69 - FREE UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
RESURRECTION
No set details known. One show, with STEEL MILL headlining and MERCY FLIGHT opening for them for the first time (as substitutes for the billed MORNING DISASTER, who cancelled). Held indoors at the University's "Center".

21/11/69 - RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE, ASHLAND, VA
No set details known. One show, triple billing, held in the school's 3,500-seat Crenshaw Gymnasium. CHILD-STEEL MILL (who were paid $650) have second billing to headliner, CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY (who were paid $3,000). Richmond band NATURAL WILDLIFE opens the show. This concert had an unusal "alternating sets" structure. CHICAGO performed two 45-minute sets and CHILD-STEEL MILL played about 45 minutes AFTER each of CHICAGO's sets. Very strange indeed. The concert was not a sellout. Note: press surrounding this show used the name "Child", not "Steel Mill", although posters may have been adjusted to accomodate the new band name.

22/11/69 - RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE, ASHLAND, VA
No set details known. One show, triple billing, held in the school's 3,500- seat Crenshaw Gymnasium. This concert (the second in two nights) was part of a major sporting and cultural activities weekend at Randolph-Macon. CHILD-STEEL MILL (who were paid $650) have second billing to headliner IRON BUTTERFLY (who were paid a whopping $7,500 - that's substantial for this time period). Richmond band NATURAL WILDLIFE opens the show. Unlike the previous night this concert had a traditional performing structure. CHILD-STEEL MILL played about 60 - 70 minutes. The concert was not a sellout and lost money. Note: press surrounding this show used the name "Child", not "Steel Mill", although posters and handbills may have been adjusted to accommodate the name change.

27/02/70 - FREE UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE evening show, held at ‘The Center’ (note: this venue would be re-named ‘The String Factory’ in May 1970), with STEEL MILL the sole act on the bill. The band drove non-stop from California to Richmond to make it on time to this gig – and they just made it. In a 1979 interview in the fanzine ‘Thunder Road’ Vini Lopez commented: "we had to get back to Richmond in 3 days to do a gig. We made it. But that was a delirious show. I drove most of the way back, me and Tinker".

28/02/70 - FREE UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
GUILTY / JEANNIE I WANT TO THANK YOU / YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME / CALIFORNIA BLUES / I AM THE DOCTOR / GOIN’ BACK TO GEORGIA / AMERICA UNDER FIRE / THE WAR IS OVER / ON THE ROAD / SWEET MELINDA / CROWN LIQUOR / LADY WALKIN’ DOWN BY THE RIVER
ONE show, held in the school’s “Center” (this venue will soon be renamed “The String Factory in May 70), with STEEL MILL the sole act on the bill. The above-mentioned 12-song setlist is culled from a 90min+ audience tape of the show that is in extremely limited circulation. This is likely to represent most if not the entire show and it includes the only known audio of “You Say You Love Me” and “On The Road”, plus a rare performance of Billy Chinnock’s composition “Crown Liquor”. This gig is believed to have been bassist Vinnie Roslin’s final performance as a member of Steel Mill. His replacement will be Steve Van Zandt.

27/03/70 - HULLABALOO, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, with STEEL MILL the sole act on the bill. This is the earliest verified public performance to feature new member Steve Van Zandt on bass. By 1970 the once-hip national Hullabaloo chain of discothèques had veered in a decidedly top-40 direction - far removed from the progressive rock of Steel Mill. Tom Yolton, guitarist for Richmond band Mercy Flight, has jokingly commented….."when word came out that STEEL MILL was playing Hullabaloo everyone said….where the hell is that? It turned out it was well away from the VCU campus. It was a club with mirrors on the walls. I remember asking someone in the band about it later and getting some reply like “Oh man did that suck...nobody was there and they wanted us to play dance music"

28/03/70 - HULLABALOO, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, with STEEL MILL (featuring new band member Steve Van Zandt on bass) the sole act on he bill.

01/05/70 - HULLABALOO, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, with STEEL MILL the sole act on the bill. A return weekend engagement at the club (the group had first played here in late March).

02/05/70 - HULLABALOO, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, with STEEL MILL the sole act on the bill.

23/05/70 - VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
MC Introduction – KT 88 (4.13) / JEANNIE I WANT TO THANK YOU (9:07) / I AM THE DOCTOR (7:31) / SOMETHING’S GOTTA BREAK (8:00) / TEMPORARILY OUT OF ORDER (6:49) / SWEET MELINDA (5:47) / COME ON (4:30) / RESURRECTION (11:10) / AMPLIFIER BLUES (9:29) / FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH – RUN SHAKER LIFE – TWENTY MORE MILES (12:59, end cut)
ONE show, double bill, held in the VCU Gym, with STEEL MILL headlining and MERCY FLIGHT opening. This gig is infamous because it ended with Vini Lopez arrested for unruly behavior. The above-noted setlist is culled from a circulating 80-minute audience recording of only fair quality. There are continuity cuts between most songs. This is not the complete show, which contained at least 20 minutes more music (2-4 songs). This audio has never appeared on any mainstream bootleg but does circulate via various custom sources – some with between-song chatter deleted or songs missing. This audio is sometimes attributed to an alleged gig at VCU Gym on May 16, 1970. However VCU’s archives don’t indicate any show on the 16th. Comments made by Springsteen during the show point to the audio as being from the documented May 23, 1970 VCU gig. Mercy Flight’s co-manager, Russell Clem, can be heard introducing STEEL MILL. During the middle of the country-rock inspired “I Am The Doctor” Springsteen tells crowd “we went swimming today down in the James River (outside Richmond) and we took our surfboards with us”. During the intro to “Resurrection” Springsteen mentions canoeing earlier that afternoon. Bruce sings, “here we are back in Richmond, Virginia again” as the opening line of “Amplifier Blues”.
From the outset of this show there were problems with the school’s generators. There was a power outage during MERCY FLIGHT’s opening tune, “Mississippi Queen” and the problems continued intermittently for the remainder of the evening. This, combined with VCU officials’ complaints about the loudness of STEEL MILL’s performance, caused tension between the band and officials. Springsteen and Lopez can be heard making related comments during the show. Following “Jeannie I Want To Thank You” Bruce remarks to the crowd “there’s a weird thing going on between your officials and us”. At another point Bruce can be heard extorting: “there should be no restrictions on me”. At another point Bruce tells the crowd “we’re gonna finish this one with you guys and split to the middle of the road and play”. Despite the drama the audience is enthusiastic and the band’s performance is excellent. The MC’s comments and opening instrumental are in the correcting performing order. The rest of the audio is in its likely running order. Although it has not surfaced as part of the circulating audio, there’s attendee recollection that “Guilty” was performed following the opening instrumental “KT-88” (there’s an edit so this is plausible). All songs are complete except for the final song, which is cut prematurely close to its true conclusion. It is likely there was another song played after “Twenty More Miles” that’s missing from the audio source – and it would seem it was during that point that VCU officials shut the band’s power off as they overran the 11PM curfew. Lopez in an act of defiance continued playing his drums, which resulted in him being hauled way for disorderly conduct – an incident that Vini has jokingly referred to in several interviews.

19/06/70 - THE STRING FACTORY, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, with STEEL MILL the sole act on the bill. This venue had previously been owned and operated by Free University under the name ‘The Center” and Child-Steel Mill had player here several times (see listings). It was sold in March 1970 and re-opened, revamped and under private ownership, in May 1970 as ‘The String Factory’.

20/06/70 - THE STRING FACTORY, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, with STEEL MILL the sole act on the bill.

14/08/70 - 7TH AND MARSHALL STREET PARKING DECK, RICHMOND, VA
MC Introduction - DANCING IN THE STREETS (8.20) / COME ON (4.30) / KT88 (3.50) / THE WAR IS OVER (14.28) / WHY DO YOU DO THAT (6.14) / SHERLOCK GOES HOLMES (9.46) / GOING BACK TO GEORGIA (5.18) / RESURRECTION (13.52) / GUILTY (7.58) / WE'LL ALL MAN THE GUNS (11:26) / RUN SHAKER LIFE - TWENTY MORE MILES (14.43) / GOOD LOVIN' WOMAN (9:34)
ONE show, triple bill, with blues band MARLO MAYS & THE STINGERS opening, MERCY FLIGHT performing second and STEEL MILL headlining and closing. Held under the stars on the upper deck of the parking complex. The general concept for this show was modeled after The Beatles memorable rooftop performance in the film “Let It Be” (which was in theatres at the time). This is one the most famous of all Steel Mill’s gigs and it’s now firmly a part of Richmond folklore. Promoter Russell Clem provides the immortal MC introduction. This was Steel Mill’s first gig in about a month and their performance actually starts off somewhat ragged as a result – something both Bruce and Vini Lopez apologize for this during the show.
The above-mentioned 12-song setlist is culled from audio from this show that circulates in several variations. An audience tape of only fair quality has been in circulation for many years. Fortunately a substantially better (very good) quality and more complete specimen of this audience recording has emerged in the collector market over the past couple of years – and it is absolutely worth obtaining. In addition to the new audience source, some soundboard audio has also recently emerged from this show. The soundboard audio is missing two tracks (“The War Is Over” and “Guilty”) found on the audience recording and the soundboard quality isn’t nearly as good as the better of the two audience sources. Importantly though, the soundboard audio includes the show’s encore “Good Lovin’ Woman”, which is not found on the audience audio. None of the above-mentioned audio has ever been released on any mainstream bootleg.
The 12-song, 110-minute setlist is not the complete show. It would appear that the audience audio is complete up to an including “We’ll All Man The Guns”. There is then a 2 – 4 song segment of the show that has never circulated from any source. One of the songs definitely performed during this “missing” segment was “The Wind And The Rain”. Both "I Am The Doctor" and "Sweet Melinda" have cropped up in attendee recollections and may have also filled this gap in this show. From an historical standpoint the two most important tracks are “We’ll All Man The Guns” (Bruce introduces it as just written) and Bruce’s 1969 song “Good Lovin’ Woman” (Bruce introduces it as “an old song”). Neither of these two songs are available elsewhere. NOTE: A day or so after this show Springsteen met privately with Mercy Flight's lead singer Robbin Thompson and offered him a position in Steel Mill. After a few days of deliberation Thompson accepted the offer, resigning from MERCY FLIGHT on Aug 23, 1970 and relocating to New Jersey to join Steel Mill the following week.

11/10/70 - THE MOSQUE, RICHMOND, VA
I CAN’T TAKE IT (8:35) / WHY’D YOU DO THAT (5:58) / SHERLOCK GOES HOLMES (10:02) / GOIN’ BACK TO GEORGIA (4:50)
ONE show, double bill, with STEEL MILL opening for headliner THE IKE AND TINA TURNER REVUE. A soul band and a progressive rock group was a strange billing combination – consequently it’s perhaps not surprising that less than half the tickets to the 3,000-seat Mosque were sold. Former ‘Back Door Club’ owner John Richardson, who orchestrated the event, has stated that he lost a fair chunk of money on this show. The above-mentioned setlist is taken from a circulating 29-minute audience recording of only fair quality. This audio has not been issued on any mainstream commercial boot but is circulating via custom sources, sometimes with the venue-date unidentified. As undercard STEEL MILL would have played about 60-70 minutes, so there are likely 3 to 5 songs missing from the circulating audio. The audio evidence supports reports that the venue was half empty. The crowd reaction to Steel Mill is polite but indifferent – an indicator the band wasn’t headlining. “Why’d You Do That” includes a customized refrain mentioning the town of Woodland Falls that seems to have been used only when playing in Virginia. “Goin’ Back To Georgia” features Bruce and Robbin Thompson alternating the lead vocal.

23/10/70 - UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, RICHMOND, VA
Set details unknown. One show. STEEL MILL headline. New Jersey folk singer JEANNIE CLARK is the support act.

25/10/70 - RICHMOND ARENA, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, quadruple billing, featuring STEEL MILL, BIG BROTHER, FEAST and S.R.C. The headliner, SRC, was a Detroit-based outfit that, at the time, had three weak selling LPs out on Capitol Records, as well as a classic 60’s garage-type single "Black Sheep, Black Sheep". SRC is probably best known via its earlier mid-60's incarnation called ‘The Fugitives’.

18/07/71 - MONROE PARK, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE daytime outdoor show, with the 10-piece BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND headlining. Support act was SUNNY JIM. This was the first known gig a Springsteen-led band had played in Monroe Park since his Richmond debut (with CHILD) on June 1, 1969. Apparently after their show some of the BSB and its entourage went to see an outdoor concert by ‘The Byrds’ somewhere in the general vicinity (possibly the State Fairgrounds in Richmond).

23/10/71 - UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, RICHMOND, VA
No set details known. ONE show, triple bill, with The Bruce Springsteen Band headlining. Undercards were New Jersey-based outfits TUMBLEWEED and BLACK FORREST RHODES, both of who had recently become involved with Tinker West’s Blah Productions. The 3-member, acoustic-orientated TUMBLEWEED deserve special mention. They had recently returned from studio sessions in Nashville (booked under the name MONTANA FLINTLOCK) – events orchestrated by Mike Appel. TUMBLEWEED would turn out to be the original connection between Tinker West and Appel, one that would soon see Tinker drive Springsteen to New York to meet Mike.
Although pre-concert promotional material for this Oct 23rd performance specifies a 5-member BSB lineup (see below), this show probably included three of the part-time members of the group – Harvey Cherlin (trumpet) plus Delores Holmes & Barbara Dinkins on background vocals. In interview Cherlin has mentioned this specific 8-member lineup as performing au gratis gig at University Of Richmond in October 1971 that Cherlin further states was his final-ever gig with Springsteen. NOTE: An audience recording (see the 30/10/71 listing for details) is often linked to this show but it does not feature either Cherlin or Barbara Dinkins.

30/10/71 - VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
MC’s introduction / GOT MY MOJO WORKING (6:14) / LIVIN’ ROCK AND ROLL (4:06) / TALKIN’ ABOUT MY BABY (8:26) / HOOCHIE COOTCHIE MAN (8:29) / DON’T YOU WANT TO BE AN OUTLAW (8:07)
ONE show, triple bill, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND supporting headliner CACTUS. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was originally scheduled to headline with Cactus 2nd billed. However Butterfield cancelled a couple of weeks beforehand and Springsteen was substituted. Though not mentioned on the gig Poster (below), also on the bill and opening the show with a 45-minute performance was local band MORNING SON (John Mulkins, David Waddle and Steve Knopp). Audio evidence suggests the BSB lineup for this show was the core 5-piece band, plus the vocal duo of Delores Holmes and Francine Daniels (who’d recently replaced vocalist Barbara Dinkins).
The above-mentioned setlist is taken from an audience recording of only fair quality that started circulating in the early 80’s and then widely propagated after it was booted on the LP “BRUCE 1971”. The original boot correctly identified the audio source venue as the VCU Gym. However, because no 1971 VCU gig had been identified by 1980’s concert history sources, some people began linking this audio to other shows. This 40 minutes of audio (which is only about half the total performance) now circulates via homemade CDR, sometimes with material from other shows. Bruce would later utilize the melody from “Talkin’ About My Baby” for his far superior 1972 composition “Janey Needs A Shooter”. The ladies are heard on the three Springsteen compositions but not the two cover songs.

04/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
DOWN TO MEXICO / I REMEMBER / ALL I WANNA DO IS DANCE / BLESS MY SOUL / MAGIC LOVING / LOVE IS A CRAZY THING / THE BAND’S JUST BOPPIN’ THE BLUES / JUST CAN’T CHANGE / WHEN YOU DANCE / LIKE A STRANGER / MAKE UP YOUR MIND / COWBOYS OF THE SEA / SOMETHING YOU GOT / DARKNESS DARKNESS / IT’S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE / DOWN THE ROAD APIECE / BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY / SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD / I’M INTO SOMETHING GOOD – TAKE OUT SOME INSURANCE
ONE show, with THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. This was opening night of 9-show residency that encompassed three of the four weekends in February. The above-mentioned 19-songs are culled from circulating audience audio from the 9-show residency that would seem to encompass parts of four of these nine shows – consequently there are multiple performances of some songs (a total of 25 recordings encompassing 229 minutes). Most of these 25 recordings have been in circulation since the mid 1980’s and more than half have been issued on various mainstream bootleg titles. The remainder of the audio is only circulating via private CDR sources. The overall sound quality is good.
The so-called “Backdoor Club Tapes” represent some of the most perplexing live audio to sort out, primarily due to the fact that nearly all the between-song audio appears to have been cut by the original taper prior to the audio entering into collector circulation. Because of the lack of audio continuity it is extremely difficult to tell which recordings emanate from which shows - and virtually impossible to decipher the correct running order. Although the shows of Feb 4th and 26th are often cited on trade lists, these two dates appear to based on the fact that for many years these were the only two dates known to have been played at the club. It is now known the residency was much longer, so this material could be from any of the shows. However it is more likely that most of it comes from the final weekend’s performances.
Southside Johnny was a guest on the first weekend. However Southside’s harp playing is only heard on one track, “Bright Lights Big City”. Bruce handles the harmonica on “Just Cant Change”, one of his better songwriting efforts of 1971. Two other standout songs are “Like A Stranger” and “Make Up Your Mind”. The most interesting track is the full band version of “Cowboys Of The Sea” – a song that clearly foreshadows the change of lyric style that Bruce was adopting at the time. NOTE: For complete details on all the various Backdoor Club audio click HERE.

05/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 2nd of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency.

06/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 3rd of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency.

18/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 4th of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency.

19/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR , RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 5th of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency.

20/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 6th of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency.

25/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 7th of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency.

26/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 8th of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency.

27/02/72 - THE BACK DOOR, RICHMOND, VA
ONE show, with the BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND the sole act on the bill. The 9th of 9 shows held at the club during February. Note: see 04/02/72 listing for details on circulating audio from this residency

17/03/72 - RICHMOND ARENA, RICHMOND, VA
DO IT WITH A FEELING (10:30) / COMING HOME (7:42) / CHEROKEE QUEEN (5:57) / LOOK TOWARDS THE LAND (10:43) / NOT FADE AWAY – BO DIDDLEY’S A GUNSLINGER (8:47) / MOUNTAIN JAM – WHEN YOU DANCE (13:01, start-end cut) / GOIN’ BACK TO GEORGIA (6:10) / GOT MY MOJO WORKIN’ (7:48) / IT’S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE (12:01)
ONE show, quadruple bill, with the Bruce Springsteen Band opening the evening’s festivities for BANG, THE MIKE QUATRO JAM BAND and MITCH RYDER & DETROIT. This was a festival-styled show, with each act allocated 80 – 90 minute time slots. Although Mitch Ryder was top-billed it was electronic space music favorite Mike Quatro (70’s rocker Suzi Quatro’s brother) who performed last. In an attempt to minimize the 6,500-seat Richmond Arena’s notorious echo problems the promoter revamped the seating layout to 4,500. However an article in the following day’s paper noted a turnout of only about 1,000. A newspaper review of the show briefly mentions Springsteen and notes the wide variety of styles performed in his set. The audio evidence certainly supports that assessment.The above-mentioned 9-song setlist, some of it not necessarily in the correct performing sequence, is culled from 83 minutes of good quality soundboard audio. Most of this audio has been in collector circulation since the early 1980’s, although it tended to circulate in bits and pieces and only “Cherokee Queen” has appeared on any mainstream bootleg. “Cherokee Queen” (the only circulating audio rendition) was pressed on acetate as a Sioux City publishing demo later in 1972. Recently (in 2007) a veteran collector discovered an old tape, long overlooked in his collection, that contained a previously undocumented, additional song from this show (the Springsteen-written “Coming Home”) that is one of the performance highlights.
For many years this show’s audio was incorrectly attributed to a Nov 1970 Steel Mill gig in Richmond. However this is not Steel Mill, as Robbin Thompson is not present, Springsteen and Van Zandt share lead guitar duties and David Sancious is on keyboards. Springsteen plays piano on both “Cherokee Queen” and “Look Toward The Land” (with Sancious handling organ). Unfortunately both the opening and closing couple of minutes of “Mountain Jam – When You Dance” is cut and not circulating complete. Although bottom billed some loyal Springsteen fans were present at this show. For the first encore voices can be heard near the front of the stage yelling for “Resurrection” (a song Bruce stopped playing when Steel Mill folded). Bruce doesn’t oblige, but instead delivers “Goin’ Back To Georgia” – itself rarely played by the BSB. Bruce performs a condensed arrangement, without any band harmony vocals.

14/02/73 - VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
LOST IN THE FLOOD / SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT / 634-5789 (SOULSVILLE, USA) / MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS (5:12) / FOR YOU (4:58) / DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET (5:02) / BLINDED BY THE LIGHT / THUNDERCRACK (12:20) / ROSALITA - FUN FUN FUN (12:45) / announcements (0:25)ONE show, double bill, with Bruce and the boys opening for headliner DAN HICKS & HIS HOT LICKS. Springsteen was allowed to present a headliner-length performance of nearly 90 minutes – and he stole the show from Hicks. The above-mentioned setlist represents Springsteen's entire song presentation from this show in the correct sequence, as sourced from a newspaper review of the show in conjunction with a recently circulating (but very poor quality) 45-minute audience tape encompassing 5 of the show’s 9 songs. The taper apparently did not record Bruce’s opening three numbers and “Blinded By The Light”.From an historical standpoint the significant performance is "Rosalita". This is a unique arrangement that not only features a near-complete rendition of The Beach Boys "Fun Fun Fun" sandwiched in the middle, but also incorporates a cosmic story-rap that finds an 8yr old Springsteen locked in an Alabama jail with Dennis Wilson, James Brown and Wilson Pickett (whose “634-5789” Bruce covered earlier in the show). The subtle audio edit heard after "Thundercrack" (the end of the main set) and before "Rosalita" (the encore) merely eliminates several minutes of cheering as the audience coaxes Bruce and the band back for a final song. Following "Rosalita" the MC can be heard announcing that Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks will follow. Grateful thanks to Jeff Crossan for the news article, photos and additional information

31/05/73 - RADIO STATION WGOE-FM, RICHMOND, VA
SATIN DOLL (1.10) / DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND ST? (4.54) / CIRCUS SONG (4.58) / GROWIN’ UP (3.18) / NEW YORK SONG (5.34) / YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME (6.39) Bruce’s 2nd known radio show – but this one is unusual because it took place at Richmond’s Alpha Sound Studios, not at the station itself. It was broadcast live by WGOE-FM via a remote link. In addition to the DJ the small audience heard in the studio included Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos, Albee Tellone and David Sancious (who had yet to join the band but who was employed at the studio at the time). The above-mentioned 6-song setlist is the complete performance. After the show Mike Appel took possession of the Master Tape, so none of the performance was ever re-broadcast by the station. Fortunately a fan taped the entire show from their radio, although the sound quality result was weak. Although this audience audio had been in circulation since the mid 1970’s it had never appeared on any mainstream bootleg, exception for the track “You Mean So Much To Me”, which first surfaced on the 1976 vinyl LP boot “RESURRECTED” in poor quality. This later appeared in better quality on the CD “RADIO WAVES” (Great Dane). The entire fan-recorded version is now available on a custom CDR boot entitled “STRICTLY PROHIBITED”.A low generation copy of the entire original master tape (noted above) first surfaced (in very limited hands) in the early 1990’s. Then the recording of the track "You Mean So Much To Me" from this source emerged on the 1998 boot ‘DEEP DOWN IN THE VAULTS’ (E Street)" and in 1999 on ‘MISSING TRACKS, VOL ONE’ (Thrill Hill). The complete master tape in perfect sound quality finally emerged into the wider collector community in early 2007. This performance (which features all the band in cameos except for Vini Lopez) is highlighted by what many consider the definitive available version of “You Mean So Much To Me”. During the show a fan calls into the radio station and requests Bruce’s old Steel Mill chestnut “Resurrection” – but Bruce doesn’t play it. Interestingly as Bruce takes his seat to perform a song solo at the piano one of the entourage can be heard saying “Janey?” – apparently thinking Bruce was going to perform the recently composed “Janey Needs A Shooter” to which Bruce replies “no” and instead delivers a fine version of his then-new “New York Song”.

31/05/73 - COLISEUM, RICHMOND, VA
SANTA ANNA / SECRET TO THE BLUES / TOKYO / THUNDERCRACK
ONE show, double bill, with Springsteen opening for headliners CHICAGO. The 2nd of 12 consecutive shows opening for them. The above-mentioned 4-song partial setlist is culled from a weak quality 35-minute audience tape of the show that circulates among collectors. This is not the complete performance, which lasted about 60 minutes and included 3 or 4 additional, but undocumented, songs. This audio appears to capture the last half of Springsteen’s set. The audio of "Thundercrack" is incomplete - the last several minutes are missing. From a historical standpoint the most interesting track here is "Secret To The Blues" - one of only two circulating audio performances and the better of the two.

30/11/73 - VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA
Due to last minute venue/contractual difficulties at VCU, this concert was POSTPONED and RE-SCHEDULED to 25/01/74 at The Mosque. This concert was to have featured Springsteen headlining and GOOSE CREEK SYMPHONY as the opener and, indeed, this was the lineup that performed at the 25/1/74 show (see listing in BRUCEBASE)

25/01/74 - MOSQUE, RICHMOND, VA
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT / NEW YORK CITY SERENADE / BLINDED BY THE LIGHT / LET THE FOUR WINDS BLOW / KITTYS BACK / FOR YOU / ROSALITA / TWIST AND SHOUT
ONE show, double bill, with Springsteen headlining and local outfit GOOSE CREEK SYMPHONY opening. This was a rescheduled show, originally booked for 30/11/73 at the VCU Gym but postponed. The above-mentioned 8-song (90-minute) setlist is from a circulating audience recording of only fair quality.

13/04/74 - RICHMOND COLISEUM, RICHMOND, VA
CANCELLED concert, never re-scheduled. Information is sketchy but it’s believed Springsteen was the scheduled undercard for this gig – anyone who has further details please contact Brucebase.

01/08/75 - MOSQUE THEATRE, RICHMOND, VA
INCIDENT ON 57TH STREET / 10TH AVENUE FREEZE OUT / SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT / E ST SHUFFLE / SAINT IN THE CITY / SHES THE ONE / THUNDER ROAD / GROWIN' UP / UP ON THE ROOF / KITTYS BACK / NYC SERENADE / ROSALITA / 4TH JULY ASBURY PARK (SANDY) / A LOVE SO FINE / CAROL / QUARTER TO THREE
Audience tape - includes the first confirmed version of Up On The Roof. Available on CDR "At The Mosque Theatre"

06/03/03 Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA
S/C:- includes GUILTY / LOCAL HERO
THE RISING / LONESOME DAY / NO SURRENDER / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / EMPTY SKY / YOU'RE MISSING / WAITIN' ON A SUNNY DAY / YOU CAN LOOK ..... / TWO HEARTS / WORLD'S APART / BADLANDS / SHE'S THE ONE / MARY'S PLACE / COUNTIN' ON A MIRACLE / FOR YOU / INTO THE FIRE / LET'S GO, LET'S GO, LET'S GO / GLORY DAYS / BORN TO RUN / MY CITY OF RUINS / BORN IN THE USA / LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS / DANCING IN THE DARK
Audience tape - Bruce was joined on-stage by Richmond native and former Steel Mill vocalist Robbin Thompson and Southeastern Virginia native Bruce Hornsby for the Hank Ballard song "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go," which was premiered in Jacksonville. "Mary's Place" includes brief snippets of "Rescue Me" & "I Can't Turn You Loose". According to an Interview with Robin Thompson in "Upstage News" (December 2003), when he arrived at the venue the band were trying to play Guilty, an old Steel Mill number. He enquired of Bruce if that was what they were gonna do, but Bruce replied that they couldn't remember it. If anyone was taping the soundcheck - we sure would like to hear this one.

24/10/05 - Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA
MY BEAUTIFUL REWARD / REASON TO BELIEVE / DEVILS AND DUST / LONESOME DAY / LONG TIME COMING / SILVER PALOMINO / YOU CAN LOOK... / THE RIVER / TOUGHER THAN THE REST / JOHNNY 99 / PART MAN PART MONKEY / ALL I'M THINKING ABOUT / RENO / NOTHING MAN / INCIDENT ON 57TH STREET / THE RISING / DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN / JESUS WAS AN ONLY SON / THIS HARD LAND / THE NEW TIMER / MATAMOROS BANKS / GROWIN' UP / 4TH JULY ASBURY PARK (SANDY) / THE PROMISED LAND / DREAM BABY DREAM
Audience tape. [Note from Tony: This was the solo Devils & Dust tour.]