Bruce Springsteen/CA, USA 1980

Bruce Springsteen’s live recording will be released for the first time in a while. This time, we are recording the Los Angeles Sports Arena performance on November 1st from the 1980 “THE RIVER” tour. Why this LA show now? Many people may think so. However, the sound source this time was recorded by Mike Millard! Millard tends to record British bands such as ZEP, and I was surprised that he even recorded Dylan. However, in 1980, it was a shocking new fact that Millard even recorded Springsteen’s live performance! In November 1980, one month had passed since the news broke that John Bonham of the group he loved most, Led Zeppelin, had passed away unexpectedly, and the group had not yet announced their disbandment. However, the planned American tour became virtually impossible. Before hearing the news, he was probably wondering what kind of artist’s live performance he should go to record. Around that time, he heard that Springsteen was going to perform four times in LA (the first half was three days in a row), so he probably got tickets and headed to the November 1st performance. Speaking of Millard, there is a strong image of the LA Forum where many great sound sources were produced in the 70’s, but Springsteen used the same venue only once on the 1978 Darkness Tour. In the 1980s, his popularity in the United States became unwavering, and he continued to perform at sports arenas larger than the LA Forum. As a result, although Millard recorded a major artist live in LA, this time it is not a forum (lol). Therefore, this was Millard’s first Springsteen recording, but he only honed his skills by recording concerts of many big-name live performances in the late 70’s. It can only be said that they were able to successfully record the long Springsteen live performance with a break in the middle of this tour. Rather, the cassette exchange could be done smoothly due to the break, and Springsteen’s marathon live was captured in a wonderful recording state without any troubles such as songs being cut. And the sound quality is mirrored standard perfect quality. Because it was recorded in a large venue, the sound image does not have the closeness of the performance like the Dylan 78 sound source, but while maintaining a good sense of distance reminiscent of that “Eddie”, the clarity is superb. After all, it is unique to mirrored recording. From the opening, the clear sound quality was outstanding, and from around “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”, the degree of sound image onness increased significantly and finally kept at the highest level. The 1980 leg of the “THE RIVER” tour had excellent sound sources at key points, and one of them was “PHILADELPHIA SPECIAL”, but there were audience recordings of poor sound quality for the series of LA performances. I haven’t. Also, just one month has passed since the start of the “THE RIVER” tour, but Springsteen and the E Street Band were probably still exploring the structure of the live performance, and interesting performances appear here and there. “The Price You Pay”, which was added to the repertoire from the previous day’s live performance, continues to be a wonderful and polite performance, and you will be able to enjoy the difference in the atmosphere when you compare it with the Nassau area on New Year’s Eve. “Prove It All Night”, which was played before this song, is surprising because it revives the fan-popular Darkness Tour version long intro. There were very few days when this pattern was introduced on the “THE RIVER” tour, and from there you can see how the blues were exploring. In the second part after a break, “Cadillac Ranch” has a rare pattern of starting with a touch of Chuck Berry’s “No Money Down” before starting the performance. Moreover, “Fade Away” from the album “THE RIVER” is played for the first time on this day, which is also a rare scene. And finally, Jackson Browne jumps in to share the mic with Springsteen in “Sweet Little Sixteen,” an amazing incident! I can only say that I am lucky that Millard recorded the day when I could listen to the rare content and fulfilling performance of the 1980 LA performance with the best sound quality. Moreover, the sound source that appeared this time is from the first generation master, which contributes to the sound quality. Live at Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA. USA 1st November 1980 PERFECT SOUND Disc 1(79:39) 1. Born To Run 2. Out In The Street 3. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out 4. Darkness On The Edge Of Town 5. Independence Day 6. Factory 7. For You 8. Two Hearts 9. Jackson Cage 10. The Promised Land 11. Prove It All Night (’78 intro) 12. The Price You Pay 13. The River Disc 2(78:07) 1. Badlands 2. Thunder Road 3. No Money Down / Cadillac Ranch 4. Hungry Heart 5. Fire 6. Candy’s Room 7. Because The Night 8. Fade Away 9. Stolen Car 10. The Ties That Bind 11. Wreck On the Highway 12. Point Blank 13. Crush On You 14. Ramrod Disc 3(62:29) 1. You Can Look 2. Drive All Night 3. Backstreets 4. Rosalita 5. Jungleland 6. Sweet Little Sixteen (with Jackson Browne) 7. Detroit Medley (incl. I Hear A Train, Wabash Cannonball) Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica) Roy Bittan (piano, keyboards) Clarence Clemons (saxophones, backing vocals, percussion) Danny Federici (organ, accordion, keyboards) Garry Tallent (bass, percussion) Steven Van Zandt (guitar, backing vocals) Max Weinberg (drums)