BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
This is for the Crazies - Seattle Arena, Dec 20, 1978
Limited edition only 99 were produced
Tattoodad Limited edition no 5 >EAC>Sony sound forge >wav>flac
ESTRTBNDFAN traded copy no edition number >EAC>Sony sound forge>wav>flac
Tattodad bought a copy …but it had loads of problems, glitches, parts of the tracks missing etc.
ESTRTBNDFAN traded copy again had lots of problems with it.
I haven’t remastered it …just edited tracks together, and manually taken glitches out.
Tattoodad & ESTRTBNDFAN have road tested it .and we think its ready to be released.
Luckily between the two sets we could put together what we hope sounds like the original Anubis release ….and it is in our ears the best version of this show yet.

You might think why go to all this trouble over this show …the reason, in April 1992, I had just been to see Graceland and coming back thro Memphis airport I saw the Backstreets book on sale …bought it …and during the flight back to wherever, I read Charles Cross description of the night he became a total convert to Bruce & started the Backstreets magazine …from then on I have always wanted to hear what Charles Cross heard that night …in any shape or form….and this I think is the best yet ….

Thanks to Tattoodad & ESTRTBNDFAN for helping me on this quest.

See below for the review from Backstreets.

Disc 1:
1. Badlands
2. Streets Of Fire
3. Rendezvous
4. Spirit In The Night
5. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
6. Independence Day
7. The Promised Land
8. Prove It All Night
9. Pretty Flamingo
10. Thunder Road
Disc 2:
1. Jungleland
2. The Ties That Bind
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. Fire
5. Candy's Room
6. Because The Night
7. The Fever
8. Mona/Gloria/She's The One
9. Backstreets - Sad Eyes
Disc 3:
1. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
2. Born To Run
3. The Detroit Medley
4. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
5. Quarter To Three
6. Rave On
7. Twist And Shout

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
This is for the Crazies [Anubis 3CD-R]
Well, here's where it all comes back home, right? I mean, if not for this Darkness tour show [Seattle Arena, Dec 20, 1978]

it's possible you wouldn't even be reading this magazine: the concert so utterly moved a young Charles Cross* that he started Backstreets, and any person who's ever experienced a life-defining concert moment will understand exactly how the guy felt.

Plus, let's be honest: even the most die-hard aficionado of, say, Rising tour shows in all their minutiae and variations will have to admit that Darkness concerts will always hold a special place not only in Brucelore but in the hearts (and ears) of
bootleg collectors, too. For me, it's the long-since-retired extended piano/guitar intro to "Prove It All Night" that never fails to give me chills.

For others, it's the utter we're-gonna-show-you defiance that Bruce and the E Streeters took to the masses on that tour, electrifying audiences (including those at home listening to the numerous broadcasts from the tour) coast to coast. For still others, it's the knowledge that as Bruce was about to get huge, the world was also about to shrink - a subliminal sense that right here, right now, on this tour, we were all gonna make some kind of final stand before moving on to the next inevitable phase.
So what we have here is the legendary show where Bruce came out some 15 minutes after the concert was technically over and before a stunned crowd (or what was left - many had already headed home) plowed into an unsolicited final encore of "Rave On" and "Twist and Shout." Truly a moment for the history books, one which Anubis has resurrected for its latest pro-CD-R, numbered/limited archival edition.

The show has been bootlegged before, including 1994's Pretty Flamingo, but it was never rated that highly compared to other audience recordings from the tour, and the first two songs "Badlands," "Streets of Fire") were always missing from the tape.

Anubis addresses the latter issue by dubbing in versions of the pair recorded Sept. 3 in Saginaw, MI; unless you're a purist, you'll appreciate that little touch, and the edit is done quite seamlessly. Per Anubis tradition, too, great care has been taken
to clean the tape up as much as possible, and while this will never rival one of the great Darkness FM shows, the sound quality is impressive - easily the best treatment of the Seattle concert to date.

Factor in the striking art-work, a blue-on-black motif for the tray panels and a full-color 8-page booklet that includes text discussing the show and its significance, and it's probably the best Anubis release to date. "This is for the crazies!" Bruce blurts just before kicking off "Rave On," and goddam if listening to these discs wasn't enough to make me feel crazy all over again. Time to go pull out some more of my Darkness boots. - Fred Mills

Note: The above first appeared in Backstreets, The Boss Magazine, #79, 2004.