Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
featuring the Miami Horns
Music Hall
Boston, MA
March 24, 1977
16/44.1 CD Version

Steve Hopkins master via JEMS

Taping Gear: Sony ECM-99A > Sony TC-158SD (recorded on two Maxell UD 90-minute tapes, Dolby B encode)

JEMS 2012 transfer: SH master cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A (Dolby B decode) > Sound Devices USBPre2 (24/96) > Peak 6.0 with iZotope Ozone > .wav (24/96) > resample via iZotope MBIT+ to .wav (16/44) > FLAC

01 Night
02 Don't Look Back
03 Spirit in the Night
04 Incident on 57th Street
05 Thunder Road
06 Mona > She's the One
07 Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
08 Growin' Up
09 It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City (slight bit of start missing)
10 Backstreets
11 Jungleland
12 Rosalita
13 Born to Run
14 Quarter to Three
15 Little Latin Lupe Lu
16 You Can't Sit Down
17 Higher and Higher

Night three of what I consider Springsteen's greatest concert stand ever is the penultimate show in the run, and sets the stage for the final show one night later. Or, as some have argued, is night three the apex itself, the best performance of the bunch?

For me, its bit like debating Sassacaia vs. Solaia--they are both so fucking great, which is "the best" hardly matters, especially when you are fortunate enough to enjoy them both. As I have once, maybe twice, just so you don't get the wrong idea.

And both shows we shall have, but up first is March 24 and what a show it is. It retains the addition of "Incident on 57th Street" from the previous night, but for my money this is a superior performance, one of the song's finest. Joining the set this night are two welcome additions. The first is a lively "Saint in the City." Here's a track that shows off just how sublime Steve Hopkins' recording is. I'm sure three nights into the run, the sound in the room had been tuned to perfection and Steve is getting it ALL. The guitar duel can be heard right down to the six strings.

The second addition is one you all know, and probably the song that pushed the Boston run into the rarefied air it occupies: a cover of Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher."

Why is "Higher and Higher" so significant? Well, part of it has to do with the timing of these shows, which would be the final performances before Bruce returned to the studio to begin recording Darkness on the Edge of Town. While the Appel lawsuit was not yet settled, Bruce had seen the light at the end of the tunnel, so there's a sense of both relief and anticipation that feels palpable in all four Boston '77 performances.

"Higher and Higher" comes across like that perfect addition, that one step beyond, with Bruce telling his fans through the song that they had sustained him through this dark period, when his future as a recording artist was up in air. "Higher and Higher" is akin like that great finale song at the end of a musical that just seems to sweep up every theme of the night into one last exuberant declaration. Hear for yourself. Samples provided. Ticket stub, too.

Thanks yet again to Steve for allowing JEMS to present his incredible work in a fresh light.

The Boston '77 run will return.

BK for JEMS
Images for this show: