One of Bruce's legendary concerts from the early days took place on February 5, 1975 at The Main Point club in Bryn Mawr, PA, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. (Bryn Mawr is Welsh for "big hill" in case you were wondering.) The show was a benefit for the club, and was broadcast, but not quite simulcast, by WMMR-FM on a two hour delay. The broadcast was bootlegged and circulated, initially as a double album called "You Can Trust Your Car To The Man Who Wears The Star". The album title was borrowed from a Texaco advertising slogan in use around that time, and the album art featured a great drawing of Bruce dressed as a Texaco gas attendant wearing the Texaco hat with the star that was a central part of the Texaco brand imagery in the early 1970s.
Conventional wisdom says that a rock act must take the stage with a great deal of vigor and immediately blow the fans out of their seats by leading off with some high energy rock anthem. A few examples of Bruce Springsteen's anthemic openers that leap to mind are 'Badlands', 'Born In The USA' and 'The Rising'. There is another approach, however, that Bruce has used to great effect, especially in those early years in the smaller clubs.
In this particular case, Bruce came out accompanied only by Roy Bittan on piano and Suki Lahav on violin, and a well timed stage prop siren at the end. I think this is the definitive version of 'Incident On 57th Street'. It's perfection.
Two nights later, Bruce was at Widener College in Chester, PA, also close to Philadelphia. Some black & white video footage from this show in the school gymnasium has been circulating among collectors since the late 1970s, and one rumor has the source of this video as Widener College film students who may have in fact had permission from Bruce to film this show. The audio quality is not great, but I thought you might like to get a glimpse of what such a great concert opening (in a gymnasium) looked like. Once again, here's 'Incident On 57th Street'.
Happy Friday!
Damn. This footage of "57th St." from Widener blows my mind. I thank ye for it. For years, I've been listening to the Main Point show, especially the opening number, and imagining what it looked like with Roy, Suki and Bruce alone on stage. Now, with this Widener footage, I have some idea. Different venue, of course, but still... Anyway, appreciated your insightful comments about opening these shows the way he did (or other shows, with stripped-down "Thunder Road", etc.). To me, for decades now, this is exactly the approach that has always made him unique --and in being so, he helped redefine what a rock concert could be. So okay, pal: You're a Bruce scholar, and I am merely a fan (albeit one who saw him for the first time in '78 --Pittsburgh's Stanley Theater). I'm so happy I found your site and your wise words. Looking forward to learning a lot more from you.
You rock, sir,
Josh
Posted by: Joshua Mooney | January 02, 2010 at 09:12 PM
His voice in the Widener version is absolutely beautiful. I'll be back on Friday. Thanks.
Posted by: Monica | November 30, 2009 at 06:01 PM
Few performers can pull this off. To take the stage and strip a song to its minimum and grab everyone's attention takes courage.
Great site. You have a new reader.:)
Posted by: Paul | November 27, 2009 at 01:21 PM