Good to know. Amazingly, except for the opening song, what appears to be a circuit TV recording of the entire show is actually available via Wolfgang's Vault on YouTube. The video quality isn't great given the recording format, but it's watchable. It would be an easy (albeit time consuming) task to sync it up with the newly-mixed recording of that night.
I think the second Winterland show's mix is terrible. I tried to make myself like it when it came out - it was my number one show I wanted released, I was at it - but after first thinking "Oh my God, it's a wall of mud!" then briefly talking myself into denying that just 'cause Bruce's vocals were clear, trying to find something good about it, I realized "no, who am I kidding, this is terrible." I mean I was there, and I haven't gone back to listen to it. A shame about the mix; ruined an especially incredible Because The Night, an incredible show period.
Yeah, the Winterland mix sucks For best sounding mixes I would honestly go with Passaic 09/20/78, Detroit 03/22/88, Tempe 11/05/80, New Jersey 07/20/84, and Philadelphia 09/25/99
I would have thought they would re-remix the Winterland sets by now like they did with New Years Eve show.
My birthday is on the horizon. I just contacted them to confirm - I've been doing business with them since December 2015. A coupon=Great things.
Yes I do. I wish I could find the quote but it was along the lines of "they never intended to capture the entire concert, just some River songs for promotional purposes". Just like they did with the '78 Phoenix filming.
There's a bit more info about the Tempe '80 filming here: Let It Roll: Seven-Disc Box Set to Plumb the Depths of The River Some relevant quotes: *** "All the footage that was available from Tempe was used," Zimny tells us. "No one, for instance, cut 'Racing in the Street' because they didn't like it — there was no editing in that sense. We used every frame of what we had available, down to the DVD menus." As Zimny explains, the intent behind getting a film crew to Arizona 35 years ago was never for a concert film, but more likely for publicity purposes. "There were no DVDs, no streaming, no real concert film market at that point. There were no plans for this in the '80s to be released as a concert." He likens it to the Phoenix '78 filming that resulted in the "Rosalita" music video: "It was used for commericals. It was just cut up." "Really, we got lucky that this was documented at all," Zimny says, "to have this much, since there was never a plan for this to be representative of a full show." Viewed in that light, we have to wonder, then, why so much was captured, and so well. Zimny laughs and mentions George Travis, Springsteen's longtime Tour Director, who was also on the scene at the time and whom Thom spotted in the Tempe footage. "Until that minute, I wondered that myself: why was it so well-covered when there was no demand for it at the time? This four-camera beauty, all the cameras being in the right places.... I didn't know why it wound up being so great. And then I saw that George was there, and I knew." *** I take that last part to mean that George Travis pushed the video crew to record more of the concert than was originally planned, perhaps even against Bruce and Jon Landau's wishes.
Tempe 80 is the finest video document of the band at their peak. Great unobtrusive camera work, excellent sound. None of the frenzied jump cut nonsense you see in concert videos nowadays. Love the shots from behind Max on the drum riser. The big mystery of Tempe is that for years, Howard Lamden (Pink Floyd the Wall) was cited as the director, but when it was officially released, Barry Rebo was credited. I thought Rebo was long gone by 1980, but apparently not. There’s a great shot of George Travis and several other crew members in the closing credits.
Yeah, what happened there? Howard was attached to that footage for a while. Here's an article from 2005 that talks about it: 'Lost' Documentary - Palisadian Post Perhaps he wasn't involved in filming the concert that night, but in editing the footage later on in the '80s? Then Thom Zimny might have started from scratch when work on The River box started prior to its 2015 release. It is interesting to see the credits on Jackson Browne's Downtown documentary from 1982, which Howard directed and edited. You'll see Barry Rebo and Marc Brickman in the credits, and some of the roadies even wearing The River Tour t-shirts. It seems like the same group of people.
That might be my single favorite Born in the USA tour performance (although the final night at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, the famous This Gun's for Hire bootleg, is a very close second). The August 20 show was the final performance of a record breaking (at the time), 10-night stand at the Meadowlands. Every album is represented in the setlist by at least one song, Jungleland and Rosalita were still tour fixtures, the Miami Horns appear on Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (the same performance that was selected for inclusion on the Live 1975-85 album), and Little Steven guested in the encores with the Miami Horns for a memorable cover of Dobie Gray's soul classic, Drift Away (unquestionably a tour highlight). As for the recording itself, the mix may be a little drier than I would have preferred but, at least compared to most of the rest of the series, it's mastered fairly sensibly. Definitely an essential entry in the series.
I love This Gun's For Hire. Easily one of my favorite Bruce Boot's. I remember buying the boxset on vinyl. IIRC, it was a plain white label. Ah, those were the days.
Listening to the 7/25/92 show today while working and, I know i'm in the minority here, but I really enjoy this gig. The mix is excellent, every person on stage (even the backup singers) are clearly audible and can be picked out, the dynamics aren't squashed, and there's a great energy to the gig, between being back in NJ, it being his kid's birthday and just the general newness of the songs and band. Would I take it to a desert island over something from '78? Of course not, but I think it's still a great addition to the series and certainly one of the best sounding ones as well.
The sound on the '92 tour did "the new band" no favors. I saw them at the Meadowlands and the Cap Centre. Both times I found the sound muddy, unsatisfying, and unsuited particularly to the rhythm section and Shayne's guitar work. The 7/25/92 archive release was a revelation, and IMHO the first time when "the new band" have really gotten their due. While I prefer the classic E Street Band, and like everyone else would very much like to hear a show from before fall 1975, a release of the 3/23/93 Count Basie rehearsal remains at the very top of my personal want list for the archive series.
Of course everyone prefers the ESB, but I enjoy the sort of "alternate universe" aspect to it all and hearing different takes on things. I would dig getting 3/23/93 and also the 6/26/93 tour finale, if they exist. Not every show is going to be the Agora in '78, and that's okay...I find a lot of small pleasures in other shows.
Oh - since nobody has posted it yet - here, from BTX I found out a few hours ago: News Updated August 13, 2020 Production work continues on the August release in the Live Archive series, which will not drop tomorrow as hoped. While some may speculate as to why, delays, especially in COVID times, are caused by real world, practical circumstances and events. Patience is appreciated. — Backstreets Magazine (@backstreetsmag) August 14, 2020 No release, no explanation, and of course no apology to any fans. And ALWAYS at the 11th hour.
That's disappointing. I would have understood if the "Tracks 2" announcement was coming today but that's probably a way off yet.
Bruce has given us how many monthly live releases now? Not sure we have any right to demand (or expect) an explanation or an apology. We'll see the release when we see the release, and then we'll decide whether to buy, or not. Then in four or so weeks, we'll go through it again.
