The Boss Live at the Roxy, 1978 (Part One)
My wife made me watch David Hasselhoff sing on America’s Got Talent, and now I feel sick to my stomach. I thought she loved me.
This must be rectified now. We need live Boss, and we need it now. I am getting seriously geeked about the new boss album and E Street tour coming up in a matter of weeks. This show here, this has to be my favorite Boss show of all time. You’ll feel the energy from the second Bruce takes the mic to apologize to those who got shut out after waiting in line all day: “I wasn’t trying to turn this into no private party, ’cause I don’t play no parties no more…except my own. [crowd cheers wildly] So give me a little slap back on this microphone… One…we gonna do some rock n’ roll for you...” ZOWWW! They don’t call him Boss for nothing, as you’ll hear with this show.
The show goes on for well over three hours, so this is going to be a three parter. I’ll have 2 and 3 up soon. But let’s get started with this. You Bruce fanatics, you probably have this show. But if you don’t, God are you in for a treat. I recommend downloading it all, queuing it up on your iPod or iTunes, and listening to it straight through. Certainly string the intro and “Rave On” together to see how this show kicks off. It’s amazing.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
The Roxy, Hollywood, California
July 7th, 1978
Part One
Intro
Rave On
Badlands
Spirit in the Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Candy’s Room
For You
Point Blank
The Promised Land
Prove It All Night
Racing Intro
Racing in the Street
Thunder Road
Outro
Come back soon for parts 2 and 3.
18 Comments
spanishjohnny
Man, I’ve had this show since I don’t know when (bought the boot several times:tape, Lp, cd) but I haven’t thought about it for ages. Now it is right what I need to listen, a huge thank you for bringing it again to my ears!
Also you wrote a hell of intro to it
Malchus
At long last, I can hear this legendary show and see how it holds up against the classic Cleveland WMMS 10th Anniversary show from August of ’78.
Thanks for posting!
Julie
great great show!!
Andrew Sherman
Wow, this is great
W
One of the great Springsteen sets. Thanks.
Dan
Thanks, Pete. I can not get enough Bruce boots. Every new show that I get, he brings something new and different, whether musically or emotionally, to songs that had been so familiar. This one is great (so far!).
Pete
Part 2 coming tonight……
Pingback:
countrygrrl
wow!!! this is awesome! i have never heard this whole show before and it really jumps out of my headphones….he is just the best..i have never seen him live, one of my regrets, but just hearing this early show makes me realise how much i love all his stuff, right up to the latest. thanks a lot for putting this up , i will be first in line to buy the new cd….excellent, made my night!!!
Mike
The Roxy show went out live over KMET-FM in Los Angeles and while there is no doubt that the performance is unbelievably good, the audio was some of the most gawd awful crap I’ve ever heard. Every time the band started, you could hear the compression kick in and just squash the sound all to hell.
I have seen a bootleg CD set from this show, but it was obviously from the radio, since it had the exact same compression. Is there a recording of this concert that perhaps came from the board and doesn’t suffer from the compression, so that all the dynamics and clarity come thgrough?
Hank
The links to parts 1 & 2 of the Bruce Springsteen show at the Roxy in ’78 appear to be broken.
Victor
Part 3 has links, but Parts 1 & 2 has no mp3 links. Can this be fixed please?
Pete
https://ickmusic.com/mp3/roxy/
jackie
Hi Pete…
I am desperately looking for Bruce Springsteen Live at the Roxy 1978 and I see your write up on it. I can;t find it anywhere to buy it!! Can you help??? I would appreciate it more than you know.
Lonny Bardash
Hi – Did you ever get a copy of this album? I need a copy asap.
thanks.
Pete
Psst..
https://ickmusic.com/2007/08/25/the-boss-live-at-the-roxy-1978-part-three/
Laser
With the much-anticipated release of a commemorative box set for Darkness on the Edge of Town slated for this Christmas, Bruce Springsteen’s classic record is getting renewed attention in the music world. Details on the project are scarce; however, in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Steven Van Zandt mentioned that about 10 unreleased songs will be included in the box set. Fans are surely hungry for any and all material they can get from the 1978 recording sessions and subsequent tour. For our own preview of what’s to come, we contacted Dick Wingate, who was intimately involved in the launch and marketing of the album and tour. He offers an insider’s view of what the Darkness era meant to Bruce and the band, while painting an often-humorous behind-the-scenes account of some of the tour’s highlights. Enjoy, and be certain to check out the book The Light in Darkness, which one fan said, “… would also make a great companion piece to the much anticipated commemorative Darkness box set…”
Nancy
I was at that concert. Looking forward to reading your second and third parts. I was just reminiscing about how the audience wouldn’t leave and the band came out about an hour after the show and radio broadcast ended and played Twist & Shout. Will never forget that night. “Bootleggers, roll your tapes!”