Setlist
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN / MANSION ON THE HILL / THIS HARD LAND / BETTER DAYS / LUCKY TOWN / ATLANTIC CITY / 57 CHANNELS (AND NOTHIN' ON) / TRAPPED / BADLANDS / IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND / MY HOMETOWN / LEAP OF FAITH / MAN'S JOB / ROLL OF THE DICE / HUMAN TOUCH / BECAUSE THE NIGHT / BRILLIANT DISGUISE / THE RIVER / SOULS OF THE DEPARTED / THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER - BORN IN THE U.S.A. / REAL WORLD / LIGHT OF DAY / GLORY DAYS / BOBBY JEAN / THUNDER ROAD / BORN TO RUN / MY BEAUTIFUL REWARD / WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY
Thanks to a certain Mr G W (the name is not given in full to protect the innocent!) I now have in my possession a copy of this show.
A couple of things that I remember about the show were firstly, it was the first Springsteen show that I took my wife to. We had got married in November 1992, and secondly, five songs into the set Bruce announced that 'Lucky Town' was being filmed for the next night's edition of Top of the Pops! (see video).
The sound as well was a bit rough if I recall, not the fault of Springsteen but more the venue. The SECC is not a great place for a gig and I've seen a few there since this one and have always been disappointed. The Armadillo on the other hand has really good sound (but a bit too small for Bruce).
Also this was the opening night of the third leg of the World Tour (2nd time in Europe - they had begun the tour in Stockholm 15th June 1992). The band had finished up the American leg of the tour on December 17th in Lexington, Kentucky 1992. So after a three month break they were back and it showed that they were a little rusty as the band didn't really flow into each song as they began to do as the tour progressed.
Some people of course will point out that the band (known as "the other band") were not a patch on the East Street Band, and that's true, but this is where Springsteen was at this stage of his life and the only E Streeter around was The Professer (who had played on the then recently released 'Human Touch' and 'Lucky Town' albums - and gained a song writing credit for 'Roll of the Dice' and 'Real World' both on the 'Human Touch' album).
Regarding the albums, both have received their fair share of criticism down through the years and some of it is maybe warranted, but actually there were some good songs on them. 'Lucky Town' had 'Better Days', 'Leap of Faith', 'If I Should Fall Behind', 'Lucky Town', 'Living Proof', 'Book of Dreams' and 'My Beautiful Reward' - 7 out of 10 is pretty good going! Whilst on 'Human Touch' there were only a couple that I really liked, the title track, 'Roll of the Dice', 'I Wish I Was Blind' and 'The Long Goodbye' - though '57 Channels (And Nothin' On)' I prefered the live rocking version to the sedate album version.
Top of The Pops Performance
of
'Lucky Town'
After listening to the show again for the first time in almost 20 years it still sounds great inspite of the sound issues etc. Bruce was ever the showman, and during 'Light of Day' showed what a sense of humour he has:
"I drove thousands of miles just to get here tonight....I drove all
across the United States just to get here tonight....I got on a big
airplane, started flying across the ocean to be here tonight....the
airplane crashed in the middle of the ocean.....I had to get outta the
airplane, get in the life raft.....I started paddling the life
raft....some sharks started coming up around me....they bit the life
raft, the life raft started sinking....I grabbed a hold of a big old
whale ....I said ´I got to get to Glasgow´....´You got to take me to
Glasgow´....I rode that big old whale right up the River Clyde....I got
off on the banks....I said ´Can you tell me....can you tell me....can
you tell me.....where I can get some haggis tonight ?´....I said I´ve
come a long way because....I know you´re downhearted....I know you´re
disappointed....I know you´re depressed out there....I know there´s 57
f***ing channels and nothing on.....and what I wanna know is....what I
need to know is....is there anybody alive out there ?"
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