Bruce Springsteen 1974-06-02 Agora Toledo, OH

 

 

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02/06/74 - THE TOLEDO AGORA, TOLEDO, OH

Bruce tuning and chat (1:07) / A NIGHT LIKE THIS (7:45) / DOES THIS BUS STOP AT
82ND ST (4:05) / IT’S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY (4:29) / SPIRIT IN THE
NIGHT (cut, 0:07) / FOR YOU (8:16) / LET THE FOUR WINDS BLOW - I'M READY (start
cut, 9:56)

ONE show, with Springsteen & The E Street Band headlining. Beginning shows with
one or two acoustic numbers had been a pretty consistent hallmark of
Springsteen's concerts up to this point. However this was one of the last shows
of this type, as the hiring of Mark Brickman as stage lighting director in July
1974 pretty much ended the opening acoustic solo spots in shows.

The above-mentioned partial setlist is taken from an audience recording of very
weak quality that has been in limited circulation for many years. The material
has yet to appear on any mainstream bootleg. The audio likely represents only
about 30% of the evening’s total performance. All but a few opening seconds of
"Spirit" is cut, as well as the opening minute or so of the evening finale, "Let
The Four Winds Blow". Although this tape often circulates as undated, there are
in fact several vital clues that almost certainly pinpoint the tape to this date
and venue. Firstly, Bruce specifically mentions the name "The E Street Band"
(which places the show no earlier than April 1974). Secondly, Bruce asks the
audience how many of them have travelled from Detroit for this show (most
respond yes - Toledo is only 70km from Detroit). Thirdly, this arrangement of
"Let The Four Winds Blow - I'm Ready" was unique to the mid-1974 period and very
similar to the following night's rendition in
Cleveland.

From an historical standpoint the important performance is the wonderful love
song “A Night Like This” (often referred to by collectors by the title “Dance On
Little Angel” or Bruce’s original working title “Angel Baby”). Springsteen,
identifying it as "a new song" but not mentioning the title to the crowd,
performs it acoustically (with Clarence and Danny). Fortunately the audio of
this song is complete and the sound quality is somewhat better on this track
than the rest of the audio. Although "A Night Like This" bears no common melody
or lyrics with "Sandy", both are stylistically similar and set along the summer
Jersey shoreline. A studio take of this song has never surfaced but one was
recorded a few months later (at 914 Sound Studios on Oct 16, 1974). Bruce later
used a few tidbits of lyric from "A Night Like This" for his early 1975
composition "Lonely Night In The Park", another uncirculating recording from the
BTR sessions.


PS: I signed up for the vine of this bootleg over at the Cadillac ranch.
Unfortunately, the d*mn bootleg seems to always get lost - I've sent it 3 times
now. If anyone would like to send a copy of this show to a british dude once
they've DLed, I'd appreciate it very much. Please PM me if you're interested :-)

There were also a few other discs that he asked for. I've in fact lost Genova
1999-06-11 (The Mom, the Aunt & Me). If anyone can send a copy of that show to
that collector,it would be great!

ENJOY!!!

Knut

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