As part of his monthly live archival series, Bruce Springsteen has just issued yet another classic show from the E Street Band's famed tour behind 1984's Born In The U.S.A. The new set was taped on August 22nd, 1985 during “The Boss'” 10-night hometown run at New Jersey's Giants Stadium.
Giants Stadium – East Rutherford, NJ – August 22nd, 1985 marks the fifth archival show from the 1984 – 1985 Born In The U.S.A. tour — and the second from the '85 stadium leg.
In addition to including a whopping 10 tracks from Born In The U.S.A., the album includes runthroughs of the then-unreleased “Seeds,” the “Dancing In The Dark” B-side “Pink Cadillac,” covers of Jimmy Cliff's “Trapped” and Tom Waits' “Jersey Girl” — and none other than Steven Van Zandt sitting in for the final five songs of the night.
Bruce Springsteen has always had his pulse on the life of the common man and even after he attained wealth and fame, he never lost sight of what he believes is the real America. He never set out to be an example because he looks at his achievements as being based mainly on luck: “In my story I saw in certain places, y'know, 'Local boy makes good,' 'This is the U.S.A. — anybody can do it' — y'know, and that's not true. Hey, hard work can get you someplace, of course it can. And if you're one in a million, maybe y'know, for whatever reasons, you fall into fortune or you pursued it and it happened. But to generalize that story is where things go wrong. Y'know, hard work is not enough. You can ask all the unemployed steel workers.”
Drummer Max Weinberg reflected on the era-defining 1984-1985 Born In The U.S.A. tour, which spanned the globe over the course of 156 shows: “The record was a big hit — the ('Dancing In The Dark') video had a lot to do with that. Suddenly, 75 percent of our audience at the concerts were guys — now, it was a preponderance of girls and women at our shows. And Bruce, certainly, turned into a video star; I'm not sure he altogether felt comfortable with that role, but we were on a tour and the tour took on a life of its own. We did about 170 shows all around the world. It was a fabulous experience because we had finally gotten to the place we always wanted to be — in terms of putting on a show, playing big places — it was quite a time.”
The tracklist for 'Giants Stadium – East Rutherford, NJ – August 22nd, 1985' is:
“Born In The U.S.A.,” “Badlands,” “Out In The Street,” “Johnny 99,” “Seeds,” “Atlantic City,” “The River,” “I'm Goin' Down,” “Working On The Highway,” “Trapped,” “Glory Days,” “The Promised Land,” “My Hometown,” “Thunder Road,” “Cover Me,” “Dancing In The Dark,” “Hungry Heart,” “Cadillac Ranch,” “Downbound Train,” “I'm On Fire,” “Pink Cadillac,” “Bobby Jean,” “This Land Is Your Land,” “Born To Run,” “Two Hearts,” “Twist And Shout / Do You Love Me,” “Jersey Girl,” and “Sherry Darling”
