Born in the U.S.A. Tour

Tour highlights

• June 29, Saint Paul, Minnesota–First show of the tour, including the filming of the iconic "Dancing in the Dark" music video. Patti Scialfa and Nils Lofgren make their E Street Band debuts.
• July 12, East Troy, Wisconsin–A Born in the U.S.A. outtake called "Man at the Top" was played live for the first time. It would be officially released 14 years later, on the Tracks album, in a different arrangement.
• August 5, East Rutherford, New Jersey–Springsteen played the first show of a ten-night stand at the Brendan Byrne Arena.
• August 6, East Rutherford, New Jersey–The versions of "Nebraska" and "No Surrender" played here appeared on Live/1975-85.
• August 19, East Rutherford, New Jersey–"Reason to Believe" appeared on Live/1975-85.
• August 20, East Rutherford, New Jersey–"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", with the Miami Horns, appeared on Live/1975-85. Steve Van Zandt also made his first appearance with Springsteen since leaving the E Street Band, playing on the song "Two Hearts" and a cover of "Drift Away".
• August 25–29, Landover, Maryland–Springsteen played four shows over six nights here. "Be True" made its first live appearance on August 26. George Will attended one of these shows, inspiring him to write a column extolling Springsteen as an exemplar of patriotic values.
• September 14, Philadelphia–Springsteen played the first show of a six-night stand at the Spectrum.
• October 15, Vancouver, British Columbia–The show had to be stopped temporarily when unruly fans rushed the stage.
• October 19, Tacoma, Washington–For the first time since 1974, the Springsteen classic "Rosalita" was not played. It would be played infrequently on the rest of the tour.
• October 25, Los Angeles–First of seven concerts at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
• November 16, Ames, Iowa–The Born in the U.S.A. outtake, "Sugarland", made its debut. Its only other appearance on the tour (and in concert overall) came two nights later in Lincoln, Nebraska.
• December 6, Birmingham, Alabama–The Birmingham, Alabama show at the BJCC Coliseum is notable for being the only show of the entire Born in the U.S.A. tour to not sell out.
• December 14, Memphis, Tennessee–Steve Van Zandt once again played on "Two Hearts".
• January 18, Greensboro, North Carolina–Gary U.S. Bonds and Robbin Thompson made an appearance on "Twist and Shout".
• January 26, Syracuse, New York–Springsteen played his first true stadium show at the Carrier Dome, in the final U.S. show until August.
• March 21, Sydney, Australia–Springsteen played the first of eight Australian concerts.
• March 31, Brisbane, Australia–Springsteen played his first outdoor stadium show at QE2 Stadium.
• April 10, Tokyo, Japan–The first of eight Japanese shows, the only time Springsteen and the E Street Band have fronted a tour in Japan.
• June 1, Slane Castle, Ireland–The first European show of the tour included the one and only time Springsteen has covered "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" by the Beach Boys.
• July 4, Wembley Stadium, London– Springsteen starts with a solo performance of "Independence Day".
• August 5, Washington, D.C.–Springsteen began his first stadium tour at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium "Man at the Top" was played for the second and final time on the tour after premiering one month and one year earlier at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, before it reappeared nearly 30 years later on the closing night of the European leg of the Wrecking Ball World Tour in 2013.
• August 11, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–The show at Three Rivers Stadium was seen by 65,935 fans, the largest concert in Pittsburgh history.
• August 18, East Rutherford, New Jersey–Springsteen played his first concert at Giants Stadium, a venue he would visit many more times throughout his career, and which would eventually become the subject of his song "Wrecking Ball" 25 years later. This show was the first of six at the stadium on this tour.
• August 19, East Rutherford, New Jersey–The performances of "Working on the Highway", "Born to Run", "Johnny 99", and "I'm on Fire" all appeared on Live/1975-85.
• August 21, East Rutherford, New Jersey–The performances of "Bobby Jean" appeared on Live/1975-85.
• September 27, Los Angeles–A four-night stand at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum began. "Janey, Don't You Lose Heart" and "War" were played for the first time, with the performance of "War" being included in the Live/1975-85 set and released as a single in 1986.
• September 30, Los Angeles–The performances of "Born in the U.S.A.", "Seeds", "The River, "Darlington County", "The Promised Land", "Cover Me", and "My Hometown" all appeared on Live/1975-85.
• October 2, Los Angeles–Final show of the tour.

Broadcasts and recordings

Nearly half of Live/1975-85 consists of songs from the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, incorporating songs from the August 6, August 19, and August 20 shows in 1984, and the August 19, August 21, and September 30 shows in 1985.

Several shows have been released as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archives:

• Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984 released on May 13, 2015
• Brendan Byrne Arena, August 20, 1984 released on March 2, 2018
• Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Sept 27, 1985 released on April 5, 2019
• Brendan Byrne Arena, August 6, 1984 released on September 18, 2020
• Giants Stadium, August 22, 1985 released on July 23, 2021
• Brendan Byrne Arena, August 19, 1984 released on August 5, 2022

Tour dates

;Festivals and other miscellaneous performances :This concert was part of Slane Concert

Songs performed

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

• "Growin' Up"
• "Spirit in the Night"

The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle

• "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"

Born to Run

• "Backstreets"
• "Born to Run"
• "Jungleland"
• "Night"
• "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"
• "Thunder Road"

Darkness on the Edge of Town

• "Badlands"
• "Candy's Room"
• "Darkness on the Edge of Town"
• "Factory"
• "The Promised Land"
• "Prove It All Night"
• "Racing in the Street"

The River

• "Cadillac Ranch"
• "Hungry Heart"
• "I'm a Rocker"
• "Independence Day"
• "Out in the Street"
• "Point Blank"
• "Ramrod"
• "The River"
• "Sherry Darling"
• "Stolen Car"
• "Two Hearts"
• "Wreck on the Highway" Nebraska
• "Atlantic City"
• "Highway Patrolman"
• "Johnny 99"
• "Mansion on the Hill"
• "My Father's House"
• "Nebraska"
• "Open All Night"
• "Reason to Believe"
• "State Trooper"
• "Used Cars"

Born in the U.S.A.

• "Bobby Jean"
• "Born in the U.S.A."
• "Cover Me"
• "Dancing in the Dark"
• "Darlington County"
• "Downbound Train"
• "Glory Days"
• "I'm Going Down"
• "I'm on Fire"
• "My Hometown"
• "No Surrender"
• "Working on the Highway"

Other

• "Be True"

• "Because the Night"

• "Fire"

• "Follow That Dream"

• "Janey, Don't You Lose Heart"

• "Johnny Bye Bye"

• "Man at the Top"

• "Pink Cadillac"

• "Sad Eyes"

• "Seeds"

• "Shut Out the Light"

• "Stand on It"

• "Sugarland"

• "California Sun"

• "Can't Help Falling in Love"

• "Detroit Medley"

• "Do You Love Me?"

• "Drift Away"

• "High School Confidential"

• "I Don't Want to Go Home"

• "I Fought the Law"

• "I Hear a Train"

• "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide"

• "Jersey Girl"

• "Kansas City"

• "Louie Louie"

• "Memphis Tennessee"

• "My Old Kentucky Home"

• "Mystery Train"

• "New Orleans"

• "Raise Your Hand"

• "Rave On!"

• "Rockin' All Over the World"

• "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town"

• "Street Fighting Man"

• "Sweet Soul Music"

• "Tallahassee Lassie"

• "Theme from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly"

• "This Land is Your Land"

• "Trapped"

• "Travelin' Band"

• "Twist and Shout"

• "Wabash Cannonball"

• "War"

• "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)"

• "Who'll Stop the Rain"

• "A Woman's Got the Power"

• "Wooly Bully"

• "Across the Borderline"

• "Bad Moon Rising"

• "Beneath the Floodline"

• "Blinded by the Light"

Sources

Personnel

• Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, guitars, harmonica
• Clarence Clemons – saxophone, congas, percussion, background vocals
• Garry Tallent – bass guitar
• Danny Federici – organ, glockenspiel, piano, synthesizer
• Roy Bittan – piano, synthesizer, background vocals
• Max Weinberg – drums
• Nils Lofgren – guitars, background vocals
• Patti Scialfa – background vocals, synthesizer, tambourine

Special guests

• Courteney Cox (6/29/84 – danced with Springsteen on "Dancing in the Dark" which was captured in the music video)
• J.T. Bowan (8/9/84)
• John Entwistle (8/11/84)
• Southside Johnny (8/12/84)
• Steven Van Zandt (8/20/84, 12/14/84, 12/16/84, 12/17/84, 7/3/85, 7/4/85, 7/6/85, 7/7/85, 8/22/85)
• The Miami Horns (8/19/84, 8/20/84, 9/14/84)
• Pamela Springsteen (10/22/84 – danced with Bruce on "Dancing in the Dark")
• Gary U.S. Bonds (1/18/85)
• Robbin Thompson (1/18/85)
• Eric Clapton (6/1/85)
• Pete Townshend (6/1/85)
• Jon Landau (9/29/85, 10/2/85)
• Julianne Philips (10/2/85 – danced with Bruce on "Dancing in the Dark")

References

Notes

References

1. Pertout, Andrián. (1 March 2000). "Bruce Jackson: Sonic Guru". Mixdown.
2. Cullen, Jim. (2005). "Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen and the American tradition". Wesleyan University Press.
3. Smith, Larry David. (2002). "Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and American song". Praeger.
4. Marsh, Dave. (2006). "Bruce Springsteen on tour, 1968–2005". Bloomsbury Publishing.
5. Fricke, David. (February 27, 1986). "The Long and Winding Road".
6. "The Official Bruce Springsteen concert CD & DVD collection".
7. "Brucebase 1984".
8. "Brucebase 1985".
9. "Backstreets.com: 2017–2018 Setlists".
10. "Bruce Springsteen Setlists | Greasy Lake".
11. "Helsinki '03".