Bruce Springsteen - 1981-07-06 Brendan Bryne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ (2025)

Reach Up And Touch The Sky Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Brendan Byrne Arena, E. Rutherford, NJ, July 6, 1981 By Erik Flannigan Bruce Springsteen began headlining arenas in the northeast as far back as October 1976 when he gigged two nights at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. He returned there for four concerts on the Darkness tour, and hit Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum, too, then yet again in late 1980 on the River tour along with various regional Gardens and Civic Centers. However, Springsteen wouldn’t play an arena show in his home state of New Jersey until July 1981 because, until then it didn’t have one. When the Brendan Byrne Arena opened in E. Rutherford, Bruce and the E Street Band christened the future home of the Nets and Devils with a sold-out, six-show stand.

The new building already made this summer run a special occasion, but it also functioned as a genuine homecoming for Springsteen. The Brendan Byrne shows marked the beginning of the end of a particular chapter of his life where he had undeniably “made it” as measured by external standards (e.g. Top Ten hit, No. 1 album, sold out arenas). The story of how he felt internally after the River tour is soon to be told elsewhere.

This recording from E. Rutherford night four on July 6, 1981 captures what might be one of the first shows where Springsteen didn’t have to lay it all on the line or prove it every night. That’s not to suggest it’s a lesser performance, far from it. But having just conquered Europe and in doing so opened a second front fanbase that would support him for decades to come, Bruce’s return to New Jersey was a victory lap. A flex for the converted. Tellingly, as joyful as the performance is, it is equally affecting when it visits the darker parts of the soul.

Opening with “Thunder Road” alone makes clear Springsteen is playing on his home court. The performance sets the standard for an evening of supreme confidence, and Bruce has an unmistakable hint of swagger in his voice.

Applying modern vernacular, by this point in 1981 he and the band were in flow state. “Prove It All Night” is teeming with brilliance: Stevie Van Zandt stretching “night” to two syllables in his backing vocals; Roy Bittan’s piano cutting through the guitar richness of the mix; Danny Federici’s organ astride Springsteen’s bendy guitar solo that carries the song to conclusion.

Van Zandt's instrumental inventiveness shows up repeatedly on the night. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” starts with a thicker, chugga-chugga riff than we’re used to and he leads the way with fine support from Bittan and a strong Clarence Clemons solo. E Street is on tonight and we quickly sense how much they are enjoying themselves.

“Darkness on the Edge of Town” brings additional thick guitar layers in a peak performance across the board ahead of the night’s first new song, “Follow That Dream.” The keyboard drone that starts this version is something Springsteen did as well on “Factory,” but the sound seems to suggest something entirely different here: not the drone of work, but something spiritual. “Follow That Dream” could be Springsteen’s first mantra or affirmation. The musical build of the arrangement: drone and vocal, followed by guitar, drum and bass, then piano, and finally a coda of five synthesizer notes is glorious.

Three tracks from July 6 were selected for Live/1975-85, and it's easy to see why this "Independence Day” was chosen. Springsteen tells the story about his father at the kitchen table in its most compassionate form, and his vocals shift powerfully between spoken word and singing, including a last “ahh” held until the final note.

Jon Altschiller’s mix offers clarity, proximity, and, as noted above, sets guitars as its foundation. As Bruce starts “Trapped,” we hear each pick-to-string nuance, while Van Zandt’s playing lashes the chorus, and his exquisite phrasing, particularly behind the second verse, shines.

The pair share the spotlight and the microphone for the first of two occasions on “Two Hearts” ahead of “The Promised Land,” which features fine Federici organ and satisfying support vocals from SVZ, notably his reading of “into my hands” in the second chorus. His later solo in “The Promised Land” is intriguingly Nils Lofgren-like, and moments later, he switches to acoustic guitar to paint the landscape for “The River.”

“This Land Is Your Land” is an example of further arrangement finesse, as Bruce plays Woody Guthrie’s song for America solo acoustic, until Bittan and Federici arrive with a poignant coda. The first set wraps with winning takes of “Who’ll Stop the Rain” (another robust Clemons solo), “Badlands” (where Max Weinberg gets his chance to show out a little) and “Out In the Street.”

With a couple of key exceptions, the second set is an upbeat celebration, commencing with a crowd-pleasing five pack of “Hungry Heart,” “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch),” “Cadillac Ranch,” “Sherry Darling,” and “Jolé Blon.” This is the same “Caddy” that made Live/1975-85 and it boasts impressive harmony vocals, including those of Garry Tallent. The seventh performance ever of the Gary U.S. Bonds classic might be the best “Jolé Blon” of them all, full of reverence and exuberance, as well as first-rate guitar work by Springsteen.

There’s a melancholic tone shift for “Johnny Bye Bye,” preceded by Springsteen’s story of seeing Elvis Presley in concert. The 1981 tour specialized in spare, pensive arrangements, and here it deepens the emotional heft of the song, as do Tallent’s enveloping bass notes. A tonally complementary “Racing in the Street” follows, the last of the Live/1975-85 picks, notable for the weaving of Springsteen and Van Zandt’s guitars in the heart-rending outro to an exemplary version.

But the touching sentiment barely lingers before the thick sludge of “Ramrod” shifts the mood to fun for the rest of the evening. Case in point: Springsteen roams wild and free in “Rosalita,” where his first band introduction “on the far left of the stage” is not to Bittan but crew member Tony “Brokowski” Gallichico, “behind the speaker there.”

The encore commences with one of the evening’s highlights as Springsteen and Van Zandt again share lead vocals on a jubilant, if in hindsight revealing “I Don’t Want To Go Home,” which Stevie penned for Southside Johnny’s debut album. It’s four minutes of pure New Jersey soul revue bliss.

“Jungleland” is an epic performance, benefitting from the guitar-soaked mix and again exhibiting the E Street Band at the top of their game: Springsteen brings his all to the lines “dressed in the latest rage” and “desperate as the night moves on”; Van Zandt reinterprets the guitar solo; and Bittan drops deeply moving piano refrains after Clemons’ crushes his saxophone centerpiece.

The pitch-perfect evening ends with “Born to Run” along with one further surprise as Springsteen adds two verses and choruses of Mitch Ryder’s spunky “Sock It to Me, Baby!” to the rest of the Ryder tunes in a 13-minute plus “Detroit Medley.”

What was to follow after the River tour may have been marked by isolation and uncertainty, but on this night Bruce Springsteen knew he had delivered greatness. “That’s all there is,” Springsteen concludes assuredly. “There ain’t no more.”



THE E STREET BAND

Bruce Springsteen - Lead vocal, guitar, harmonica; Roy Bittan - Piano, keyboards; Clarence Clemons - Tenor and baritone saxophones, percussion, backing vocal; Danny Federici - Organ, glockenspiel, keyboards; Garry Tallent - Bass; Stevie Van Zandt - Electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocal; Max Weinberg - Drums



Production Credits

Recorded with Record Plant Remote Truck by Toby Scott, assisted by David Bianco, Jack Crymes and Jim Scott

Original live recording production by Chuck Plotkin

24-track analog master reels transferred by Kevin Przybylowski and John K Chester at Sonicraft for Plangent Processes, overseen by Jamie Howarth; a portion of “Jungleland” and “Born to Run” restored from digital multitrack safety tape at George Blood LP, Fort Washington, PA

Mixed and Mastered by Jon Altschiller; Additional engineering by Danielle Warman

Mix Advisor: Rob Lebret

Post Production by Brad Serling and Arya Jha

Art Design by Michelle Holme

Cover Photo by Jim Marchese

Tour Director: George Travis

Management: Jon Landau


*CDs will ship the week of Oct 24, 2025

Tracklist
Set One
Thunder Road 6:07
Prove It All Night 5:02
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out 5:05
Darkness On The Edge Of Town 4:36
Follow That Dream 4:34
Independence Day 9:26
Trapped 5:09
Two Hearts 2:59
The Promised Land 6:31
The River 6:09
This Land Is Your Land 4:17
Who'll Stop The Rain? 3:45
Badlands 5:19
Out in the Street 5:56

Set Two
Hungry Heart 5:09
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) 3:20
Cadillac Ranch 5:03
Sherry Darling 5:03
Jole Blon 6:16
Johnny Bye-Bye 3:22
Racing in the Street 8:02
Ramrod 4:40
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) 13:13

Encore
I Don't Want to Go Home 4:08
Jungleland 11:13
Born to Run 4:47
Detroit Medley 13:52