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SPL's Must-have Bootleg List - The Ghost Of Tom Joad tour

PetePeteJukebox Graduate
We've talked about it in the past. Now let's do it.

Let's name the Top 5 bootlegs for each tour, with as many as 5 more suggestions. The sound has to be pretty damn good for a boot to make the list, but sound quality is not the sole criteria. We'll weigh in the performance (i.e., the energy level, the setting, the setlist, etc.) because that matters, too. Otherwise we'd all be listening to the Atlanta Rising boot, which won't even make the list.

I'll keep a running list here at the top of what the consensus seems to be for each tour. It will change, of course.
Anybody who wants other ideas can probably dig through this thread someday for suggestions that fell short. There are going to be a lot of excellent boots that don't make the list.
So let's get started.

This is the 'Ghost Of Tom Joad' tour thread, covering the dates 1995-11-21 to 1997-05-26.

1995-11-29 Berkeley (Berkeley Night, CC)
1996-02-17 Hamburg (Hamburg Night, CC)
1996-03-13 Stockholm (Cirkus Night, CC)
1996-04-19 Berlin (Berlin Night, CC)
1996-04-24 London (Brixton Night, CC)
1996-09-25 Akron (Tom Joad Blues)
1996-09-26 Ann Arbor (In Michigan Ev2)
1996-11-08 Freehold (Freehold Night, CC)
1996-11-26 Asbury Park (Asbury Park Night, CC)
1997-02-12 Sydney (Sydney Night, CC)
1997-05-07 Vienna (Ev2)



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jj74jj74Django
1996-09-26 Ann Arbor (In Michigan Ev2)
and there was a great sounding boot from a show in Austria if I remember correctly, I have to check

Edit:
1997-05-07 Vienna

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...to have just one thing, just one thing in your whole life that you do that makes you proud of yourself, I don't think that's too much for anybody to ask...

mikegmikegTougher Than The Rest
I would definitely cut the list of "best boots" for this tour down to these three:
1996-04-24 London (Brixton Night, CC)
1996-11-08 Freehold (Freehold Night, CC)
1996-11-26 Asbury Park (Asbury Park Night, CC)
Everything taken together (sound, performance, setlist) these are the outstanding shows.

There are a few more runners up, like Sydney, Berlin, Milano, Stockholm but then again, many more shows would have had a "runner up" quality ...
J jumpstoneMember
Originally Posted By: mikeg
I would definitely cut the list of "best boots" for this tour down to these three:
1996-04-24 London (Brixton Night, CC)
1996-11-08 Freehold (Freehold Night, CC)
1996-11-26 Asbury Park (Asbury Park Night, CC)
Everything taken together (sound, performance, setlist) these are the outstanding shows.

There are a few more runners up, like Sydney, Berlin, Milano, Stockholm but then again, many more shows would have had a "runner up" quality ...


I agree.
haukehaukeStolen Car
Originally Posted By: mikeg
I would definitely cut the list of "best boots" for this tour down to these three:
1996-04-24 London (Brixton Night, CC)
1996-11-08 Freehold (Freehold Night, CC)
1996-11-26 Asbury Park (Asbury Park Night, CC)
Everything taken together (sound, performance, setlist) these are the outstanding shows.

There are a few more runners up, like Sydney, Berlin, Milano, Stockholm but then again, many more shows would have had a "runner up" quality ...


Listen to the man... he's the only person on the planet who has all the shows from the tour (sans Salt Lake City, of course).
I think I would add Cirkus and Sydney, but as the core, these three should be it.

We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it

jj74jj74Django
we need two more 'standard' shows; Freehold and Asbury Park were special nights, but don't represent much of the GOTJ tour

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...to have just one thing, just one thing in your whole life that you do that makes you proud of yourself, I don't think that's too much for anybody to ask...

PatrickPatrickDuke Street King
Originally Posted By: mikeg
Originally Posted By: jj74
we need two more 'standard' shows; Freehold and Asbury Park were special nights, but don't represent much of the GOTJ tour


I had similar thoughts, maybe that is even a reason not to consider them at all? crazy


I would not think so; the final shows of the Rising and Magic tour, let alone WOAD, were not that representative for these tours either, so where would you make the cut? 5 Songs from the respective album? 10?
In this regard, it will for example be difficult to classify the recent NY shows in any category. Misc or WOAD? They are part of the tour, but WOAD....?
haukehaukeStolen Car
Originally Posted By: scoper
We need one from the '95 leg... how about 12/17/1995 Beacon Theatre? - Standard set for that point, 2nd performance ever of "The Wish".


I'm not sure we need one from 95. Personally I think the 96 Euro tour was superior to 95, and there are great boots from that leg - Stockholm, Hamburg, Milano, Berlin, Amsterdam... If something from 95 is needed, it would probably Berkeley Night.

We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it

S scoperTougher Than The Rest
Originally Posted By: hauke
Originally Posted By: scoper
We need one from the '95 leg... how about 12/17/1995 Beacon Theatre? - Standard set for that point, 2nd performance ever of "The Wish".


I'm not sure we need one from 95. Personally I think the 96 Euro tour was superior to 95, and there are great boots from that leg - Stockholm, Hamburg, Milano, Berlin, Amsterdam... If something from 95 is needed, it would probably Berkeley Night.


My point was that different parts of the tour should be represented - the '95-'96 US leg shows were very different from the later shows in Europe. There was a tape tree (remember those) distributed to over 1100 people on the Luckytown digest from the 12/5 DC show. This was before Bittorrents and Usenet groups made this stuff instantly available.
LBLB"old enough to know better"
Quote:
1996-03-13 Stockholm (Cirkus Night, CC)
1996-04-24 London (Brixton Night, CC)
1996-11-08 Freehold (Freehold Night, CC)
1996-11-26 Asbury Park (Asbury Park Night, CC)
1997-02-12 Sydney (Sydney Night, CC)

Amen.


I was considering making a case for a couple of others, but listened and compared setlists and I have to agree.

 

"I've done my best to live the right way"

C cephaserTougher Than The Rest
1995-11-29 Berkeley (Berkeley Night, CC) definitely deserves a place. It's the best example of the early shows from this long tour. With the exception of the two Christic Nights these shows were the first time in over twenty years that Springsteen had played solo and it was still a novel idea. You can hear the freshness in many of the songs on this night that became standards of the tour later on. Superb versions of Murder Incorporated and Born In The USA (before everyone got sick of the slide guitar) plus it has simply THE best version of Does This Bus Stop with the "60 Minutes" intro.
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