The Bootlegs

Main Point Night '75
Prodigal Son at Winterland '78
Nassau Night '80
Independence Night '85

Shout out for Vets '81 show based on performance, as the quality has always been lacking.

Someone else will say Christic, but you don't really need anything else.

Throw them all away. You only actually need one track. Incident from Main Point '75. Everything else just pales in significance.

My personal top ten, because I think there's a lot of Bruce you need post '85 ;-)

1. 1990-11-16 Christic Nights Ev2. There?s nothing that could be said that would do this one justice. My favorite boot by a long shot.

2. 1978-08-09 Summertime Bruce. For me it is neither Winterland or Passaic. Basically because The Teenage Werewolf rap is nowhere better than on this one. Winterland may have and edge on the raw emotion department and Passaic might be the tightest show they ever did but every single one of those radio shows is nit picking over Grand Crus.

3. 2000-06-15 NY I'll Show You Some Controversy. Near the end of the Reunion Tour the band sounded tighter than ever. This one has a killer Light of Day/Stand on It combo that must have been a simply thrilling and exhausting experience. Code of Silence and 41 Shots are on here as well. In my mind two of the best Springsteen compositions of the past ten years. The Meeting Across the River/Jungle Land duo makes this a boot of legends as well.

4. 1976-11-04 Streak Of Light Through The Tunnel. Alternated this one against the Ed Sckiaky tapes (which I have mixed with the Uber 33 on my Itunes). In the end the addition of the Miami Horns, the Ronnie Spector appearance, the lightning Rosalita and the definite version of It?s My Life make up for the sound drops on this one.

5. 1974-03-03 Saint in the City; Early Bruce, possibly the most beautiful NYC Serenade ever. I had a hard time deciding between the Main Point and this one. Main Point has that legendary Incident performance and many early versions of Born To Run songs. But in the end those versions are interesting but they don?t blow me away as much as the final versions. The NYC Serenade version on that boot also has a very annoying drop in sound quality.

6. 2006-11-11 Wembley Session First Night. I loved the Seeger Sessions. Although the band lost some of its raw edge in the second leg they were tight as hell. Blinded by the Light found its definite version here, Atlantic City, Open All Night and You Can Look came damn close if you ask me. Long Walk Home debuted here. One of my favorite songs to come out of that tour.

7. 2005-07-31 Columbus Prodigal Son's Night Of Debuts. A gorgeous show that comes as close to the Christic nights as the D&D tour ever got. Lift Me Up and Cynthia alone are enough to keep this boot on repeat.

8. 1984-09-18 Philadelphia The Last Time (Ev2). Glory Days is just great on this one and the finale has me bopping through my living room every time.

9. 2003-06-22 Gothenburg Midsummer Second Night. A whopper of a finale with my favorite version of Ramrod ever. Roy's rollicking piano is just great and it just sounds like the band really didn't want to go home when they take it into a 13 minute version of Twist and Shout.

10. 1981-08-20 As Dreams Don't Mean Nothing. The Holy grail of Springsteen if only the sound were a little better.

A question and an some additions (Although any fool would be glad to have Michael and SoulBoogie's list):

Is the siren real at the end of Incident at Main Point? Have heard it told both ways. An actual siren versus done with an instrument of some kind.

I would add:

1.04-Oct-2003 New York,NY Shea Stadium,Shea Last Dance.
2.07-Jul-1978 Los Angeles,CA The Roxy,USA.

Are you saying the final show of the Rising tour was a great show or a great boot?

Either way, I strongly disagree.

It's a stage prop, it can be heard on some other shows too:

29/11/74 - WAR MEMORIAL THEATRE, TRENTON, NJ
NOTE: This show is the first known appearance of the infamous ?police siren? sound effect prop, utilized on this night and the next 3 shows at the end of ?Saint In The City? and one final time at the Feb 1975 Main Point gig (at the end of ?Incident?).

My judgment is clouded having been there. I was putting it on the list for historical value, although I would say it falls in the good category and one you would want for your collection.

Roulette, Wish I Were Blind, Dylan, Blood Brothers made it pretty good.

thanks

There have been several threads related to this topic in the Bootleg Q&A forum but, with all the great recordings to recently surface as part of the Uber Series, it's worth revisiting the topic.

My current favorites - in chronological order:

Pre Born to Run:
1973-03-02 Berkeley SBD [bonus material on Before the Flood and Prodigal Son]
1974-01-06 Cambridge SBD [Joe's Place]
1974-03-03 Washington FM [Saint in the City]
1975-02-05 Bryn Mawr FM [The Saint, the Incident and the Main Point Shuffle M+]
1975-08-15 New York FM [The Way It Was]

Born to Run:
1975-10-17 Los Angeles FM [Down in Roxyland]

Darkness:
1978-07-07 Los Angeles FM [No Private Party]
1978-08-09 Cleveland FM [Summertime Bruce]
1978-09-19 Passaic FM [Piece De Resistance]
1978-12-15 San Francisco FM [Prodigal Son at Winterland]

The River:
1980-11-05 Tempe SBD [Live at Tempe]
1980-12-29 Uniondale SBD [Coliseum Night]
1980-12-31 Uniondale SBD [Nassau Night]
1981-08-20 Los Angeles AUD [As Dreams Don't Mean Nothin']

Born in the USA:
1984-07-26 Toronto SBD [Part of the Show]
1984-11-19 Kansas City AUD [Kansas City Night]
1985-06-29 Paris SBD [Breathless in Paris]

1986-10-13 Mountainview AUD [You Better Not Touch]

Tunnel of Love:
1988-07-03 Stockholm FM [Summernight]

1990-11-16 Mountainview SBD [The Christic Nights - Persic Recordings]

Human Touch/Lucky Town:
1993-05-20 Dublin SBD [Let's Play That Sun Into the Ground]

The Ghost of Tom Joad:
1996-03-13 Stockholm AUD [Cirkus Night]
1996-11-26 Asbury Park AUD [Asbury Park Night]

Reunion:
1999-10-23 Los Angeles IEM/AUD [Prodigal Son in the City of Angels]

The Rising:
2003-03-07 Atlantic City IEM/AUD [The Tables Are Waiting]

Devils & Dust:
2005-07-31 Columbus AUD [Devils, Dust & Debuts]
2005-11-08 Philadelphia AUD [The Philadelphia Devil]
2005-11-09 Philadelphia AUD [The Philadelphia Devil]

Seeger Sessions:
2006-10-31 Stockholm AUD [Stockholm Tonight]

Magic:
2007-10-17 New York AUD [New York Magic Night]

Blood Brothers seemed to mean something when he closed the 2000 tour with it; doing it again in 2003 seemed obligatory. And that Dylan appearance was terrible.

Post deleted by CarolJude

Terrible is kind. It was train wreck awful, but he is Dylan, so we all screamed DYLAN!!! (at least those over 40) and it was great

The thing with Dylan? Awful, but still terrific to see.

Of course it was, but there you go, I'll have it as my top show ever, just for the fact that Dylan was there, its not as though he's likely to be onstage with Timberlake, and the show was a lot better than you credit it.