Bruce Springsteen Releases 1978 Live Recording To Benefit MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund

Bruce Springsteen has detailed a new archival release of a show he performed live in Houston in 1978. Proceeds from the sales of the live concert recording will go toward MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund supporting efforts in Florida and Texas.

Springsteen and The E Street Band featuring guitarist Stevie Van Zandt, drummer Max Weinberg, saxophonist Clarence Clemons, bassist Garry Tallent and keyboardists Roy Bittan and Danny Federici performed together on December 8, 1978 at The Summit in Houston. Video of the show was issued on DVD/BluRay as part of the 2011 The Promise: Darkness On The Edge of Town release, but this marks the first audio-only edition of the show.

An essay on the show written by Erik Flannigan reads in part:

But Houston stands strong on its own merits as a fantastic and vital show representative of the tour’s final leg and boasts an outstanding setlist and performance to match. The city has had a long relationship with Springsteen, as one of the first markets outside of the East Coast where he found a following before Born to Run. Bruce is well aware of that history during the show, name-checking Liberty Hall, site of a mini band residency in March 1974, before a scorching “Saint in the City,” and adding the unreleased early burner “The Fever” to the second set.

Those are but two of the highlights in a 27-song setlist packed with them. A look back to ‘74 is complemented by a peek into the future as Springsteen plays what at the time were three unreleased songs from his next album, The River, opening the second set with “The Ties That Bind,” after playing “Independence Day” in the first, and adding an unsettling “Point Blank” later in the show.

Head here to download or purchase a physical edition of Springsteen live in Houston in 1978.