Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Akron Civic Theatre, Akron, OH, August 8, 1975

SETLIST: INCIDENT ON 57TH STREET / TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT / SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT / THE E STREET SHUFFLE / THEN SHE KISSED ME / GROWIN' UP / IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY / UP ON THE ROOF / SHE'S THE ONE / BORN TO RUN / BACKSTREETS / FUNK SONG / KITTY'S BACK / NEW YORK CITY SERENADE / ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) / 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) / A LOVE SO FINE / CAROL / QUARTER TO THREE

Venue capacity: 5,000

Akron is ready to party! The united denizens of south suburban Cleveland are here to see their boy. I know, he’s at the Allen Theatre in a couple of days, but that means absolutely nothing to Cleveland Springsteen fans. They are excited and chatty – but the incessant murmur settles down, a little bit at least, about five minutes into the solo piano version of “Incident” that opens this show. This evening in Akron is not the highest fidelity tape you will ever listen to, from this year or any other, but it is worth it! There’s some interesting modulation in the vocal melody in the second to last verse, but it is kind of a rag-tag version of “Incident.” That doesn’t mean bad, it’s just a little frayed around the edges and that’s not out of context to the song.

I can’t quite hear how Bruce intros “10th Avenue,” it’s either “this is a song from our new album” or something about walking into a 10th Avenue Freeze-Out, it doesn’t matter. This is another kind of bare-bones version, it’s been played out about a dozen times (we don’t have an exact number because there are missing setlists for a couple of dates), always in the #2 spot, usually right after “Incident.” “Spirit in the Night” is greeted like a long lost child, again, in the same position it has been this tour and the previous one and for what we know, even, of the tour before that one. 

Bruce sings the line about the coonskin cap in a Dylanesque cadence. You can definitely hear the difference between the still tentative nature of “10th Avenue” and this comfortable old-timer. He’s wearing it like his favorite jacket. Bruce is getting warmed up now, he is into it, at least judging by the scream he lets out right before the bridge.

The intro to “E Street Shuffle” is mostly off mic but you can hear him whisper something about Asbury Park; everyone in this audience has definitely heard the story before, or some version of it. The organ intro is slightly more ornate than usual, and then there’s a gorgeous little guitar solo before Bruce yells “BAND!” and it’s story time.