"They filled the arena with a sustained roar like nothing I’d ever heard...The building shook."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

It was June 24, 1993, and Bruce Springsteen was ending his "Human Touch"/"Lucky Town" tour with two New York-area shows, one at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., the venue he’d opened in 1981. But this homecoming was different. Four years earlier, Springsteen had fired the members of his longtime E Street Band in favor of working with other musicians. He recorded two albums with studio pros, then toured behind the records with a new band put together shortly before hitting the road.

The fan reaction was mixed, to be kind. The touring band – though it featured some talented players – felt less like a new direction than an attempt to recreate the E Street sound without the actual E Streeters. It seemed as if that band’s 20 years of history had come to an ignominious end.

But there was something in the air that night in the Meadowlands. E Street guitarist Steven Van Zandt had come out to play on "Glory Days," and the crowd was buzzing when a horn section kicked into the intro for the E Street classic "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." Then, in the last verse, when Springsteen sang the line "When the change was made uptown/And the Big Man joined the band," the Big Man himself – saxophonist Clarence Clemons – came on stage, resplendent in a black suit and white hat, horn in hand, and blew a riff that brought the crowd to its feet. They filled the arena with a sustained roar that was like nothing I’d ever heard before. It drowned out the musicians on stage. The building shook.

Of all the times I’ve seen Clemons perform, that night is one of my most vivid memories. Not only for what a great show it was – and the amazing outpouring of love that met his appearance – but for what it signified. Less than two years later, Springsteen reformed the E Street Band to record new tracks for a greatest hits album. In 1998, he released a box set of unreleased songs, most featuring the E Streeters, and then launched a full-scale reunion tour the following year. The E Street Band was back, this time to stay.

http://www.salon.com/life/bruce_springsteen/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2011/06/19/clarence_clemons

[Wilms]

1. A phenomenon, there's no doubt.

I heard them in a baseball stadium. The sound was awful. We were awash in echo. But the crowd was THRILLED through-out. I enjoyed everyone enjoying the show as much as I enjoyed the show itself...perhaps more. Extremely impressive.

[bobburgster]

2. Here's an old one.

Who knows maybe Jerry and Clarence are probably playing somewhere again tonight.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc3ohWI9Ic0&feature=player_embedded

[kas125]

5. Yep, the Big Man is rockin' with the Fat Man again somewhere

where we can't hear them just yet. Nothing was as sweet as those JGB shows, it's nice to think that they're continuing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXkVxKQG1Ks

[abq e streeter]

3. The E Street Band shook every building I ever saw them in.

That had to have been an amazing moment the writer is describing though. I understand the need to sometimes experiment with playing with other people, after years with the same guys, but the E Street Band is simply the best band I've ever seen . Very few even in the same ball park. It was inevitable, to me, that they'd get back together. I saw them as recently as 2 years ago, and they rocked the Pepsi Center in Denver to its foundation.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. Can't imagine what they'd do to a small club...

...one of my favorite performances is "Murder Incorporated" live at Tramps (the version used in the video that was played on MTV). They get so damned close to the whole thing flying off the tracks and it doesn't, it just wails and resolves perfectly (and since we've all been posting Clarence solos today, in this one, he's "Peter Gunn" dangerous).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7hvKQ6Uhc

:toast:

[monmouth]

6. Yesterday afternoon the Stone Pony in Asbury Park held a Memorial

for Clarence. People from Philly and vacationers to the area from London attended. Much grief shown in their faces. The article may still be up with pics at www.app.com Front page most likely.