Out now is The Live Series: Songs Of Character, Bruce Springsteen's latest “greatest hits” collection from his officially sanctioned archival live bootleg series.
The new 15-track compilation, features “The Boss” chronologically over the years — both with and without the E Street Band — spanning gigs from October 18th, 1975 in Los Angeles through February 7th, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.
Songs Of Character follows the other thematic Live Series sets Songs Of Location, Songs Of The Road, Songs Of Friendship, Songs Of Hope, Songs Of Love, Songs From Around The World, the two-volume Songs Under Cover, Songs Of Summer, and the all-acoustic comp — Stripped. The collections are the joint product of the Legacy imprint of Springsteen's Sony label and Nugs.net, which produces and distributes his monthly archival sets.
Guitarist Steve Van Zandt told us that the E Street Band is built on spontaneity and is able to keep their shows so flexible because they don't fall into the same traps as other touring groups: “Y'know, I know a lot of bands, they just play the same sets, 'cause they have that (laughs) expensive production that has to be coordinated — which we don't have. Y'know, we're like the light man, the sound man, (laughs) they'll catch up — they'll figure it out by the second verse. We don't care. It's all about the music, it's all about the relationship with the audience and we kind of just go for it. I'm very proud that we're able to turn arenas, and even stadiums, into clubs.”
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band next performs on April 28th in Barcelona, Spain.
The tracklisting to The Live Series: Songs Of Character is:
“Carol” (The Roxy, West Hollywood, CA – October 18, 1975)
“Kitty’s Back” (Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ – September 19, 1978)
“Mona / Preacher’s Daughter / She’s The One” (Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA – December 15, 1978)
“Sherry Darling” (Wembley Arena, London, UK – June 5, 1981)
“Janey Don’t You Lose Heart” (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA – September 27, 1985)
“Gloria’s Eyes” (Boston Garden, Boston, MA – Dec 13, 1992)
“Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” (Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ – Nov 26, 1996)
“Maria’s Bed” (The Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA – May 17, 2005)
“Bobby Jean” (Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden – June 25, 2005)
“Leah” (Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, NJ – November 22, 2005)
“Mary Queen Of Arkansas” (HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY – November 22, 2009)
“Cynthia” (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ – September 22, 2012)
“Frankie Fell In Love” (Perth Arena, Perth, AU – February 5, 2014)
“Linda Let Me Be The One” (BB&T Center, Sunrise, FL – April 29, 2014)
“Long Tall Sally” (Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, AU – February 7, 2017)