Best of The Boss: Bruce Springsteen’s 10 best Philadelphia shows

Bruce Springsteen’s history in the Philadelphia market — yes, he broke here first, to the embarrassment of New York gatekeepers — is well documented. Fans around the globe are aware that something special is likely when the Boss finds himself on the streets of Philadelphia.

Springsteen and his compadres are scheduled to play a sold-out show at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday, though excitement about the show’s arrival has been combined with angst as Springsteen has postponed three consecutive concerts in the run-up to the Philly date “due to illness.”

This list of the 10 best Springsteen Philadelphia shows — reaching back to a legendary 1975 date that was actually in Bryn Mawr — will stand as either required pre-show reading or a way to tide yourself if the Thursday show is canceled. (If rescheduled, the shows are expected later this year, presumably before the band heads to Europe in May and returns for outdoor shows at Citizens Bank Park in August.)

The top 10 is definitive — as far as I’m concerned, anyway — though also highly personal. It’s in chronological order, but if I had to put one on top, it would be No. 3. The first two shows are from before my time, but widely available.

So here’s my list. Go ahead, tell me what an idiot I am for leaving out your favorite show.

Between January 1973 and February 1975, Springsteen all but lived at the Main Point. He played 45 shows at the coffeehouse on Lancaster Avenue over 24 nights. The Frank Stefanko photo on the cover of the 1998 box set Tracks was taken upstairs at the venue.

This 2 ½-hour concert broadcast on WMMR-FM (93.3) was hosted by Ed Sciaky. Sciaky was one of the station’s early Springsteen’s supporters, along with David Dye — whom the Boss gives props to in his Born to Run memoir.

» READ MORE: Who broke Bruce Springsteen big in Philly?

This show, widely available as the bootleg You Can Trust Your Car To The Man Who Wears A Star, comes from the brief period when the band included Israeli violinist Suki Lahav, who adds grace to “Incident on 57th Street” and “Jungleland.” The set includes, among others, Bob Dylan’s “I Want You,” Chuck Berry’s “Back In The U.S.A.” and also “Wings For Wheels,” the incubatory version of “Thunder Road” in which it’s Angelina’s, not Mary’s, dress that waves or sways.

Born To Run was released in August, and Springsteen was on the covers of both Time and Newsweek in October. He celebrated with a four-night run at the Tower. The show, available on Nugs.net, includes a high drama version of the Animals’ “It’s My Life” and a sweet cover of Manfred Mann’s “Pretty Flamingo.” If you notice the guitar sound thinning out, it’s because Steve Van Zandt exited the stage. He had the flu.

When asked what was the best show I’ve ever seen, my answer is: either something incredible that happened just last week, or Springsteen, Dec. 9, 1980, at the Spectrum.

The Dec. 8 show, two months into The River tour, was my first Springsteen show. We slept out in South Philly to get tickets, and and drank a lot of beer. After the show we went to Pat’s Steaks, and several members of the band were there. Then word spread: John Lennon had been shot to death.

The next night, I went back with my brother Nick, unsure if we should even be there. Before “Born To Run,” Springsteen said, “It’s an unreasonable world and you have to live with a lot of things that are just unlivable. It’s a hard thing to come out and play but there’s just nothing else you can do.” The show peaked with “Twist and Shout,” playing like an existential struggle that Springsteen made everyone feel we were fighting together.

Springsteen blew up big time in 1984. His six-show Spectrum run was immediately followed by Ronald Reagan famously misinterpreting “Born in the U.S.A.” as a patriotic anthem, a pivotal moment in Springsteen’s career pushed him to the left politically.

This third show of six at the Spectrum stood out for its gripping Nebraska songs like “State Trooper” and “Reason To Believe,” with propulsive Born in the U.S.A. material. “I’m Goin’ Down” was introduced as “a song the vicissitudes of love.” He covered ZZ Top’s “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” and he was.

From the Tunnel of Love tour, one of Springsteen’s best, underappreciated albums, full of emotionally complex love songs. Along with Edwin Starr’s “War” and Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” a cover of Gino Washington’s “I’m A Coward” allowed Springsteen to riff on his fear of commitment. “Part Man, Part Monkey” had him expressing his inability to control his animalistic impulses.

Springsteen played six nights in Philly in 1999 on an E Street Band reunion tour. Five shows were at what is now the Wells Fargo Center, but one was at the smaller, storied Spectrum. Postponed for eight days due to Hurricane Floyd, the new date landed one day after the Boss’ 50th birthday.

He came on stage with a boom box playing a tape of a song sung by a neighbor of his mother, and followed with “Growin’ Up.” Bits of Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday,” and Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” turned up, as did “The Fever,” the smoldering non-album cut popular on Philadelphia radio in the 1970s and 1980s.

I feel guilty about choosing this show, from the Devils & Dust tour, over dates for The Rising, the 2002 album that was a response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

But this show at the cozy Tower was from the most full realized non-band tour Springsteen ever did. (Shout out, too, to another solo gig: the rousing set on the Ben Franklin Parkway in support of Barack Obama in 2008.)

Songs from all phases of his career were smartly reinterpreted, but the keeper was the hypnotic, soulful cover of electronic duo Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream.” Up there with Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl” as a perfect expression of Springsteen’s aesthetic on a song he didn’t write himself.

This show on the first of two nights during the 2012′s Wrecking Ball tour included a performance of “Seaside Bar Song,” a freewheeling 1970s romp. “American Skin (41 Shots),” Springsteen’s haunting song about the police killing of Amadou Diallo in 1999 was dedicated to Trayvon Martin. The real reason this show is here is because it’s the only time Springsteen ever came into the audience, sat down one row in front of me, and drank a beer before getting back. He even let me snap a picture of him singing Eddie Floyd’s “Raise Your Hand.”

The second of two shows from Springsteen’s first stand at Citizens Bank Park. I missed the first because it conflicted with the inaugural Made in America festival, which ended with Jay-Z and Pearl Jam on stage.This Labor Day show was a powerful, brooding affair that opened with five straight songs from 1978′s Darkness on the Edge of Town, including a solo acoustic “Factory” and “Prove It All Night” with an extended guitar intro.

The myth of the four-hour Springsteen show is mostly just that. Three-hour marathons have been the norm since 1980, and this year concerts have been clocking in at 2 hours, 45 minutes.

The Boss went berserk at CBP in 2016. This opening night was the longest he ever played on U.S. soil: 4 hours, 4 minutes. Its follow-up came in at a mere 3 hours, 45 minutes.

» READ MORE: Bruce Springsteen gives Philly back the love he's always gotten here

This show began with not one, but 12, consecutive especially-for-Philly pre-Born To Run songs, starting with a 13-minute “New York City Serenade.” As good as that show was, the next one, which featured a guest spot by original E Street drummer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, a rare “Loose Ends,” and closing “Jersey Girl,” might have been better. Compare them on Nugs.net.