Springsteen Asbury

A triumphant return to Asbury Park wraps with a lively 24-song, closing-night set peppered with special guests. Bruce's setlist explores the exuberance of youth ("For You," "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City," "Spirit In The Night") and the realities of adulthood ("Tougher Than The Rest," "All That Heaven Will Allow," "When You're Alone"), along with tales of those living on the margins ("Straight Time," "Sinaloa Cowboys," "Across The Border"). Joining in the fun are Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, Danny Federici, Stevie Van Zandt, Vini Lopez, Richard Blackwell and the late Big Danny Gallagher, all of whom feature in a rollicking encore that opens with the tour premiere of "I Don't Want To Go Home."

This eight-disc box set includes the first seven albums by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, from 1973's Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. through 1984's Born in the U.S.A. (The River, having been a double album, is on two of the discs here)…

Designed as a companion to Bruce Springsteen's 2016 memoir Born to Run, Chapter & Verse provides something of an aural autobiography, tracing Springsteen's development from a Jersey garage rocker into one of the great American songwriters. Springsteen compiled the 18-track disc himself, intending his selection to mirror the themes in his book, so he balances epics with intimate miniatures since both kinds of songs can capture his quests for deliverance and escape. He alternates his well-known anthems ("Born to Run," "Badlands," "Born in the USA"), with a few other popular singles ("Brilliant Disguise," "The Rising") and a host of deep cuts, all of which tend to downplay both his romantic and hard-rocking sides.