Tunnel of Love Springsteen

LA Sports Arena, California 1988 is a live album by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band with The Horns of Love, released in July 2015 and the sixth official release through the Bruce Springsteen Archives.

The final U.S. stop on the Tunnel of Love tour is a powerful showcase for the album along with rare Springsteen originals and covers. Bolstering core Tunnel tracks are non-album gems “Be True,” “Seeds,” “Part Man, Part Monkey” and “Light of Day,” while Bruce taps his R&B, rock, blues and folk roots for covers of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” The Sonics’ “Have Love, Will Travel,” Woody Guthrie’s “Vigilante Man,” Edwin Starr’s “War,” Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops” and even a couple verses of Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild.” Plus, a soundcheck bonus track cover of Ed Townsend’s “For Your Love.”

Bruce Springsteen once said he intended to make an album with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector where he sang like Roy Orbison, a nifty summary of many, but not all, of his artistic ambitions and a key to his appeal.

The Tunnel of Love Express Tour's five-show station stop in Los Angeles wraps with this peak '88 performance on April 28. The core Tunnel setlist, including "Be True," "Brilliant Disguise," "Tougher Than The Rest," "I'm A Coward" and "Part Man, Part Monkey," has never sounded better. An irresistible encore features Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music" and a deserving homage to Northwest garage rock, as Bruce covers The Sonics' "Have Love, Will Travel." Rarer still and even more meaningful is the seminal cover of Ry Cooder's majestic masterpiece, "Across The Borderline," the sound of which echoes through Springsteen's writing ever since.

A stunning snapshot of the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour in its purest form, Detroit 3/28/88 serves as a showcase for the album’s key songs including “Two Faces,” “All That Heaven Will Allow, “Spare Parts,” “Brilliant Disguise,” “Tougher Than The Rest, “One Step Up,” the title track and most notably the first live archive release of “Walk Like A Man.” The 30-song set also features a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” and the “Detroit Medley,” plus a bonus soundcheck performance of “Reason To Believe,” a song which never appeared in a Tunnel show.

It's understandable to label '90s Bruce Springsteen as a lost era. The Boss disbanded the E Street Band in 1989 and his only long-players during that time—Lucky Town, Human Touch and The Ghost of Tom Joad—marked an "experimental" turn away from arena rock. (Releasing three albums in ten years seemed especially like a slowdown since two came out on the same day in 1992.) Of course, that overlooks his soundtrack work—which earned him an Oscar and multiple Grammys—his steady touring throughout the decade (culminating in the E Street Band's return in 1999), and the fact that he and his wife were raising young children. Still, from 1993-2002, when The Rising debuted, there was precious little Springsteen to pore over.

The Tunnel of Love Express roared across the U.S. in the Spring of 1988. The E Street Band was augmented by The Horns of Love, formerly known as the Miami Horns, lead by Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg. The band took the stage in pairs, handing tickets to Terry Magovern, Bruce’s legendary right hand man, who sat at a ticket booth dressed as a carnival barker in front of a sign that read: “This is a dark ride.” Clarence strolled out solo and finally Bruce, before launching into a setlist featuring new songs from his recent LP Tunnel of Love as well as deep catalog tracks and rarely performed outtakes and covers.

The acclaimed 90-min radio broadcast from Stockholm ’88, remixed from multis and expanded to the full 34-song set. This rollicking Tunnel of Love tour de force has it all, as Bruce and the E Street Band, joined by the Horns of Love, storm through key tracks from the album, wide-ranging covers (“Boom Boom,” “Chimes of Freedom,” “I Can’t Help Falling In Love”), essential b-sides (“Roulette”), forgotten instrumentals (“Paradise By the ‘C’”), the acoustic “Born to Run” and so much more.

A stunning snapshot of the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour in its purest form, Detroit 3/28/88 serves as a showcase for the album’s key songs including “Two Faces,” “All That Heaven Will Allow, “Spare Parts,” “Brilliant Disguise,” “Tougher Than The Rest, “One Step Up,” the title track and most notably the first live archive release of “Walk Like A Man.” The 30-song set also features a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” and the “Detroit Medley,” plus a bonus soundcheck performance of “Reason To Believe,” a song which never appeared in a Tunnel show.