“Round for round, pound for pound, there ain’t no finer band around.”

With every new concert unearthed from the Archive Series, an older release gets pushed to the back of the line. Obvious reasons for this include the freshness and unfamiliarity of a newer gig, but one factor in particular is the always improving audio quality in comparison to those shows mixed and mastered back when the Live Downloads project hadn’t found its groove. So despite the availability of The Agora ’78, Tower Theatre ’75 and Meadowlands Night #1 ’84, it’s not surprising that fans of the series will instead opt for Winterland, The Roxy and Los Angeles these days, regardless of how much they like any of the concerts released prior to the first First Friday in August 2017. In this blog post we’re going to look at that show from The Agora, and why despite its less than stellar audio quality in comparison to Winterland and Passaic, it’s still worthy of returning to and why it’s a cure for the blues no matter the season.

The Agora was the second official release in the Archive Series, though you could argue it was the Series’ actual debut seeing as Apollo 2012 was a tour preview show and one that had already aired in similar audio quality on Sirius XM two years prior. Of course, this night in Cleveland was also broadcast through the radio airwaves (only Atlanta remains unreleased of the Darkness Tour broadcasts…), but in listening to this again in 2020, the difference between the radio broadcast and official release is definitely notable. It’s not perfect, but it’s far from being as bad as I described when writing about it briefly in June 2018.

What’s perhaps even more impressive than the improvements in sound quality of the radio broadcast to The Agora and of The Agora to Passaic 20/9/78, is to listen to this show and think about how improved Springsteen and The E Street Band would be just over a month later in Passaic, playing their greatest ever show on September 19th. I’m certain a more polished mix would help, but their sound over the course of this just under three hour marathon is as uncooked as I’ve ever heard it. Sometimes it’s great: The echoes during Clarence’s solo and Bruce’s finale in “Jungleland”, as well as the opening verse of “Backstreets” are either from the acoustics in the Theatre or a result of the mastering, but whatever it is, they’re more than alright with me. On the other hand the train wreck that is “Sherry Darling” emphatically suggests that not quite everything was better in 1978. Bruce mixes up his words and Clarence hits the odd dud note, so it’s not exactly on the level of “Independence Day” from September 20th. Though that’s just live music when all is said and done.

It mightn’t be peak ’78, but The Agora does continue to offer, quite simply, a thoroughly enjoyable Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band performance, and even though it’s fun to compare and contrast looking for the perfect Archive Series gems, sometimes it really is nice to just sit back and listen to the music you love. This one has plenty of moments to love too, starting with Clarence’s booming “You couldn’t use the car ’cause you didn’t work late!” during “Summertime Blues”, before Danny’s (not so clear, but very crisp) organ captivates in “Badlands”. Bruce gives a shoutout to those listening on radio at the start of “Spirit in the Night” and states that what they’re about to hear isn’t an interference issue – “Don’t touch your dial this is not a test!“. Later on in the song he’ll quip, “I’m workin’ here!” to the awe-inspired Ohioans, but we know fine well that this was the easiest night-job he’d ever work.

For all of the fun, however, “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “Factory” reaffirm the theme of the tour’s album: Everything comes with a price, and as The Phantom’s organ nearly overshadows Bruce’s roaring vocals during the former, here Bruce ties the song directly into his monologue before “Factory”. He talks about his dad, and the two times he’d see him, firstly drinking alone inside a darkened kitchen every night (unknown to Bruce he was joined by his many demons), and then trying to get the car started at 6am so he could get to work. With these two tied together and the context of the struggles Bruce’s dad faced, his howl of “Till someday, they just cut it loose, cut it loose and let it drag ’em down” is so important for him in how it shows his awareness of learning from these struggles and cutting the chain to prevent a similar life. The lack of a thudding drumbeat by Max in “Factory” is representative of that too, as unlike the 80s versions where its indicative of the industrial factory wheel continually spinning, its absence here is a further example of this younger E Street Band attempting to break that wheel.

And once you break that wheel, you’re fresh on your way to finding your promised land. The Darkness track and E Street concert mainstay is one of the night’s finest examples of Bruce and The Band not quite being at their peak courtesy of an opening that feels a bit over the place due to Bruce, Danny and Max not sounding in sync. They definitely find their footing more as the song progresses, though, and at no point is this not enjoyable – so you could say in summary that it’s a typical version of the song. Speaking of intros, “Prove It All Night” is blazing with Bruce going to town on his Fender Esquire in the famous ’78 opening. What’s fascinating about it is that, in comparison to some of the other versions we’ve gotten from the Darkness Tour, the guitar playing in this one sounds somewhat conservative (to use the word very loosely). As I said above where it concerns this concert and some of the songs played, there’s still work to be done, albeit not as much on this one as there is on others.

The usual tour first set closers, “Racing in the Street”, “Thunder Road” and “Jungleland” with its theatre acoustics in abundance wrap up the first hour strongly. “Racing” offers several nice moments including a break in Bruce’s voice when he sings “seven eleven store“, a stretch out of the “calling out around the world” line and a slight emphasis to “we’re gonna ride to the sea“. Once more there’s some echo in the vocals, which adds excellent atmosphere, and Bruce’s harmonica playing to begin the coda is superb too. The coda isn’t bad either, as Roy’s piano playing is masterful, managing to overshadow Danny’s organ and it leads into a solidly performed “Thunder Road”, which is of course preceded by Bruce’s desert / “Land of peace, justice and no mercy” monologue. “Thunder Road” is somewhat uneventful, a good version of the song, but there’s nothing about it that really stands out in comparison to “Racing” and “Jungleland”. The latter isn’t an ideal listen, as there’s the tiniest jump at the beginning. We can’t always expect these releases from over forty years ago to sound 100% perfect, but it’s still unfortunate when there are glitches. Regardless, it’s all good afterwards and Danny gets his revenge on Roy through dominating the song (until Clarence takes over). Seriously, listen to the track from the “they’ll meet ‘neath that giant exxon sign” lyric, Danny’s playing is phenomenal and it might be the highlight of the song – though I do really like the gritty way in which Bruce sings “they just stand back and let it all be”.

After such a strong first set, I wouldn’t say its wrong to find the songs opening the second quite underwhelming. “Paradise By The ‘C'” is a fun E Street Band showcase, but it’s always felt like a non-essential listen to me. I feel similar about “Fire”, though the track does give Garry a chance to shine, while featuring a lovely piano melody from Roy around the 1:45 point. It’s not until the trio of “Not Fade Away – Gloria – She’s The One” starts that the show begins to get back on its way. I’ve written in the past about this “Not Fade Away”, and I still believe the lesser audio quality has its benefits in making for a darker ambiance. Additionally, Bruce’s vocals contrasting from an Orbison-esque range to outright aggressive are a great way of leading into that immense guitar riff (listen out for the touch of “Misirlou” around 4:27 – 4:32). “Gloria” in comparison is very short, lasting about a minute, but it’s not without its highlights too. I really like how Bruce’s vocals are full on fiery, and Miami Steve’s “oh-ohs” after Bruce spells out Gloria’s name is fantastic. I suppose it helps that Danny and Max are playing the melody of “She’s The One” in the background mind, and when they finally get to it, the Born to Run track is very well performed here. Bruce has gone full Orbison in his vocals (there are some exceptions, “in the bitterness” at 10:00 is a good example) and Miami’s guitar licks are stupendously good. “She’s The One” is excellent on the six other releases from 1978, and The Agora is no exception.

“but don’t tell him nothin’ about that goddamn guitar!“

It’s all about the interludes in the next three, and while the band introduction in “Rosie” is fun, even including a rendition of “Macho Man” to describe Clarence (“I was afraid of that.“), “Growin’ Up” and “Backstreets” just edge it. The Greetings track on this night has shades of the “lawyer, doctor, rock n’ roll star” monologue that Bruce told at The Roxy a month earlier, but what sets this apart are those two words before the song even starts: “Teenage Werewolf“. Honestly it might be the maddest thing I’ve ever heard listening to a Springsteen show, and bear in mind he says two minutes before this that he once got sent home from school for “pissing in his desk“! Yeah, there’s a lot to take in from this thirteen minute “Growin’ Up” and that’s not including the actual song portions either. For those of you who prefer the song to the chatter, all three of these are played very well, and Bruce’s guitar playing is stellar once again when his autobiography (before his actual autobiography) kicks back in, and also during his “Backstreets” solo. It’s definitely the “Sad Eyes” solo that’s worth coming back to the latter for though. Sung with the right amount of sadness, fire and anger, this particular interlude might very well top the one from The Roxy, it’s just a shame the audio hinders it.

Romantic renditions of “Sandy”, “Born to Run” and “Because The Night” are the obvious highlights of the encore, but the combination of “Raise Your Hand” and “Twist and Shout” to end the night hark back to what I was saying in my last Previously blog post as they do their job excellently in closing the concert on a high. Of these five, it’s “Born to Run” that stands out the most, performed with a brilliant balance of calm and urgency evident in Bruce’s vocals, Max’s tempo, Clarence’s sax playing, and featuring subtle moments of stunning guitar playing (listen to those riffs at 0:33 and 1:07), this is a shout for one of the best versions of the song released in the entire series. We can say the same for “Because The Night” too, because the intro mightn’t be as long as the one at Winterland #2, but the guitar sounds nearly as magical regardless. The song was mainly in the encore around this time for its chart popularity – Patti Smith had only released the song five months earlier – but this version of the song had just as much right to be encore worthy here as any song Springsteen has written not named “Born to Run”. A sensational performance.

The Agora ’78 doesn’t sound as good as other shows released from 1978, and, if anything, listening to this concert highlights just how much Springsteen and The E Street Band would improve as the tour progressed. It’s an enjoyable listen nonetheless, and even though I’ve made comparisons to other song performances within, this might serve as a reminder that it isn’t always about one concert sounding better or outright being better than the other, it’s purely about enjoying the music.

Rating: 7/10

Kieran’s recommended listening from August 9th, 1978 – Cleveland, OH – The Agora:

“Summertime Blues”, “Spirit in the Night”, “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, “Factory”, “Prove It All Night”, “Racing in the Street”, “Not Fade Away – Gloria – She’s The One” , “Growin’ Up”, “Backstreets”, “Born to Run” and “Because The Night“.

You can download this show from the Darkness Tour here.