Bruce Springsteen, Gov. Brendan Byrne and an arena that rocked

Bruce Springsteen and the late New Jersey Gov. Brendan Byrne, who died Thursday, Jan. 4 at the age of 93, are inextricably linked for Jersey music fans.

Springsteen of Freehold played many big shows at the Meadowlands area in East Rutherford when it was called the Brendan Byrne Arena from 1981 to 1996.

The E Street Band opened the place on July, 2, 1981.

“I never seen nothing like this,” said Springsteen to the crowd.

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The show, part of the original “The River” tour, was the first of six at the new arena for the E Street Band.

“That was the best show ever,” said Springsteen after the show, according to Rolling Stone. “We couldn’t hear each other onstage. I felt like the Beatles.”

The Boss debuted a re-arranged cover that would become a signature song for him that night: “Jersey Girl” by Tom Waits.

A pre-teen Henry Vaccaro Jr. of Asbury Park saw the July 5 show of the opening run.

“For my 10th birthday all I wanted was Pony jacket and Dave Marsh’s ‘Born to Run’ book, which got me more hooked,” Vaccaro said. “I cut out the pictures and shellacked then on my wood skateboard, which I scooted around on wearing my Pony jacket! I Bought ‘Wild Innocent,’ ‘Greetings’ and ‘Born to Run’ and finally got to see him on ‘The River’ tour at Brendan Byrne.”

Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to the Byrne Arena in the summer of ‘84 as they moved from rock stardom to cultural icon status. The played a 10-show run in August closing with a marathon 33-song concert on Aug. 20 as part of the “Born in the U.S.A." tour. Bruce and the E Street Band would return to East Rutherford the following year for four shows across the parking lot at Giants Stadium.

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The next time Springsteen played the Byrne area, it was in 1992 with what is now called “The Other Band” – the group Springsteen assembled after dismantling the E Street Band. “The Other Band” played an 11-show run at the Byrne Arena in support of the “Lucky Town” and “Human Touch” albums.

Springsteen and the Other Band returned to the Byrne in June of ‘93 for a show benefitting area food banks. He brought along a few friends –- members of the E Street Band.

“Springsteen could have had all the E Streeters on stage at once, but he chose to bring them up one by one, thus avoiding – perhaps deliberately – an E Street reunion where all of the musicians were on stage at the same time,” wrote Robert Santelli in a review for the Asbury Park Press.

“Van Zandt was introduced first and performed ‘Glory Days’ with Springsteen. Next up was Southside Johnny, who, along with Springsteen, Van Zandt and the Miami Horns, did a riveting rendition of ‘It’s Been a Long Time” from Southside’s “Better Days’ album. Clarence Clemons followed and garnered a thunderous ovation as Springsteen and the band broke into ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out’ and ‘Born to Run.’ Finally, Weinberg was introduced and was met with an equally enthusiastic roar. He played ‘Jersey Girl’ with Springsteen.

“The response the E Street members got had to make an impact on Springsteen. Though the musicians he replaced the E Streeters with are certainly competent, they in no way have ever matched the flawless musicianship, long friendship and rock ‘n’ roll intimacy Springsteen enjoyed with his original unit.”

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After that, the state sold the naming rights of the arena to Continental Airlines in 1996, thus ending the run of the Brendan Byrne Arena. It became the Izod Center in 2007 and was closed by the state in 2015.

“I was immortal for 15 years,’’ said Byrne to the Star-Ledger. “Continental Airlines has promised to upgrade me to the arena section of their airplanes.”

Springsteen and the E Streeters returned to the arena several times after the name change, including a record-breaking 15-show run to start “The Rising” tour in August of 2002.

But it’s a Byrne Arena show that Springsteen has just release a recording of, via live.brucespringsteen.net. MP3s are now available, and CDs can be pre-ordered for the June 24, 1993 Other Band/E Street Band reunion show. Prices range from $12.95 for an MP3 to $49.95 for a DSD.

As for Brendan Byrne, he’s still immortal to Jersey music fans.

Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com. Twittter: @chrisfhjordan