The times are tough, and at the moment there seems to be no endgame in sight. If you’re fortunate enough to be healthy and you’re simply staying at home, I can’t blame you for thinking everything’s miserable. There are no sports, no upcoming concerts or films to look forward to, because along with everything else they’ve all either been cancelled or pushed back to God knows when. So when you’re a Springsteen fan and it’s announced that this Live Downloads project you’ve been invested in for six years now will keep on running through the darkness seeping into the centre of our towns, you’re going to take whatever you can get, whether it’s the good, the bad or the Rome 2013 audio mix.

Fortunately the Archive Series very rarely deals in bad, and the good they give is oh so delightful on the ear, especially during a time such as this. April’s release – the second of two nights in Gothenburg – is, similarly to previous Wrecking Ball World Tour releases from Helsinki, East Rutherford, Leeds and Rome, an absolute powerhouse that combines Wrecking Ball album and back catalogue favourites into a marvellous three and a half hour marathon. I’ve written in the past about Springsteen and The E Street Band’s endeavours in Gothenburg and how there’s usually something in the air that leads to a show worthy of being cited as a tour’s best. On this occasion we’ll put it down to there being something in the rainwater falling from the sky that led to one of the Wrecking Ball World Tour‘s most memorable nights, or at the very least a semi-thematic setlist featuring rain themed tracks: “Who’ll Stop The Rain”, “Lost in the Flood”, “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”, and I’m also willing to include “Downbound Train” in this given its “I work down at the car wash, where all it ever does is rain” line.

The CCR cover opens the show, and its very similar in execution to the version we can hear on the New Jersey ’93 release, given the prominence of Bruce and his backing vocalists. Unlike the version featuring on East Rutherford 2012, this one never gets going at the pace we know it can be played at, making for a somewhat easy beginning to the show. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. That said, there’s a nice riveting tempo (thanks Max!) to the following River duo of “The Ties That Bind” and “Out in the Street”. Both songs have fantastic intros here, with the Roy Bittan driven extended intro of the latter one-upping The River album opener. “Ties” is good if you’re wanting to hear more of The E Street Choir, whereas “Out in the Street” is better for Horns work. This one also has Bruce adding a nice vocal nuance early on when he stretches out “darling, fix your hair up right, because there’s a party honey“. It might seem like a trivial detail in the grand scheme of things, but with how many versions of “Out in the Street” we’ve got nowadays, it’s nice to hear little unique changes. The same can apply to every song really. “The Ties That Bind” and “Out in the Street” also feature some smooth sax playing from Jake on what would be a busy night for the newest E Street Band member, and on the latter he even upstages Bruce giving Everett Bradley a chance to sing when he asks him to “meet me out on the street“!

“Downbound Train” is solid, nothing poor but it’s not a world beater. Bruce’s voice still sounds rather gravelly in this one, and it nearly stops him hitting the “bound traiiiiiin” note at 3:03. He manages to do a good job, but it’s not quite on the level of Hard Rock Calling 2013. “I’m Goin’ Down” is another song played at a steady pace, giving more indication that this is going to be a long night, and while it once again has Jake playing a solid solo, this isn’t exactly one of the better versions of the song I’ve heard.

And just when you think the show is about get going in fifth gear with a wild version of “My Lucky Day” – the song’s first Archive Series release, though it’s been available on the Live Springsteen website within two shows from 2016, including Gothenburg – where Bruce and Little Steven share the spotlight on vocals, Bruce decides to bring the mood right down with “Lost in the Flood”, being played for the first time since Buffalo 2009 (and featuring on an Archive release for the first time since October 2017). Alongside highlighting it as the rarity in setlists it is, you could say the near three year gap without a fresh rendition of the song allowed us to enjoy those versions we already had, but you could also argue that it made for the song’s return to the Archive Series here to serve as a thunderous reminder of how much of a barnstormer it actually is. Sung with a fair amount of aggression: listen to how Bruce hisses “Jimmy the Saint” just as the song kicks in, this one is, in a word, tremendous. Whether it’s the guitar playing from Little Stevie as Bruce sings the opening verse sounding so perfectly raggedy you’d think he’s tuning his guitar, or that singular drumbeat from Max at 2:52 that seems out of place, yet acts excellently as a gunshot, you can’t deny this Greetings track being worthy of its return on the night.

As always happens to be the case in these Archive releases however, the expectation of “Lost in the Flood” stealing the show is undone by the unexpectedly great renditions of the Wrecking Ball album trio: “We Take Care of Our Own”, “Wrecking Ball” and “Death to My Hometown”. I say often how the gems of the series are the ones we don’t think will shine and that is very much for the case for these three. “We Take Care” is a horns driven banger and this is the best version of the song released from the Archive Series to date. It’s also around here that Bruce’s vocals start to pick up, and along with the jubilant instrumentals of The E Street Band, this show instantly feels more grand. “Wrecking Ball” begins on a wholesome note, with Bruce singing “I was born in the swamps of Goteborg” in the purest tone you could possibly imagine, and continues the euphoria that the Wrecking Ball album opener started courtesy of Max’s drumming and Charlie’s work on the keyboards. If you fancy being transported back into 2012, you might want to check these two out, and while you’re doing it you might as well stay for the grand finale of “Death to My Hometown”. Similarly to the two songs beforehand, this one was mastered in 2012-14 and despite its frequency in the 2016-17 River Tour, the magic was never the same. Bruce’s vocals during this one switch back to raspy, but that’s fine given the song’s fiery context and from about 3:17 onwards this is definitely fiery! Topped off by Stevie’s furious “death to my hometown, BOY!“, these three are a delicacy and from this point onwards this show really does become a barnburner.

“We don’t care about the rain.“

And as was the norm in the early stages of the Wrecking Ball World Tour, this trio would be followed by a soul cleansing “My City of Ruins”, where Bruce gave acknowledgment to our ghosts that were with us and remain with us in our daily lives, and the time that ticks away. Once again he’s singing well, soulfully and painfully, complemented by his Horns section, Charlie Giordano and The Choir in particular. Of course, this extended version of the song was used to credit each band member, and as a result every single person gets a moment to play. This particular track highlights Jon Altschiller’s work where it concerns mixing in the audience noise, and given current circumstances, his work on this show as a whole must be given a lot of credit. While this version doesn’t have anything like the interpolation of “Dancing The Night Away” that the rendition from East Rutherford has, this does also contain Bruce talking about summertime memories, group barbecues where you’d see who’s there and who’s missing, and a breathtakingly beautiful line of “I know he’s listening in so let him hear your voices c’mon.”

Following “My City” it’s a solid run of back catalogue tracks including “Saint in the City”, “The River”, “Because The Night”, “Lonesome Day” and “Hungry Heart”. From first glance these mightn’t look like mandatory listening due to their consistency within the Archive Series and as a result that might lessen the desire to download the show, but it’s the track tucked in-between ‘lucky song‘ “Saint” and a false started “The River” (Bruce embraces his inner Man with Harmonica in the build up) that most certainly makes playing this one imperative. Two months back now we got the first Archive Series release of “The Wrestler”, last month the Series’ white wale, “Walk Like a Man”, but this month it’s the Darkness on the Edge of Town outtake, “Frankie” that will pick you up and plant you right back onto cloud nine, even if you were still on it. It’s difficult to put into words the feelings listening to the studio version of “Frankie” on Tracks evokes, let alone this one with the stunning violin, acoustic and electric guitar intro from Soozie, Nils and Bruce, that lead into Charlie’s splendid organ. During this, Bruce talks about the song being representative of the summertime, and while summertime seems like it’s going to be a million years away at the minute, all I can feel playing this “Frankie” is optimism. “Don’t worry about us baby, we’ll be alright” Bruce sings, and those words are more important now than ever. Oh, and if you were wondering, Bruce does indeed play on hell of a guitar solo and The E Street Band follow on with the most cathartic of codas. “We oughta play that one more often!” exudes Bruce afterwards, and on behalf of all of you, we agree!

Little Steven and Nils shine on both the acoustic and electric during “The River” and “Because The Night” (check out that staggering false finish!), while Garry pulls the strings on “Lonesome Day” and Jake again plays a mighty fine solo on “Hungry Heart”, before Bruce and Cindy take the spotlight on “Shackled and Drawn”. Bruce’s intro isn’t anywhere near as good as Helsinki, and it’s almost laughably poor, but he puts a fantastic shift in during the song proper. “Shackled” may have only had one more outing after 2014 (again, funnily enough in Gothenburg!) in contrast to the previous three Wrecking Ball tour stalwarts, but perhaps that was for the best due to the absence of Cindy Mizelle and The E Street Choir in 2016. Cindy commands this one, with her vocals at times overshadowing Bruce’s, and of course it’s her proclamation towards the end that brings the spirit to the song, it’s also very different to the many other versions of the song currently available in the live catalogue. “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” is sung well by Bruce and it’s also sung quite well by the Sunny Day kid plucked from the crowd! And that’s always a good thing, as rare as it may be. Mind, Bruce does mention that this youngster had volunteered to sing at previous shows, so it’s only right that he didn’t mess this one up. Practice makes perfect.

Two Archive Series debuts are better than one, and the last live performance to date of “Where The Bands Are” makes its Live Downloads debut along with “Frankie” this month. Bruce dedicates it to the many men and women who’d been following them on the European leg of the tour, and Bruce’s solo opening indicates an intimacy between himself and those audience members. Then The E Street Band kick in and we get River era magic! This hadn’t been played in nine years so it could have easily been a train wreck, but instead this is as good as any other song performed on the night. Wow! This is The E Street Band at their very best, definitely check this one out.

With an hour and a half to go, the home stretch begins with the heavy hitters being played one after another. “Backstreets” is magnificent – listen out for the moment Bruce’s strong voice nearly breaks around the two minute mark – with another blissful guitar solo from 3:50. “Land of Hope and Dreams” features some lovely mandolin playing from Little Steven throughout and adds an exclamation mark to the fervour of “Badlands” beforehand. We get a very strong full band performance of “Thunder Road” to start the encore with Bruce continually in full voice, he’s taking it easy, but giving it his all, and that’s emphasised in the “pulling out of here to win” finale. It’s a croaky delivery, but within the song he’s earned the right to hit the note whichever way he can.

Following that there’s no hoarseness to be heard at all in “Born in the U.S.A.”, which is almost as powerful as the version we’ve been playing all month from Detroit ’88, but just as epic. “Born to Run” and its themes of optimism and escape are very important at the moment, and like “Badlands” this is pure intensity, it’s the song we all need at a time like this. “Ramrod” takes the role of “Glory Days” on this night, acting as a rowdy, organ driven ‘breather’ after “BTR” before “Dancing in the Dark”. “Dancing” is, like on any other night, a delight to listen to and I’ll be revisiting more often than most songs on this release, but quite frankly it’s non-essential in comparison to the two songs following it. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” served as arguably the most important song on the Wrecking Ball World Tour, the fundamental reminder of why Bruce and his men and women were out onstage and the tribute to Clarence Clemons. You can hear clearly in this one the blend of pain and anger in Bruce’s voice, and you’d be hard pressed to find a version of the song on the tour where that isn’t the case. Around 3:42 you can even hear an interference in the mix. It honestly sounds like wind, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a heavy sigh from Bruce Springsteen as he stares at the tribute video of his best friend on the big screen. When the song kicks back in, he’s singing with nothing but pure heart-wrenching passion. You’d think it to be the most emotional point of the night, and yet, it’s not.

Given the many great live versions of “Jungleland” available, to truly appreciate the importance of this rendition is to understand just how significant a moment it actually was in 2012, and continues to be. I was a newer fan at the time, so my experience will be different to other fans reading this, but when Bruce decided to leave Clarence’s signature song out of every setlist following his death, it gave both “Jungleland”, and Clarence actually, a mystique. It made them mythical, and for a younger me it made “Jungleland” Bruce Springsteen’s greatest song. Every time I looked up a show the following day on setlist.fm back in 2012, the absence of “Jungleland” from the set only increased its legendary status. If or when it would be played again, the concert it was being played at would surely become a special one. And then, one summer morning on July 29th, there it was on the screen, and very quickly I ventured to YouTube where I listened to Bruce Springsteen sing his heart out, waiting to see how Jake Clemons would fare playing his uncle’s greatest solo. And Jake damn well nailed it. He had to nail it, because the weight of an entire fandom was resting upon his shoulders as he played those notes, and while I don’t know for sure what Bruce said to him after his finished playing and he raised his saxophone high into the air to pay tribute to his fallen idol, all I can imagine is that he simply told him, “you nailed it, kid.” Jake has continued to ace his solo ever since, and while Roy Bittan, Little Stevie Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Soozie Tyrell, Garry Tallent and Charlie Giordano do the same and did the same here, this is Jake’s “Jungleland”.

A very fun “Twist and Shout”, complete with “La Bamba” may end the show, harking back to the stadium breaker of June 1985, but this one peaks with Jake Clemons stealing the show. Bruce summed it up perfectly prior to The Top Notes’ track: “Oh My God!”. Indeed, Bruce!

Three days later Springsteen and his E Street Band would play their longest ever show in Helsinki, so you could refer to this one as a warm-up, which is frightening. When a show from 2012 is released I see comments saying “this is a skippable show“, and to each their own, but there’s a lot of magic in the Ullevi night. It shouldn’t be missed out on.

So make sure to enjoy this one in the comfort of your own homes and keep yourselves and others safe. We can’t be missing out on what else is come this year from Springsteen and the Archive Series all because we’ve gone outside when we don’t have to!

All the best, stay safe!

Rating: 8.75/10

Kieran’s recommended listening from July 28th, 2012 – Gothenburg, SE:

“Lost in the Flood”, “We Take Care of Our Own“, “Wrecking Ball”, “My City of Ruins”, “Frankie“, “Shackled and Drawn”, “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”, “Where The Bands Are“, “Backstreets”, “Land of Hope and Dreams”, “Thunder Road”, “Born in the U.S.A.”, “Born to Run”, “Dancing in the Dark” and “Jungleland“.

You can download this show from the Wrecking Ball World Tour here.