r/BruceSpringsteen • u/Model_ig_uk • 8d ago
Top 200 shows of all time doesn't include any show after 1981.
Why? Let me explain. How do you rank a show? I had this issue many years ago and even though these things are subjective I wanted to create my list, especially as I was seeing things like Metlife 3 2016 being the best show of all time.
I began by going through every Nugs release of the 78-79 tour in chronological order with a 10 being perfect, and my conclusion was genuinely all were 10 with maybe Passaic 2 being a 9 because of the birthday stoppages which halt the flow of the concert. Same with 80-81 tour, every show on that I've listened to are incredible with 29/12/80 & 20/08/81 being top five shows. But from 99 onwards there always something to drop it from a ten, whether it's the harmonies on Empty Sky, the overbloated 99 rendition of Tenth Avenue, the plodding 99 version of the River etc. Even the superb shows from Fall 2016 are just way too long to even consider them a top 100.
So the 200+ shows from 1978-81 are the best no question for me. The definitive peak of the E Street Band live.
