You know, I liked writing about that 1992 Bruce Springsteen ticket stub on Halloween so much, I’ve decided I’m going to go to the Bossman well once again for this final update of 2023. ‘Course, in this case, things are even better, cause the memorabilia is local (to me, that is), the tour it pertains to is legendary, and what’s more, today is the 45th (!!!) anniversary of the event. It was even on a Sunday too, no less!
Now listen: I loves me some artifacts pertaining to the long-gone Richfield Coliseum. From concerts to the Cavaliers, the Coliseum hosted who-knows-how-many events for Northeast Ohioans over the years. As such, I’ve got a special fondness for the place. Funny thing is, I don’t even recall going there back in the day. I mean, maybe my parents took me to see the circus or something there, but it’s not like the venue was an aspect I would have taken note of at that young age. And by the time I was old enough to become a concert/sporting event goer, the Coliseum was but a memory. (It’s just a big ol’ meadow now.)
Nevertheless, because it was a local institution (for just under 20 years), I’m a sucker for things with that old Richfield Coliseum logo emblazoned on ’em. Especially when it comes to concerts.
Which brings us to Bruce. Springsteen performed 14 concerts there over the years, spanning from the “lawsuit tour” (that is, 1977 – post-Born to Run, pre-Darkness on the Edge of Town) to, well, the tour we talked about in that Halloween update. Readers who lean more towards the casual side of fandom will probably be mostly interested in the pair of shows he did at the Coliseum in support of global mega-smash Born in the U.S.A., but as far as I’m concerned, the real gold lies in 1978-1981 (what I consider Springsteen’s zenith, something I also briefly touched on in that Halloween post). Across that span, the Coliseum saw seven of those shows.
No joshin’, when I think about what Bruce tour I’d attend if I had the option of going back in time (either via time machine or at least quantum leapin’), I constantly ping pong between the 1978-1979 Darkness on the Edge of Town tour or the 1980-1981 tour in support of The River. (This presupposes I can only attend one, for some reason.) I can never come to a definitive conclusion though; my choice is always decided by which album/tour I’m currently feeling. The good news is there’s really no wrong option.
Still, in the realm of Springsteen mega-fandom, no other tour generally receives the level of acclaim that the Darkness tour does. And as it turned out, the Richfield Coliseum was the venue for the final two shows of it!
December 31, 1978 and January 1, 1979 were those two dates, and while 1/1/79 was a tremendous grand finale, 12/31/78 will be our main focus for this post, since, you know, today is New Year’s Eve and all. Plus, it’s not like that penultimate show was exactly a slouch – one look at the setlist in that link will aptly demonstrate that.
This wasn’t the first or last time Bruce performed a New Year’s Eve concert; Philly got one in 1975, and perhaps most memorably, Uniondale, NY’s 1980 send-off was nothing less than monumental. (Both of those concerts have been officially released via Springsteen’s Live Archive Series, and while I’d absolutely flip if 12/31/78 and/or 1/1/79 showed up there someday, considering the series tends to focus on shows recorded in multitrack, and since there seems to be doubt that either Richfield outing exists that way, well, I’m not holding out hope for them. Of course, I’d love to be proven wrong!) But whereas 12/31/80 was famous for how sheerly gargantuan it was/is, 12/31/78 actually has a sense of infamy hanging over it.
You see, this concert has become known as “the firecracker show.” As the new year was being rung in, one concertgoer in a particularly, erm, festive spirit decided it was a good idea to throw a lit firecracker on stage. Unfortunately, it exploded uncomfortably close to Bruce’s eye, which caused him to briefly voice his displeasure, and then a little later more elaborately speak about it. (It wouldn’t be the last time Bruce would show his displeasure for firecrackers at his shows either; for example, at one point in 1981, after someone set one off in the crowd, he declared the offending party “no friend of mine” – along with some other, uh, colorful, but entirely understandable, words).
Personally I would have been pretty shaken up myself (who wouldn’t be?), and who knows how I would have responded had it been me in that situation, but it’s to Bruce’s credit that he finished the show – and without any adverse effect on the performance, to boot!
SO ANYWAY, the picture you’re looking at above? Why, that’s a flyer for the big after party at The Coliseum Club that immediately followed this concert! Despite what’s printed on it, since the show went well past midnight, it was January 1st by the time it finally happened. I wonder if any of the band attended? (I doubt they were charged the $7.50, if so.) Can you imagine a better way to ring in the new year? People already exhausted from a fantastic Springsteen concert, partying some more! And disco? Hey, it was 1978, or well 1979, after all!
I picked this flyer up online. I was watching an auction for another flyer from that tour, and decided to see if there was anything else in the same wheelhouse that piqued my interest. As it so happened, this one here had been listed shortly before – right place, right time for me! I wound up buying the other flyer, but I like this Richfield specimen a whole lot more. It may lack graphically in comparison, but the local-to-me vibes and historical aspect(s) are enough to put it over the top for yours truly.
(By the way, you may be wondering what that big splotch in the top-right corner of the flyer is. That’s just a sticker from the original seller on the front of the protective sleeve the flyer is in; I never bothered removing it, so I wound up digitally obscuring it after my picture taking session for this post was finished. Just consider it a watermark or something, okay?)
Not enough New Year’s Eve Bruce memorabilia for you? Okay, I’ve got one more…
Yes indeed, that’s a full original ticket from the event! Like the flyer, I bought this online, and to be perfectly frank, it cost me more than some actual (as in, new, upcoming concert) tickets have. Still, the idea of having a full, unripped ticket for the concert was too cool to resist. (Though in the interest of saving money, I initially tried!)
And dig the mention of WMMS. The big Bruce Cleveland Agora radio broadcast from the summer of ’78 (held in celebration of WMMS’ 10th anniversary) will probably always loom larger than any other show Springsteen holds in Northeast Ohio, but if nothing else, this is an additional reminder of just what a FORCE that station was at the time. (That Agora concert did get an official Archive Series release, by the way.)
Hey, since this ticket is complete, maybe that time travel question I posed earlier just became easier…
Aw what the heck; because I’m not gonna do another update for January 1st and it’s germane to the conversation, here’s a little bonus before we close the year out…
Yes sir, that’s a stub from the 1/1/79 big tour finale! Unlike the previous two items, I didn’t buy this one online. Rather, my good friend Craig gave me this (along with a stub from 12/31/78 and stubs from 1980 and 1981 Springsteen shows at the Richfield Coliseum) a few years back. Well actually, it wasn’t a few years back; more like 10 or so now. (Where has the time gone?!) Because of work, I haven’t met up with Craig for a few years, but rest assured, I’d still consider him one of my best friends. Thanks C, thinkin’ of ya!
And with that, 2023 comes to a close on the blog here. I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year. See you in 2024!
THE NORTHEAST OHIO VIDEO HUNTER 