FREEHOLD 1996 – SAINT ROSE OF LIMA SCHOOL GYM, FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY, 8 NOVIEMBRE 1996 – 2CD – OFICIAL SONIDO DEFINITIVO

SAINT ROSE OF LIMA SCHOOL GYM, FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY, 8 NOVIEMBRE 1996.

Editado de los archivos de Bruce Springsteen.

El sonido definitivo. 2CD oficiales.

Grabado por John Kerns. Mezclado por Jon Altschiller.

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Bruce hace un punto y aparte en su gira acústica del The Ghost Of Tom Joad para ofrecer unos conciertos «diferentes» en su tierra natal: Freehold y Asbury Park. El primero de ellos y que recoge este CD, es el celebrado en el pequeño gimnasio de su escuela de Santa Rosa de Lima en Freehold, donde sólo asistieron residentes de Freehold. Acompañado de Patti Scialfa y Soozie Tyrell, Bruce interpretó rarezas para aquella gira como «The River», «Two Hearts», «Racing In The Street», «When You’re Alone» y las únicas apariciones en todo el tour acústico de «Open All Night», «Used Cars» y «My Hometown». Un concierto inolvidable que se cerró con el estreno de un tema dedicado a su pueblo natal, «Freehold» (o también conocida como «In Freehold», cuya letra no tiene desperdicio alguno.

This memorable homecoming stop on the Tom Joad tour sees Springsteen return to Freehold and his parochial school, St. Rose of Lima. Joined by special guests Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell, Bruce reminisces and tears up the set list for nine tour debuts, including “The River,” “Two Hearts” “Racing in the Street,” a rare “When You’re Alone” and the only tour performances of “Open All Night,” “Used Cars” and “My Hometown.” The show wraps with “Freehold,” an uproarious paean penned for the occasion.

THE RIVER (with Soozie Tyrell) / ADAM RAISED A CAIN / STRAIGHT TIME / HIGHWAY 29 / DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN / JOHNNY 99 / MANSION ON THE HILL (with Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell) / THE WISH / RED HEADED WOMAN / TWO HEARTS (with Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell) / WHEN YOU’RE ALONE (with Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell) / OPEN ALL NIGHT / USED CARS / BORN IN THE U.S.A. / THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD / SINALOA COWBOYS / THE LINE / BALBOA PARK / ACROSS THE BORDER / GROWIN’ UP / THIS HARD LAND / MY HOMETOWN (with Soozie Tyrell) / RACING IN THE STREET (with Soozie Tyrell) / THE PROMISED LAND / IN FREEHOLD

A homecoming, so-to-speak. Very unique. Alumni Springsteen’s first known performance at his primary school since the late 1965 period, when Bruce (as a member of The Castiles) played CYO dances there. Bruce dedicates «This Hard Land» to Castiles manager Tex Vinyard’s wife Marion (who was in the audience). An unprecedented nine tour premieres including the sole tour performances of «Open All Night», «Used Cars» and «My Hometown». Guest performers were Soozie Tyrell on «The River», «My Hometown» and «Racing In the Street», and both Soozie and Patti Scialfa on «Mansion On The Hill», «Two Hearts» and «When You’re Alone». World premiere of Bruce’s little comedy piece “In Freehold”.

Bruce Springsteen – Lead vocal, acoustic guitars, harmonica; Kevin Buell – Keyboards (off stage)
Additional musicians: Patti Scialfa – backing vocal on Mansion On The Hill, Two Hearts and When You’re Alone; Soozie Tyrell – Violin, backing vocal on The River, Mansion On The Hill, Two Hearts, When You’re Alone, My Hometown and Racing in the Street
Recorded by John Kerns
Mixed and mastered by Jon Altschiller, April 2018; Additional engineering: Danielle Warman
Post-Production: Brad Serling and Micah Gordon
Artwork design: Michelle Holme
Photo by Neal Preston
Tour Director: George Travis
Jon Landau Management: Jon Landau, Barbara Carr, Jan Stabile, Alison Oscar, Laura Kraus
HD files are 24bit / 44.1 kHz – DSD files are DSD64

Bruce Springsteen
St. Rose of Lima Gymnasium, Freehold, NJ, November 8, 1996
By Erik Flannigan

Even for a career marked by legendary performances, Springsteen’s 1996 return to his hometown of Freehold, NJ stands out as extraordinary. Held in the gymnasium of St. Rose of Lima, the Catholic parochial school Bruce attended growing up, the one-off benefit concert might be the sweetest “prodigal son returns” narrative in rock concert history.

In hindsight, a deeply personal Springsteen solo performance at an intimate venue sounds not dissimilar to his current run on Broadway. Shows like the Christic Institute in 1990 (released as part of the live download series), Freehold 1996 and the Doubletake benefit in Somerville, MA 2003 are antecedents to Bruce On Broadway, juxtaposing Springsteen storytelling at its most personal with special setlists.

What makes Freehold particularly heightened is that Springsteen isn’t playing to his fans per se, he is playing to the people in his hometown (tickets were strictly limited to Freehold residents only), family and relatives and some of the very Sisters and Fathers who oversaw St. Rose of Lima then and now. One might say Bruce was throwing his own acoustic confessional at the scene of the crime.

“I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I wasn’t standing here, right under the cross,” Springsteen admits at the top of the show, “What can I say? Myself, I’ve been excommunicated with the divorce and all, but it’s still great to be here. I told my buddy Steve, ‘I’m playing Friday night.’ ‘Where?’ ‘At my Catholic school.’ And he says, ‘Oh. Revenge!’ I said, ‘No. Well. Maybe just a little bit’.”

With that spirit established, Springsteen begins to masterfully weave together his core Joad tour set and songs for the occasion into a poignant, heartfelt and frequently hilarious performance that runs the gamut from tender recollections of his mother coming home from work to tender advocacy for the relationship benefits of cunnilingus.

The latter was something Bruce included during his intro to “Red Headed Woman” throughout the tour, but given the setting, the subject is even more amusingly unsettling. Can you sing about cunnilingus while standing inside your Catholic school? “I talked to Father McCarron,” Bruce assures. “He said, ‘I’m not sure.’ “I took that as a yes….The Pope says, ‘I can’t, but you go right ahead’.”

The many comedic moments of Freehold shine, and so too the songs. Joad material like “Straight Time,” “Highway 29,” and the title track are in peak tour form, as is the four-pack of “Sinaloa Cowboys,” “The Line,” “Balboa Park” and “Across The Border.” Tour standouts “Adam Raised a Cain,” “Johnny 99” and “Born in the U.S.A.” also hit home with something a little extra this night.

“When You’re Alone” from Tunnel of Love is played for only the second time ever (and one of but 12 public performances) in a pure, beautiful arrangement featuring Soozie Tyrell on violin and Patti Scialfa on backing vocals. It is one of an impressive nine tour premieres in Freehold, some specially chosen like “The River” and “Racing In The Street” (both featuring Tyrell), some audibles, as Bruce tears up the set list mid-show for “Open All Night” and “Used Cars” in their only Joad-tour performances; the same goes for “My Hometown.”

The combination of musical highlights and humorous candor in such a setting makes Freehold one for the ages. So how do you end such a transcendent night? With the world premiere of the song of the same name, “Freehold,” an autobiographical narrative that literally sums up Bruce’s history with his hometown, name-checking many of the places, spaces, events and people that influenced him in those formative years. It even delivers one final uproarious nod to “revenge” in the delightfully contradictory couplet: “Well I got a good Catholic education here in Freehold / Led to an awful lot of masturbation here in Freehold.”

Until a release of Bruce On Broadway, Freehold ‘96 might be the closest substitute, the night Springsteen returned triumphantly to his hometown on his own terms.