CHICAGO 1999 – UNITED CENTER, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 30 SEPTIEMBRE 1999 – 3CD – OFICIAL SONIDO DEFINITIVO

UNITED CENTER, CHICAGO, ILLINOUS, 30 SEPTIEMBRE 1999.

Editado de los archivos de Bruce Springsteen.

Primer concierto oficial editado del año 1999.

El sonido definitivo. 3CD oficiales.

Grabado por Toby Scott y Ross Petersen. Mezclado por Jon Altschiller.

¡Atención: Envío importación desde el merchandising de Bruce en U.S.A. Normalmente tarda entre 3-4 semanas. ¿Dudas sobre el plazo de entrega?, escríbenos a stonepony@stoneponyclub.com y te responderemos lo antes posible.

Última de tres noches que Bruce Springsteen y la E Street Band ofrecieron en la Windy City. Este concierto captura el tipo de propósito y pasión que hicieron que la reunión de la Reunión fuera tan memorable. Chicago ’99 equilibra elementos básicos de la gira como «Murder Incorporated», «Youngstown» y «If I Should Fall Behind» con rarezas como «Adam Raised A Cain», «Independence Day» y «She’s the One», además de verdaderas sorpresas como «Take ‘Em As They Come», «Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart» y una resplandeciente «New York City Serenade».

The last night of a three-show Windy City stand captures Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing with the kind of purpose and passion that made the Reunion tour so memorable. Chicago ’99 balances tour staples like “Murder Incorporated,” “Youngstown” and “If I Should Fall Behind” with rarer outings for “Adam Raised A Cain,” “Independence Day” and “She’s the One,” plus true surprises “Take ‘Em As They Come,” “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart” and a resplendent “New York City Serenade.”

TAKE ‘EM AS THEY COME / THE TIES THAT BIND / THE PROMISED LAND / ADAM RAISED A CAIN / TWO HEARTS / ATLANTIC CITY / MANSION ON THE HILL / INDEPENDENCE DAY / YOUNGSTOWN / MURDER INCORPORATED / BADLANDS / OUT IN THE STREET / TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT / JANEY, DON’T YOU LOSE HEART / SHE’S THE ONE / THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD / NEW YORK CITY SERENADE / LIGHT OF DAY – BOOM BOOM / HUNGRY HEART / BOBBY JEAN / BORN TO RUN / THUNDER ROAD / IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND / LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS / RAMROD

«Take ‘Em As They Come» opens, set also includes «Atlantic City», «Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart» (for the third and final time this tour) and «New York City Serenade». «Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out» includes «It’s All Right», «Take Me To The River», «Red Headed Woman», and «Rumble Doll». «Light Of Day» includes «Boom Boom» and «I’ve Been Everywhere».

Bruce Springsteen – Lead vocals, guitar, harmonica; Roy Bittan – Piano, keyboards; Clarence Clemons – Tenor and baritone saxophones, percussion, backing vocal; Danny Federici – Organ, keyboards; Nils Lofgren – Electric and acoustic guitar, pedal steel, backing vocal; Patti Scialfa – Guitar, percussion, backing vocal; Garry Tallent – Bass; Stevie Van Zandt – Electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, backing vocal; Max Weinberg – Drums
Recorded by Toby Scott and Ross Petersen
Mixed by Jon Altschiller from multi-track digital master tapes; Additional engineering: Danielle Warman
Mastered to DSD and PCM by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME
Post Production by Brad Serling and Micah Gordon
Art Design by Michelle Holme; Cover Photo by Danny Clinch
Tour Director: George Travis
Jon Landau Management: Jon Landau, Barbara Carr, Jan Stabile, Alison Oscar, Laura Kraus
HD Files are 24 bit / 44.1 kHz ; DSD files are DSD64

Listen To Your Junk Man
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, United Center, Chicago, IL, September 30, 1999
By Erik Flannigan

It is hard to believe we are fast approaching 20 years since the Reunion tour commenced and the recommitment of Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band and their many fans was validated night after night across the stages of Europe and the United States.

The archival download series has already given us perhaps the most famous show of the tour, closing night at Madison Square Garden in July 2000, a masterful performance that was appropriately conscious of its place as the culmination of the 132 concerts that came before it. Now, we get a markedly different slice of the Reunion tour and how sweet it is.

Taking nothing away from great shows in E. Rutherford, Philly, Boston and other cities which preceded it or memorable stands in Los Angeles and Oakland to follow, Chicago ‘99 is a barn burner. It actually gains potency from our collective and relative unfamiliarity with the performance and as a result feels deliciously fresh.

It was the last night of three in Chicago as well as the final show of the first U.S. leg of the tour. On the cusp of a two-week break, the mood is buoyant and at times downright joyous. You can hear how excited these musicians are to be playing together again and the confidence they are feeling at this point of the tour is reflected in an adventurous setlist.

To start (and apologies in advance for the language, but it feels wholly appropriate to convey the sentiment), Bruce Springsteen sings the shit out of this show. There are vocal highlights in both expected and unexpected places, many the kind of heightened, upper-range reaches that signal when Bruce is in the zone.

During the last minute of “The Promised Land,” it comes in the form of a sweet, unexpected, soaring “Weeeee-oooo.” At the end of a hard-hitting “Adam Raised a Cain,” it’s a shrieking stretch of vocal improvisation loaded with emotion. In “Thunder Road,” “your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet” rises to a gorgeous high register. And the coup de grace is “Youngstown,” when Springsteen holds the final note of “the fiery furnaces of hellllllllll” a full ten seconds. Time it yourself!

Chicago also presents the opportunity to reassess the altered arrangements Bruce and the band explored in ‘99. At the time, subtle changes to familiar songs may have thrown a few people off a bit, as they were coming in with expectations of how things “used to sound.” Listening now, the explorations prove fascinating.

Played but 15 times on the Reunion tour, “Independence Day” has a distinctly different feel and begins with a lovely guitar and pedal steel intro. Similarly, Bruce bends the first verse and chorus of “She’s The One” (performed only 16 times circa 1999-2000) in unexpected directions before the band arrives with stirring force.

Jon Altschiller’s vivid mix captures band interplay and subtle work from every E Streeter, much of which you may have never noticed before, with the apex coming in the form of “New York City Serenade.” This piano-driven epic had gone unplayed since 1975 before making its momentous return during the Continental Airlines Arena run a month earlier, its first of five appearances on the tour.

“New York City Serenade” is arguably the most challenging piece of music in the Springsteen canon, full of twists, turns and musical nuance. Chicago offers a bravura performance, enriched by the contributions of the band (extra nod to Roy Bittan) and Bruce’s fearless lead vocal. It is by turns majestic, enthralling, even astonishing for 1999, with no strings attached as in more recent performances.

“Serenade” is joined by two other special rarities. The show opens with a fierce “Take ‘Em As They Come,” one of Springsteen’s underappreciated rockers. Mercifully liberated from the vault in 1998 on Tracks (the song is also included on 2015’s The Ties That Bind box set), The River outtake gets a rare outing (it has only been performed ten times) with the band fully locked and loaded. To be fair, they are a bit less so on the likable Born in the U.S.A. era b-side “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart,” which ends with Bruce chuckling “we gotta practice that one,” though it is still wonderful to hear.

Noteworthy as those rare tracks are, Chicago ‘99 pays dividends song after song, be it common or uncommon to a setlist. It is one of those nights where the versions run long (even “Ramrod” goes seven minutes), the crowd response is huge and the band plays hot. Case in point: Danny’s organ and Clarence’s solo in “She’s the One,” plus the Big Man nailing the final note of “Bobby Jean”; a mini cover “Boom Boom” worked seamlessly into “Light of Day”; Nils and Stevie shining on all types of stringed instruments; Garry and Max electrifying “Atlantic City” and pushing the pace all night; Patti taking her solo turns with aplomb during “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “If I Should Fall Behind.” As it did every night on Reunion, the latter song brings the spirit of the band’s rebirth to life in poignant fashion.

As for Springsteen himself, he sounds like he is enjoying every single minute.

More than 20,000 people saw this show in person and have known ever since what a great performance they witnessed. As for the rest of us: Chicago ‘99, we didn’t know what we were missing.