. . . for which I will be departing directly, a porkpie-tip (though I’m more into Western shirts just now) to the Paper of Record’s ace pop critic Josh Fredom du Lac for posting all these old reviews of DC-area Springsteen concerts on the Post Rock blog. (Also for his interview with local boy and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, required reading for any E Street fan.) As someone who reads old rock journalism obsessively, I love this.
Dig the length of the 80s Harrington pieces, particularly — luxurious! No longer, for shame. In chronological order:
Richard Harrington reviews Bruce & The E Street Band at the now-vanished Capital Centre, on the River tour, Nov. 24, 1980
Mike Joyce reviews Bruce/ESB, still on the River Tour, back at the Caps Centre on Aug. 5, 1981
Geoffrey Himes is on the case when Bruce brings the Born in the U.S.A. tour to the Caps Center on Aug. 27, 1984
When the Born in the U.S.A. tour swells to stadium size, Richard Harrington is there at R.F.K. on Aug. 6, 1985
Harrington’s still on the beat when the Tunnel of Love Express tour rolls into — wait for it — the Capitals Centre on April 5, 1988
And almost eight years later, when Bruce played two nights at DAR Consitution Hall on his solo acoustic tour supporting the underrated Ghost of Tom Joad, Harrington was there again on Dec. 6, 1995. (I remember reading this one when it was published and being really upset that I’d missed the gig.)
I wish he’d post Mark Jenkins’s review of my first Springsteen show, published Sept. 1, 1999 (which I can’t find a free copy of). Here’s David Segal’s WashPo review of one of the early dates on the Rising tour, published Aug. 12, 2002.
