September 22, 2024
It was fifty years ago today that Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band played an outdoor show in the great state of New Jersey, though unlike their most recent gig, it didn't take place on the sandy shoreline of Asbury Park, NJ. In fact, it was 45 miles north of "Little Eden," in Union, NJ, on the grounds of what was then known as Kean College, now Kean University. Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg were still "the new guys" back then, having officially joined the band just about a month earlier, with this Kean College show being only their fifth official public performances as E Street Band members. Oh, and also the Kean College show's ticket-prices differed substantially from those for last Sunday's Sea.Hear.Now gig; the Kean College tix were free!
Fortunately our friend and professional photographer James Shive was there, and he captured the moment in a beautiful series of black-and-white photos now spotlighted on a special 50th-anniversary page newly created for his website. "I was just starting my first year in college," writes Jim in his newly published recollection of the day. "[M]y graduation gown was lying in rags at my feet. My hopes were to become a photographer & I wanted to shoot Rock & Roll. So here I was, 18 years old and had an opportunity to capture that perfect shot. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, a free concert on a small outdoor stage, It was my first Springsteen concert, but at that time the band was not very well known.
"I stood in the small crowd, camera in hand; I felt a surge of excitement. The music pounded through my veins, and the energy of the band live on stage was infectious. I snapped some photos, and one photo would become an iconic image of a superstar that is still going strong today." For the 50th anniversary, Jim has made that photo - the one you see above at the top where Bruce is standing next to Clarence and sporting his rarely-seen-onstage "peacock shirt" - available for the first time ever as a specially-priced and framed poster-print.
Jim also has many more of his photos from that day displayed on his newly launched 50th-anniversary page, along with some specially-set prices for certain images/prints, and even a link to decent audio of the September 22, 1974 Kean College concert. Click here to visit "The 1974 Anniversary" at The Shive Archive.
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