Geneva Theatre, Geneva, NY

Set 1
Incident on 57th Street
Spirit in the Night
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
I Want You (Bob Dylan cover)
Growin’ Up
E Street Shuffle
It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City
Gimme That Wine (Clarence Clemons lead vocals)
Jungleland
Kitty’s Back
New York City Serenade
Rosalita
Sandy
A Love So Fine
Wear My Ring Around Your Neck (Elvis Presley cover, written by Carol and Moody)
Quarter to Three (Gary US Bonds cover)


Set 2



Set 3



Comment
JEMS is pleased to release another lost and found recording, this of a previously uncirculated show at the Geneva Theatre in Geneva, NY, December 7, 1974, Bruce and the band’s second to last gig of the year. According to the indispensible Brucebase, the concert was booked by the local Hobart & William Smith College and featured Jae Mason as the opening act.

Geneva turns out to be an unusually solid tape for the era, recorded with two mics in stereo and remarkably free of material cuts. The crowd around the mics, presumably the taper and his friends, are going crazy but it only as to the atmosphere on this highly listenable document of a fantastic period in Springsteen’s concert history that featured Suki Lahav on cello.

While the show is largely standard for the era, that sells short a set list that includes a stunning “Incident” to open, the striking cover of Dylan’s “I Want You,” and an epic three-song stretch that moves from the as-yet-unreleased “Jungleland” to “Kitty’s Back” to what just might be the longest ever performance of “New York City Serenade,” clocking in north of 24 minutes of majesty.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, due to Bruce breaking a guitar string, we’re treated a rare lead vocal from the Big Man, Clarance Clemons, on the time-filling vamp, “Gimme That Wine.” The show wraps with a rousing “A Love So Fine” into a storming “Wear My Ring” and last but not least, “the greatest dance record ever recorded,” “Quarter to Three.”

The tape itself is one of half a dozen reel-to-reels loaned to JEMS from ML, which were all low-gen copies of known recordings with this one major exception. A big thank you to him for shipping out the reels and letting us release the show. Thanks as well to AM and PR, whose enthusiasm for Geneva got me even more excited about it. Tapeboy handled the pitch adjustments, which are much appreciated. And last but not least, thanks to mjk5510 for catching the files as always when they come off the post-production line.

Sources
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Created At
Fri Feb 25 2022 22:09:08 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Updated At
Fri Feb 25 2022 22:09:08 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

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