1970-04-24 - MONMOUTH COLLEGE, LONG BRANCH, NJ

FUNKY BROADWAY - SOUL FREAKOUT (2:20) / GUILTY (7:58) / GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA (5:31) / THE WIND AND THE RAIN (19:19) / RESURRECTION (13:28) / GARDEN STATE PARKWAY BLUES - SWEET BABY JAMES (29:40)

One show, with Steel Mill the sole act on the bill. This was a replacement concert for a cancellation of the musical "Hair". The above-mentioned setlist is taken from a circulating soundboard of very 
good to excellent quality, although end-user quality tends to vary widely due to the fact the material has been in circulation for over twenty years and some circulating copies are many generations downstream. 
This six-song, 78-minute segment of audio, long referred to in collector circles as 'the West End gig', would have to rank as the most misidentified, misdated and cannibalized of all Springsteen recordings. 
To make matters even messier though, the show's epic 30-minute finale, "Garden State Parkway Blues", is sometimes edited into separate segments and assigned invented titles such as "Mountain Child", 
"I Got A Woman" or "Sunlight Soldiers". Many LP and CD bootlegs (such as 'Torn and Frayed', 'The Bruce Springsteen Story, Vol 3' and 'Deep Down In The Vaults') contain one, two or several of these tracks, 
assigned to a wide variety of incorrect dates/venues. However 'Sunlight Soldiers At The West End' (Rattlesnake) includes the complete audio and merely messes up the correct date/venue.

This soundboard tape is very deceptive in that drummer Vini Lopez's voice microphone is abnormally dominant in the mix, so much so that it sounds like a co-lead singer (i.e., Robbin Thompson) is interacting 
with Springsteen throughout the show. However under an extremely close comparison it can be determined that the 'co-lead' vocalist is actually drummer and background vocalist Lopez, with his microphone turned 
way up in the audio mix. Robbin Thompson’s voice is definitely not present.

There are three critical clues during the performance that, when combined, powerfully point to the true location and date of this show. Firstly, Bruce’s dedication to the "West End Fire Department" 
signifies a Long Branch or close proximity location. Secondly, the distinct sound of wooden side bleachers being stomped during the final song signifies it’s indoors and it's a gymnasium (not a theatre 
or concert hall). Thirdly, Bruce recites the opening line of James Taylor's song "Sweet Baby James" during "Garden State Parkway Blues" this places the show no sooner than late March, 1970. Consequently 
this audio can, to a high degree of probability, be identified as coming from this April 24 show.




My own ALAC files are split/merged to reflect the setlist, as the original bootleg had this a bit messed up.