*** Résumé en anglais seulement ***
Without question, a significant factor in what makes Bruce Springsteens Darkness Tour his greatest ever jaunt in the eyes of his fans is the series of FM radio broadcasts which were transmitted live from a number of venues throughout the second half of the year, across the United States. These sublime recordings reached listeners who had only, until then, heard rumours of quite how dazzling and electric the shows performed by The E. Street Band were turning out. Now, even without a much prized ticket, fans could hear the shows for themselves. Those in the relevant vicinities (these broadcasts were not syndicated nationwide, and thus could only be picked up by those within a reasonable distance of the venues) had already heard the gigs at The Roxy in L.A. on July 7th, at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio on August 9th, and at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey on September 19th. Now was a chance to hear Bruce and the band from the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, coming up on the 30th September. This was to be the penultimate transmission of the tour with only The Winterland show in San Francisco on December15th, still to be broadcast. There were two concerts performed at The Fox in 1978, both rescheduled from July, after Bruces throat infection had put him out of action for a couple of months. Tickets for The Fox show still exist showing a date of July 23rd, such as that illustrated here. The FM broadcast occurred on the 30th September, the other show being only the subject of far inferior audience tapes, although such artefacts do circulate still, as they do from just about every other night on the 78 tour testament to just how popular this series of concerts still are. Legend has it that fierce storms howled across the greater Atlanta area on the night of the 30th, and such is often blamed for recordings of this performance that are of a poor fidelity. But no such excuses are required to accompany this release, because finally, The Fox Theatre broadcast is now available in the finest possible quality and presented here, with accompanying interviews and bonus tracks, for the complete satisfaction of fans who have so far collected this complete series of 1978 shows, and who, if the reviews are to be believed, are nothing short of delighted. This latest title will do nothing to lessen that delight.