Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Hammersmith Odeon, London '75

If you liked Bruce Springsteen's early recordings this DVD is for you. This re-engineered DVD sounded great on the surround sound system. Pretty much every hit from Greetings From Asbury Park, The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle, and Born To Run are on this DVD. The only disappointment from my perspective is that two of the best songs are performed in an acoustic style. Thunder Road and For You are two of my all time favorites and in my opinion the acoustic versions aren't anywhere near as good as the regular rock versions. All the other early hits are there including Rosalita, Jungleland and Backstreets. The Lost In The Flood performance is great. 9 out of 10. Would have been a 10 if the two above mentioned were regular versions. Check this out.

So... the way it's lit and shot is a little underwhelming by today's standards. The band is also finding its feet in terms of stage presence and personas- their technical skills when it comes to playing the music are already impeccable, but they're not as much fun to watch as they are a few years later and onwards, when they're all used to playing on stage, and more comfortable with being as goofy as Bruce himself can be.

His antics in this are pretty funny at times, and with Rosalita at least, you can start to see some of that infectious and goofy E Street Band chemistry.

Thankfully, despite a slight lack of confidence and a less than amazing visual style, this is still a very good concert movie on the strength of the music alone. By and large it's not terribly shot for its time, just a little dark in the lighting department- it is still good it exists, and I love seeing Bruce and the band together so young, of course.

And the music itself is so good. Many versions of songs here are debatably better than the studio versions (especially the faster-paced She's The One and It's Hard to be a Saint in the City, as well as the absolutely epic 17-minute version of Kitty's Back).

When listening to the live album by itself, opening track Thunder Road is a little underwhelming, but it's probably the one song on here truly enhanced by the visuals. A dimly lit Bruce alone on stage, with only a piano and a harmonica, and singing a quiet, lonely version of one of his best and most powerful anthems is a memorable start that gave me some serious goosebumps.

Like with any Bruce concert movie, if you're a big fan, you'll love it. If you're a Bruce purist, you'll probably really really love it, because from a technical perspective, it's probably the best Bruce and the E Street Band ever sounded live.

If you'd rather watch a movie than listen to an identically lengthy album, then this is a good way to experience the legendary band in it what might have been its musical prime.

I was lucky enough to see Springsteen in concert before Born To Run. Those were the days - no problem getting tickets to his concerts. And this show will illustrate why a ticket to an E Street Band show is so valuable. Few performers could connect with an audience the way Springsteen can. Whether he is performing a solo acoustic concert or with the entire E Street Band as he does here, Springsteen makes you feel he's singing only to you and channeling everything you believe about cars, love and rock 'n roll.

This is the classic E Street Band, all young and with a lot of hair on their heads and faces. Garry, Danny, Miami Steve, Mighty Max, the Big Man, Roy and the Boss. What a lineup!

Hard to believe but the hype surrounding Springsteen at this time actually understated just how good the E Street guys were live. These guys are right up there with The Allman Brothers pre Duane's death or the Stones around Sticky Fingers or The Who at Isle of Wight as the greatest rock bands. Plus they are still performing today.

The set list is classic E Street.

Thunder Road (acoustic); Tenth Avenue Freeze-out; Spirit In The Night; Lost In The Flood; She's The One; Born To Run; The E Street Shuffle; It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City; Backstreets; Kitty's Back; Jungleland; Rosalita; 4th of July Asbury Park; Detroit Medley (Devil W\ A Blue Dress-Good Golly Miss Molly-CC Rider-Jenny Take A Ride); For You; Quarter To Three

The DVD comes with the 30th anniversary edition of Born To Run and is worth the price as a stand alone product. The fact that you get remastered Born To Run and a 90 minute doc on the making of the album is a bonus.

This is a chance to see one of the greatest performers and bands at the height of their talents. Long live rock 'n roll!

Even with poor lighting and film quality, you can still feel the energy of Bruce and the E Streeters come through. I loved all of the versions, except the E Street Shuffle, which really didn't work for me. The arrangements were great and varied. Unlike another commentator, I loved the slower, acoustic versions of Thunder Road and For You. The band was really on that night. Have they ever had an off night?. Although Bruce was not bounding around the stage as he often does, the joy and passion in which he performs radiates through the screen. And he sang with great range, emotion, and clarity. My only complaints would be: 1. it's too short; 2. not enough guitar solos by Bruce; and 3. "Incident on 57th Street" wasn't included. What were they thinking? This is the best song on his first two albums, and one of my all time Bruce favorites, if not my #1 favorite. Watch and enjoy. You won't be disappointed!

Yeah the hype of Born To Run, On the cover of Time and Newsweek on the same week, and Bruce was to invade England. Was England ready??. Heck, the Poms gave us the British Invasion of the 60,s so who was this guy from NJ?? This concert has gone down as the one of the best concerts ever. And for the first time, we get to see it. This is Bruce taking on the world and succeeds. Brilliant brilliant. I would recommend this DVD concert to any fans of Rock even if they are not fans of Springsteen, because this is what rock n roll is about. This concert introduced Bruce and the E Street band to the world. To learn about rock n roll, this is a great tutor