Resurrecting a thread I originally started elsewhere.
Given we have such a plethora of riches from the Archive series along with the 2014 and 2016/17 tours, chances are good at any one time someone could by revisiting a past release when they come across a song or a performance that suddenly just inspires the enthusiasm to share with the rest of us.
So this is a home for those thoughts as they strike.
I'll start by stating how knocked out I continue to be by the LA 1985 show. From what I gather, most folks who were around for that tour felt the last stadium leg was the least impressive. But I love this show.. overall, it's my favourite BITUSA tour show. The band is absolutely smoking.
Having said that, my favourite individual song performance from the BITUSA archive shows lies elsewhere.... the incomparable Drift Away cover
So since we got back from Paris my brother has really been craving more live Bruce, and I've been advising him on what Archive releases to listen to based on what I believe to be the best shows and, maybe more importantly, what eras I know he likes.
On one hand, he really doesn't care for Passaic 19/9/78, which is worrisome, but on the other, he's telling me that the show he's listened to most recently is perhaps the best he's ever heard.
That show is August 23rd, 2008. He tries to not look at the setlist beforehand, and remember he hasn't spent the last decade listening to these songs ad nasuem, so he's in wonderment about the songs played and the quality of performances. Despite having struggled to understand and appreciate how acclaimed this show is since April 2017, I'm very happy about how much he loves it. Maybe it does just come down to Archive oversaturation on my part, and this show is that damn good.