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As Bruce Springsteen continues his acclaimed run on Broadway (for which he will receive a special Tony Award) and releases his second Album Collection on vinyl next week (with a CD edition only available in Japan), he is also continuing his archival concert series.  His latest entry is another show that ties into the spirit of his Broadway outing, his benefit performance at The St. Rose of Lima Gymnasium in his hometown of Freehold, New Jersey on November 8, 1996.

This concert came in the middle of Springsteen's solo acoustic tour for the Ghost of Tom Joad album.  However, this performance was even more intimate than most on the tour.  With all proceeds benefitting the Latino community center at the St. Rose of Lima Church, the concert was held in the church's gymnasium with all attendees sitting in bleacher or folding chairs.  Tickets were only available to Freehold residents.

Foreshadowing his Broadway show over twenty years later, Springsteen offered reminisces about his time growing up in Freehold during the concert.  Most of the concert featured Bruce going through the core of his his normal setlist from the Joad tour, but there were some variations especially chosen for the night.  Out of the 25 songs performed, nine were making their tour premieres.  These include "Open All Night," "Used Cars" and "My Hometown."  Violinist Soozie Tyrell joined in on six songs including "The River" and "Racing in the Street."  Patti Scialfa added backing vocals to three songs with Springsteen and Tyrell, including the second-ever performance of "When You're Alone" from the Tunnel of Love album.  It has only been performed live 10 times since this concert.  Bruce's guitar assistant Kevin Buell also added some offstage keyboards during the show.  The concert was capped off by the premiere of a song Springsteen had written especially for the occasion: "Freehold."  The nine-minute number has Bruce recollecting some of his experiences growing up in the town.  It has never had a studio version released and has only been performed infrequently since its debut at this show.

The concert was recorded by John Kerns and mixed and mastered by Jon Altschiller in April, 2018.  Additional engineering was done by Danielle Warman.  Post-production has been done by Ben Serling and Micah Gordon.

The release will be offered in Direct Stream Digital or DSD ($39.95) - a format with 64 times the sampling rate of CD - as well as the usual options of MP3 ($9.95, 256 kbps), FLAC or Apple Lossless ($12.95), HD-Audio ($19.95, 24 bit/44.1 kHz, FLAC-HD or ALAC-HD) and CD-R ($23.00).  CD-Rs are a pre-order, but those purchasing the CD-R sets have the option to pay $28.00 to obtain the MP3s immediately.

All volumes of The Bruce Springsteen Archive Series, plus concerts from 2014, 2016 and 2017, are available at Springsteen's official live store for download and physical purchase.  We've got the tracklisting for the Freehold show below and you can also sample tracks at the link provided.

Bruce Springsteen, St. Rose of Lima School, Freehold, New Jersey, 1996 (Columbia/Nugs.net, 2018)

1. The River
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Straight Time
4. Highway 29
5. Darkness On the Edge of Town
6. Johnny 99
7. Mansion On the Hill
8. The Wish
9. Red Headed Woman
10. Two Hearts
11. When You're Alone
12. Open All Night
13. Used Cars
14. Born in the U.S.A.
15. The Ghost of Tom Joad
16. Sinaloa Cowboys
17. The Line
18. Balboa Park
19. Across the Border
20. Growin' Up
21. This Hard Land
22. My Hometown
23. Racing In the Streets
24. The Promised Land
25. Freehold