It doesn’t get any better than a fresh Darkness tour live recording. Previously unheard save for the inclusion of “Fire” on Live 1975/85, Winterland 12/16/78 captures the exhilarating second show in San Francisco, newly mixed from Plangent Processed, multi-track master tapes by Jon Altschiller. Bruce loosens up and reshapes the previous night’s broadcast set, opening in high spirits via “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” giving a tour debut to the infectious “Rendezvous,” summoning a deeply affecting “Independence Day” and absolutely crushing the top of the second set with “(It’s Hard To Be A) Saint In The City.”
You can’t have one without the other. Winterland 12/15/78 was the final legendary radio concert on the Darkness tour. A fan favorite (bootlegged as Live In The Promised Land), this essential ’78 tour document is now available in best-ever quality, Plangent transferred from recently discovered two-track, 15 IPS master reels recorded by the Record Plant Remote Truck. Winterland 12/15/78 offers vital performances of “Prove It All Night, “She’s The One” (feat. snippets of “Mona” and “Preacher’s Daughter”), “Backstreets,” “Fire” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” plus future River tracks “Point Blank” and “The Ties That Bind,” and an epic resurrection of “The Fever.”
