Different attendees at this show recall some highly surprising setlist possibilities: "Kitty's Back", "
Quarter To Three", the Beatles' "
Come Together", and even an encore of the Cascades' "
Rhythm Of The Rain". Given the surprising nature of these song choices the relevant recording and performance histories, Brucebase excluded them from the setlist listing pending further confirmation.
One show, double bill, with Bruce and the boys headlining and local country-rock group Old Salt opening. Held indoors in the 350-seat Student Center. The show was not a sellout, with a reported 300 tickets sold. Given Springsteen was a virtual unknown at the time, this gig at Niagara received an unprecedented amount of pre and post concert press coverage in the school's modest campus newspaper, all articles written by students. The student who orchestrated this event (Kerry McNamara) was obviously a serious Bruce fan. A student reporter even seems to have travelled south to get a brief but fascinating interview with Bruce a couple of weeks before this show. In this interview Bruce mentions he is now playing "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)", including "
Fun, Fun, Fun", as a special encore (a tape exists of it from February 14 at VCU). In addition Bruce mentions "
Ring Of Fire" and the instrumental "
Apache" as two cover songs he's been incorporating into his recent shows. Interestingly it is also revealed that this gig had originally been planned for March 2 but had been rescheduled to March 24 because of the West Coast tour with Paul Butterfield's Better Days. This seems to have been an intimate, inspired crowd that elicited an equally inspired performance. Bruce even donned his legendary Elvis t-shirt at this show, a guarantee of a special evening! After Old Salt opened with a 60-minute set, Springsteen performed a 120-minute show with no intermission, including a triple encore. As reported in the reviews of the show that followed, Bruce opened with two (unnamed in print) acoustic numbers (accompanied by Clarence on the first and Danny on the second) and then brought out the entire band. The final song in the main set was "Thundercrack". The first encore was "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (including "
Fun, Fun, Fun") and the second encore was "
Twist And Shout". The title of the third encore is not mentioned. This is the longest verified Band performance up to this point and one of the very few two-hour shows Bruce did in 1973.