Amnesty International - 1986-06-15 - East Rutherford, NJ (FM)

Concert for Amnesty International

1986-06-15

Giants Stadium

East Rutherford, NJ

FM Broadcast

320 kbps

Artwork Included

Third World

01. Now That We Found Love

02. 96 Degrees in the Shade

03. Planting Us Too Close

04. Try Jah Love

The Hooters

01. Day By Day

02. ??

03. Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds

04. Where Do The Children Go?

05. All You Zombies

06. And We Danced

Peter, Paul & Mary

01. El Salvador

02. No Easy Walk to Freedom

03. Blowing in the Wind

Bob Geldorf with Little Steven & Paul Schaeffer

01. Walk On By

02. Redemption Song

Joan Armatrading

01. Stepping Down

02. Turn Out the Light

03. I Can Lie to Myself

04. Love and Affection

Yoko Ono

01. Walking on Thin Ice

02. Imagine

Howard Jones

01. No One is to Blame

Lou Reed

01. Rock and Roll

02. I Love You Suzanne

03. No Money Down

04. Turn to Me

05. Walk On the Wild Side

06. Video Violence

Peter Gabriel

01. Red Rain

02. Shock the Monkey

03. Family Snapshot

04. Sledgehammer

05. San Jacinto

06. Biko

U2

01. MLK

02. Pride

03. Bad

04. Sunday Bloody Sunday

05. Maggie's Farm/Cold Turkey

06. Help!

07. Sun City (with Little Steven, Nona Hendryx, Ruben Blades and Lou Reed)

The Police

01. Message in a Bottle

02. King of Pain

03. Driven to Tears

04. Every Breath You Take

05. Roxanne

06. Invisible Sun (with Bono)

Finale (all Performers)

01. I Shall Be Released

Amnesty International - 1986-06-15 - East Rutherford, NJ (FM)

In 1986, Amnesty International celebrated its 25th anniversary of fighting for human rights across the globe. To help raise awareness of the agency’s work, artists as diverse as U2, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Bryan Adams, Joan Baez and thr Neville Brothers, banded together for a series of 6 concerts in June of that year. To provide some perspective on how important these shows were to the performers involved, The Police reunited for the last 3 shows of the tour after not playing live in over 2 years, then wouldn’t tour again until 2007! This FM broadcast captures the final show at Giants Stadium show on July 15, 1986, 28 years ago today, a sold-out, all-day event, running from noon until 11 pm. In addition to the 6 featured acts, the Giant Stadium show included such performers as Third World, Jackson Browne, Max Weinberg, Peter Paul & Mary, The Hooters, Stanley Jordan, Miles Davis, Little Steven, Howard Jones, and Joni Mitchell. The performers featured songs about politics, freedom and courage, including anthems such as Sun City, Invisible Sun, Sunday Bloody Sunday, and I Shall Be released. MTv televised the entire concert, while Westwood One handled the national radio broadcast. Of course, while the concert was a spectacular musical event, the question remained as to whether it had achieved its intended purpose. The answer appeared to be a solid yes, as about after tour concluded, US membership in Amnesty International increased by 45,000, while letters written by concert goers led to the release of 2 political prisoners of conscience.

Note: Bruce is connected to every band that played on June 15, 1986 since he headlined an Amnesty International tour 2 years later in 1988. Since I do have a life outside this blog and don’t have unlimited time, I decided to only write about his connections to U2 as those are among the most interesting. 

U2/Bruce Springsteen Connections

• On September 25, 1987, Little Steven (that’s Miami Steve of Bruce’s E-Street band) and The Disciples of Soul opened for U2 at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Later that day, Bruce, who was on hand to see his old friend Miami Steve perform, joined U2 during their set for a rendition of Stand By Me.
• At a 2011 concert at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, Bono ended U2’s set by reciting the lyrics to Jungeland as a tribute to the late great Clarence Clemons, Bruce’s long time friend and sax player. •
• U2’s Bono inducted Springsteen into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, If you get a chance, listen to that speech. If you’re ever lucky enough to be inducted into something, you want Bono to be the guy to do it!
• In 2005, Bruce returned the favor, inducting U2 into the Rock Hall. 
• Both Bruce and Bono backed Paul McCartney on Let It Be during the 1999 Rock & Roll Hall of fame induction ceremonies. 
• Springsteen and U2 both played the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden in October 2009. Bruce closed night 1 on October 29, while U2 closed night 2 on October 30. Bruce stopped by on night 2 during U2’s set to play Because The Night and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.