The Show That Proved How Legendary the E Street Band Was, According to Bruce Springsteen

A few years after the E Street Band joined Bruce Springsteen as his primary backing band, The Boss experienced a show that would change the way he thought about his fellow musicians. While he clearly recognized their promise from the get-go, one show in particular offered glimmers of the “legend” status they would later earn. Learn more below about that fateful show.

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The Show That Proved How Legendary the E Street Band Was, According to Bruce Springsteen

In the day we sweat it out on the streets
Of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through the mansions of glory
In suicide machines

Springsteen, in many ways, is a musician for America. He built his brand on creating songs for the working class in the U.S. Because of this, there was likely a question of whether or not he would play well overseas. One show at the Hammersmith Odeon in London put those doubts to bed.

The E Street Band had been with Springsteen for three years at the point of this show. They had proved their chops stateside, but they were now put to the test of an international audience. It didn’t take many measures of “Born to Run” for Springsteen to realize he had made, perhaps, the biggest decision of his career when he signed on this band.

“I remember that was hard to play because it was a studio production and I never felt like we had a strong enough version of it for it to be a closer for the first year or two,” Springsteen once said. “It’s interesting how really good the band was — it’s a relatively new band you’re seeing, really. So the band was new, and it had just morphed into what would be its defining shape. It was fun seeing that when it was just poppin’ out of the box. We were just very good.”

No Springsteen fan would disagree. While Springsteen can shine on his own (albums worth of acoustic offerings prove that to be true), there is something magical about his shows with the E Street Band. They are music icons in their own right, enriching the entire experience. Revisit this early performance of “Born to Run,” below, for a reminder of why the E Street Band became synonymous with excellent live performances.

Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back
It’s a death trap, it’s a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we’re young
‘Cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run

Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images