Today we have met Daniel and Staffan who saw their first Springsteen concert at Konserthuset, Stockholm, November 21st 1975.
They had both listened to Springsteen’s first albums, but still the show was a complete shock to them. “It was great to hear the songs live, but we never expected the band to be so tight. They could start with those partysongs, then Bruce came out for a solo piano performance and then suddenly they could play covers like the Detroit medley. We’d never seen anything like it before”, Staffan said.

Konserthuset, Stockholm.

Daniel has a special memory of the concert. He didn’t get a ticket to the show, and buying one from the scalpers was too expensive. But he managed to sneak in, thanks to a friend standing in the door. As Daniel was waiting for the show to begin he got to hear the soundcheck and he saw Bruce walking around checking that all was OK. But nobody in the band saw him where he was sitting.
“My expectations were huge before the show, and seeing the soundcheck without being noticed just enhanced them”, he said.

Staffan and Daniel also saw the show at Hovet in 1981. Their experience was that much of the spontaneity, the intimacy and the power of Bruce’s monologues were lost because of the bigger arena. “It was more of a staged performance, you knew that the monologues were rehearsed. In ’75 we still had the feeling that it all happened spontaniously”, Staffan said.

“It was difficult to go home after the show in ’75. At first the audience had been a bit quiet, sitting down and listening. By the end of the show everyone was standing and cheering, filled with euphoria. Afterwards we were telling eachother how good it had been and then we just drifted off home”, Daniel remembered.

Daniel who is a celloplayer with the philaharmonic and work at Konserthuset, was very impressed by Bruce’s ability to lead the band. “It was fascinating to see how everything went through him, everybody else in the band was always looking at him to see what would happen next. He’s controlling everything, almost like a conductor.”

Staffan also told us about a private meeting with Bruce. “I shook hands with him during the dinner at Grand Hotel in 1997 when he got the Polar Prize. We didn’t talk much but it was great to hear him perform some acoustic songs that night.” Springsteen shared the prize with famous choire conductor Eric Ericson, Staffans father.

We thank Staffan and Daniel for sharing their great stories with us in the beautiful setting of Konserthuset. Our next interview is tomorrow.