The day Bruce Springsteen performed drunk in the 1970s [FLASHBACK]

Bruce Springsteenalso known as The Boss, began his career playing in the bars of New Jersey, USA, while forming the famous rock band and street band. With dozens of awards under his belt, including 20 Grammys and over 65 million albums sold in the US alone, Springsteen is one of the most successful musicians of all time.

With fantastic songs, remarkable shows and fans all over the world, the singer made his career, but the trajectory did not stop the artist from facing a bit of drama in the presentation of October 2, 1975, at the Uptown Theater, in Chicago, USA. The performance was memorable for a slightly different reason.

The New Jersey rocker and members of and street band they would perform seven more songs when they were forced to leave the stage due to a bomb threat. When the show resumed, the group was visibly changed.

The first part of the night featured classics such as “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “thunder road” and the title track of born to run, launched in August of the same year. After the presentation of the then release, fans were notified to leave the venue. Springsteen secured the group’s return to finish the night’s performance.

That left everyone – including Springsteen and the band – with some free time. According to Steven Van Zandt from the E street, an idea, quickly emerged. “At that time, even though it was hard to believe, record companies organized parties in honor of the band in every city,” he told the portal. Ultimate Classic Rock.

The record company said, ‘Well, it will take an hour or two to get everyone out of the theater, scour the seats and the place and get everyone back. Let’s have the party now.’”

Springsteen and the band went to the bar at the Pfister Hotel and drank heavily, recalls the guitarist. But eventually they returned to the site. “We were very drunk and rarely got onstage drunk,” he explains. Van Zandt, noting how going back was a dangerous adventure. “Bruce was very drunk and almost killed himself getting out of his car on the way back to the show.”

Van Zandt was next to Springsteen, preventing his friend from living the moment that could have ended the star’s career. “I held it with both hands with all my strength,” says steven. “He was literally trying to climb onto the roof of the car. The vehicle was traveling at about 120 kilometers per hour.”

Upon their return to the stage, “Immediately, we went back to our bar band days,” he shares. The remaining 10 songs of the night reflect this. Opening with a cover of “little queenie” in Chuck Berryfollowed by another cover of “Baby It’s You” of the Shirelles and mixing the theme of the movie Shaftwith the song “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).”

“I don’t know what you guys did, but we got really weird,” he said. Springsteen to the crowd as they played the opening notes of “little queenie.” Then he told the band to get on with the night’s events. “There we were. We hurried back to the hotel. bruce asked ‘Are you drunk?’… We were drinking a lot,” shared VanZandt.

In the following years, Springsteen found a way to insert the line “Are you drunk?” in all presentations in the city. The joke became a tribute, a subtle reminder of the first visit to Milwaukee, USA and earned a special place in the memory of Van Zandt

I just remember it being the best show we’ve ever done,” he says. “Well, that might have just been the drunken feeling at the time.”