The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities reports that on this day in 1974, “25-year-old Bruce Springsteen played at the Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge. Although popular with the college crowd in the Northeast, Springsteen was not yet a star. That night, he and the E Street Band opened for Bonnie Raitt. The influential music critic Jon Landau was in the audience. Overwhelmed by what he heard, Landau wrote, “I saw my rock and roll past flash before my eyes. I saw something else: I saw rock and roll’s future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” In the years since that momentous spring night in Cambridge, the Boss has had 14 albums go platinum, has won 11 Grammies and an Oscar, and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
A moment of silence, please, in honor of the cavernous, “different double feature daily,” Harvard Square Theater with the two-person wicker love seats in the balcony, and Monty Python fans with coconut shells jubilantly galloping up and down the main aisles.
And who knew what a spokesperson he’d become — for working folks; for a country in the aftermath of tragedy; paying tribute to Pete Seeger, and more … would that our candidates could be so eloquent!
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And could we please have the E Street Band back soon, Mr Springsteen, you can even bring the Miami Horns along from the current tour!