October 19, 2024
On October 19, 1974, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed a sold-out, two-hours-plus show at Union College's Memorial Chapel in Schenectady, NY, as the headlining act for the college's homecoming weekend. “It was just an unbelievable performance,” recalls Union College Class of 1975 graduate Chris Fink, who also was the chair of the college's social committee, which booked the concert. “The whole energy of the show. He just blew us away. People filed out of the chapel almost quietly, as if they knew they had experienced something they had never seen before. It was like, wow, I think I just saw something special.”
In celebration of the concert's fiftieth anniversary today, Union College's website has just posted a great extensive history of the concert and its lasting impact on many of its attendees, enhanced with photos and memorabilia from the night in question. It also explores some of the behind-the-scenes drama that preceded the show, such as the social committee's debate over whether to book Springsteen or Billy Joel, and the intense pre-show soundcheck that strained the chapel's power supply and (slightly) damaged its ceiling.
-Special thanks to Phillip J. Wajda, Director of Media and Public Relations @ Union College