Bruce Springsteen, like many of his peers, grew up on the likes of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks and more. To say that British bands had influenced his own career in songwriting would be putting in mildly.

So when Springsteen and his E Street Band finally made their way across the big pond to play their very first shows overseas, there was a great deal of excitement.

“In England lived the reasons we were here,” Springsteen wrote in his memoir, Born to Run. “The cities of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle rang synonymous with the names of our favorite British Beat heroes. These were mystical destinations, yet here we were, coming in for a landing at Heathrow airport, new representation of the musical mother country with a chance to return some small part of the favor…if we could.”

This was November of 1975, just a couple months after the release of Springsteen’s Born to Run album, which was a fantastic success in the U.S. Expectations, understandably, were high for the European shows.

READ MORE: Bruce Springsteen Album Opening Songs Ranked

But when Springsteen and his band arrived in London — more specifically at the Hammersmith Odeon, a popular, theater-sized venue — he was met with an enormous marquee that read “FINALLY! LONDON IS READY FOR BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN.”

And that was just the start of it.

“Once inside,” he recalled, “I am greeted by a sea of posters on every available flat surface and in every seat proclaiming me THE NEXT F—ING BIG THING! The kiss of death! It’s usually better to let the audience decide that one. I’m frightened and I’m pissed, really pissed. I am embarrassed for myself and for my fans. This is not the way it works. I know how it works. I’ve done it. Play and shut up. My business is SHOW business and that is the business of SHOWING…not TELLING. You don’t TELL people anything, you SHOW them, and let them decide. That’s how I got here, by SHOWING people.”

Springsteen was so pissed that he went through the venue, tearing down all the posters he could, though it did little to subdue his fears.

“By showtime, I’m f—ed,” he recalled. “I’m pathetically wrecked and nervous. At 25, I am still a provincial young man. I have never been overseas in my life.”

The show went on, of course, but not without an intense battle within Springsteen’s own head: “I’m pushing hard, maybe too hard, and then it’s over. A tough night. I am disappointed in myself for ceding too much to my internal conflicts.”

Watch Bruce Springsteen Perform ‘Thunder Road’ in London on Nov. 18, 1975

If you were there at the concert — or if you watch the subsequent concert film that was made from that evening’s show on Nov. 18, 1975, titled Hammersmith Odeon, London ’75 — you would not know any of this. (You can view a complete set list below.) The show, for all intents and purposes, delivered precisely the robust rock ‘n’ roll the audience was clearly hoping for and Springsteen’s relationship with his British and European audiences only grew stronger in the decades that followed.

But back in 1975, Springsteen felt anything but confident.

“[After the show]…I went to a party that was supposed to celebrate my triumph, but I felt I’d been terrible and so I was embarrassed to even go in,” he remembered in the 2025 documentary When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain. “I went in for a few minutes, couldn’t stand myself being there, went out, ran back to the hotel, sat in my lonely room under a big black cloud, ate whatever I had and went to bed. … I had PTSD from the first Hammersmith show!”

Following this particular leg of touring, Springsteen did not return to Europe for six years, but his fans overseas have never stopped supporting him.

“It’s fascinating,” he told Rolling Stone in 2013. “There is an emotional openness that is rare in the States.”

Watch Bruce Springsteen Perform ‘Jungleland’ in London on Nov. 18, 1975

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, 11/18/1975, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, Set List:
1. “Thunder Road” (solo piano/harmonica version)
2. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
3. “Spirit in the Night” (“Stagger Lee” (Lloyd Price) intro)
4. “Lost in the Flood” (tour debut)
5. “She’s the One”
6. “Born to Run”
7. “The E Street Shuffle / Havin’ a Party”
8. “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City”
9. “Backstreets”
10. “Kitty’s Back” (“Moondance” (Van Morrison) snippet)
11. “Jungleland”
12. “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” (“Come a Little Bit Closer” (Boyce and Hart) intro and “Theme From Shaft” (Isaac Hayes) snippet)

Encore:
13. “4th of July, Asbury Park” (Sandy)
14. “Detroit Medley”
15. “For You” (solo piano)
16. “Quarter to Three” (Gary “U.S.” Bonds cover)

Bruce Springsteen Live Albums Ranked

Longtime fans will tell you his studio records are only half the story – concert performances are the other, and maybe more essential, part.

Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci