Bruce Springsteen has admitted that he thought somebody was going to be killed at his 1985 Slane gig.
The musician played in Dublin earlier this year to a sell out gig in Croke Park, but has previously played on Irish shores 12 times.
Speaking about his wild gig at Slane Castle back in 1985, Bruce said, “I thought somebody was going to get killed and it’d be my fault.”
Hairy situation: Bruce admitted that his 1985 Slane concert became dangerous | VIPIRELAND.COM
The New Jersey native revealed that gig goers would jump around the crowd and vanish in “gaping holes.”
“The crowd closest to the stage: an immediate couple of thousands, were deeply into their Guinness and dangerously swaying from left to right,” he wrote in his autobiography Born To Run.
“They were opening up gaping holes amongst themselves as audience members by the dozens fell to the muddy ground, vanishing for unbearable seconds until righted once again by their neighbours.
“Then, once standing, they’d slosh back the other way and the whole interminable, nerve-grinding exercise would be repeated again, ad infinitum. It was a sight too hairy for my tender eyes.”
Red faced: The musician revealed that he could not face gigs like Slane on a nightly basis | VIPIRELAND.COM
The 67-year-old also admitted that that the Irish concert made him worry about the rest of his European tour that year and talked to his manager about cancelling the rest of his gigs.
“I could not face what was happening in front of the stage at Slane on a nightly basis.
“It was irresponsible and violated the protective instinct for my audience I prided myself on,” he added.
“Fans were pouring, red faced, soaked in booze and heat exhaustion, over the front barriers to be taken to the medical tent or to flank the crowd, throw themselves back in and take another crack at it.”
Protection: After a while, Bruce could see the gig goers were looking out for one another | VIPIRELAND.COM
After the second half started though, Bruce could see that the crowd had settled and were helping each other in the mayhem.
“The crowd settled during the second half of the Slane show and I observed there was a sketchy but ritual orderliness to what appeared from the stage to be pure chaos,” he said.
“The crowd protected one another. If you fell, the nearest person to your left or right reached down, grabbed an arm and pulled you upright.”
