Hammersmith Odeon, London ‘75

A titanic feat of live performance that stands tall with any of Springsteen’s studio recordings. There were behind-the-scenes factors behind its remarkable intensity and ferocious speed: it was the gang’s first-ever show in Europe, and the Born to Run album cycle on which it fell was a make-or-break scenario for their future. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Born to Run,” and “Backstreets” give a sense of the show’s resulting mood: at once wildly frantic and totally locked in. The second-tier “Spirit in the Night” suddenly sounds like one of his greatest songs, propelled by pianist Roy Bittan high in the mix, who is apparently a total virtuoso. While the show is packed with controlled chaos, the ballad performances take it into the pantheon. Its emotional climax is a spellbinding piano-and-voice-only version of “For You,” where he works every corner of his grizzled baritone to deliver a seven-minute tour-de-force, full of range and feeling. Seems like they delivered under pressure: Europe remains the biggest stronghold of Springsteen fans in the world 50 years later.