Photography exhibit of Bruce Springsteen's first Barcelona gig opens

A new photography exhibition has opened in the Gardens of Barcelona's Palau Robert showing images of Bruce Springsteen's first concert in the Catalan capital in 1981. 

The concert took place in the Palau d'Esports de Montjuïc on April 21, 1981, and this new exhibition opens on the eve of the 42nd anniversary of the show. People can visit the exhibition until May 14, for free. 

The gig was The Boss's first ever performance not only in Barcelona, but indeed in all of Spain, and Catalan photographer Francesc Fàbregas was there to witness it first hand, along with only around 7,000 fans. 

His images, taken from the very front of the crowd, offer a lively depiction of a concert that continues to live long in the memory of Catalonia's cultural memory. 

Curated by the photographer himself and presented in a space designed by Oscar Cusidó, the exhibition is accompanied by pieces of text from a range of well-known personalities lucky enough to have attended the concert, such as the artist Loquillo, journalists Jordi Bertran and Juan Cervera, and the filmmaker Manuel Huerga, among others. 

Fàbregas worked at the time for the music magazine Vibraciones and was hired to be the official photographer of the gig for CBS. 

Journalist Jordi Bianciotto explains that at the end of the performance, Bruce Springsteen told the crowd, "From now on, I carry you in my heart."

"We were just out of the dictatorship and just after the February 23 coup d'etat attempt, we were in shock," Fàbregas explains to Catalan News when asked about the atmosphere in Barcelona at the time of the gig. "But this concert gave us joy," he adds.

The photographer believes that the cultural and political stories are intertwined: the concert came at a particular point in history, when people felt the first steps of "freedom" they had felt in a long time. 

Bruce Springsteen is due to perform again in Barcelona on April 28 and April 30, and Fàbregas is sure that the fans are "dead excited" to see him again, "to be with him, to be happy, to sing and dance."