Bruce Springsteen, “The Boss," played Cleveland Municipal Stadium Aug. 7, 1985, but the days leading up to his Born in the USA Tour were filled with drama locally.
Stadium ushers, ticket takers and security had voted to authorize a strike against Andy Frain Services, the company that managed the venue for the Cleveland Stadium Corporation. Would Springsteen cross a picket line?
Our video player contains two clips, the pre-concert stories and a bit of the concert itself.
Clip one: pre-concert
Clip one starts with people lined up for tickets and some of the debris left behind. Cool to see a Ticketron ticket again.
WEWS reporter Dawn Meadows' story on the strike vote is next. We get to see the old stadium, looks as if the Tribe is taking on the Orioles.
Ted Henry anchors breaking news coverage of a deal to let the concert go on. Concert promoter Jules Belkin cut a one-time deal with the union, meeting their demands, so the concert is on. WEWS reporter Bill Younkin reports on the settlement live from the baseball press box.
And we close the days before the concert with aerials of the stage being assembled from high over the stadium via Chopper 5.
It’s the day of the concert with stories from Younkin and Michelle Holden. Holden went to Washington D.C.’s RFK Stadium covering the first stop on the tour.
Clip one ends with Bruce Springsteen’s entrance and greeting to the 70,000 Cleveland fans.
Clip two: concert
Wilma Smith is anchoring and she throws to Bill Younkin. He is doing our coverage, live from Mall C overlooking the stadium.
The audio mix on the story is not the best. When it was saved, someone left the concert audio up too high, making it difficult to hear the story. But if you’re a Springsteen fan or were at the concert, I hope the memories make up for the poor audio quality.
Younkin closes with news of Springsteen’s $25,000 donation to the Cleveland Food Bank. There was also news of a woman falling through a louver at the back of upper deck seating at the stadium.
Enjoy.
