When Big D Had No Love for Bruce — 1974
by Paula Bosse
Imagine what coulda been… (click for larger image)
by Paula Bosse
First off, apologies for the image quality of this advertisement. It’s from eBay (“He’s from Barcelona…”).
I thought it was an interesting ad, because I never knew that Bruce Springsteen played the Sportatorium, Dallas’ legendary wrestling mecca and off-and-on home to the Big D Jamboree. How had I never heard about this? (This was a show put together by local promoter Gene McCoslin, who had a long history with Willie Nelson.)
1974 was pretty early for Bruce to play in Dallas. He was starting to gain notice nationally, but he wasn’t a star yet. The tickets to the Sportatorium show were $4.50 in advance/$6.00 at the door (roughly $30 and $40 in today’s inflation-adjusted money). As it turns out, the show was canceled, because — hold onto yourselves — only 28 advance tickets had sold. …TWENTY-EIGHT.
That show was scheduled for November 10, 1974. A few months earlier — in June 1974 — Bruce was, for some inexplicable reason, booked as the opening act for… Maria Muldaur (“Midnight at the Oasis”). That show was scheduled at the UTA campus in Arlington. The Dallas Morning News reported that Bruce was a last-minute no-show, claiming a bout with the flu, but, apparently, he was unhappy with the small turnout and just didn’t go on. (Trouper Maria, having lost her opening act, performed for nearly 2 hours, and got rave reviews.)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 9, 1974
Springsteen’s first actual performance on a Dallas stage appears to have been sometime in the same year as those two ill-fated non-gigs: 1974. Freelance rock critic Kim Martin-Pierce remembered it: “He always had a troubled history here. [He was booked to play at the old Mother Blues nightclub, but] he sold so poorly at Mother Blues that they moved him over to Gertie’s on Lemmon Avenue. He didn’t draw well at all there either, but he gave the greatest performance I’ve ever heard in a small club.” (DMN, “Springsteen Finally Shows Big D Who’s Boss” by John Anders, Nov. 30, 1984, after Bruce’s two sold-out shows at Reunion Arena)
Sorry, Bruce, for the cold shoulder! I think Dallas eventually came around. But you missed out. Playing the Sportatorium would have been really, really cool. And those 28 people would still be talking about the most amazing show they had ever seen.
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Sources & Notes
Top ad from the Dallas underground newspaper Iconoclast, Nov.8-15, 1974; found on eBay in April 2024.
This post appeared previously in a slightly different form on the Flashback Dallas Patreon page.
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Copyright © 2025 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
I was at that Maria Muldaur show. I went specifically to see Bruce and I was really disappointed, although to be fair, Maria Muldaur was great. I didn’t get to see Springsteen until spring of 1976 in Nashville.
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I’m glad Bruce didn’t hold a grudge against Dallas, and came back to see us several times since. I’ve seen him at the AAC in ’02, ’08 and ’23. All three shows were spectacular, of course.
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A little more about Bruce playing at Gerties, 3-18-74. From Brucebase.wikidot.com
“First of two shows, with Springsteen and band the sole act on the bill. Opening of a four-night (eight-show) residency. This series of gigs was originally scheduled for a smaller club in Dallas called Mother Blues. However due to the rapturous reception and strong ticket sales that had occurred at the gigs in Houston and Austin, it was decided at the last moment to shift the residency to the larger Gertie’s venue. The decision turned out to be unnecessary, as ticket sales in Dallas were very poor, with only 50 to 75 people present at most of the shows, an indication of just how dramatically Bruce’s popularity varied from city to city at this point in his career. Brucebase reader Gary Mcgill attended the show and was kind enough to send us his recollections: “Gertie’s was the sister club to Mother Blues and were both on Lemmon Avenue a few blocks apart. I was 18, living in an old house a few blocks away. I had no knowledge of Bruce Springsteen at the time, but often went to Gertie’s and Mother Blues. We’d see local bands like the Werewolves, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughn when just starting out, Jonny Nitzinger (blues guitarist and author of some Bloodrock songs) and touring bands like Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express, Ray Manzarek band (of the Doors), Tim Buckley, and many others. A friend from Austin told me I simply had to go see this guy Bruce Springsteen. He’d just played the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin and my friend was amazed. So I went to the show at Gertie’s (I just paid admission at the door….don’t recall but it couldn’t have been more than $2 or $3). I was on my own. My roommate worked the night shift and couldn’t go to the show. Only 50 or 60 people in the entire club (and the club wasn’t that big). I don’t really recall two shows. I do know they did a set, then a long break, then another set. During the break, I stood at the bar and talked to (I think) Garry Tallent for quite a while. We chatted about Austin, The Armadillo, etc. Very nice fellow. Bruce and most of the band was outside. I recall thinking in the second set that maybe they didn’t know many songs because they played a lot of things again. In retrospect that could have been because it was supposed to be two shows. I think the club management just let us all stay because the place was so empty. The stage at Gertie’s is not very big and only a couple of feet taller than the floor in the place. Plus the ceiling is very low. I recall the band seeming a bit cramped on the stage. I also recall vividly that Bruce and band were playing as if they were in Madison Square Garden….putting on a hell of a show for even our small audience. And everyone there was loving it. Seems like the last song they played was a long cover of “Walking The Dog” with Bruce going wild on stage, totally sweat drenched. I’ve been to many hundreds of concerts, starting back in 1968 and seen almost every major rock act, particularly the late 60s and 70s. Still attend many concerts every year, but the Bruce Springsteen and E-Street Band show in that little club, Gertie’s, is still one of my all time best concert experiences.”
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Thank you! This was great!!
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