Highway 81 Revisited: Bruce Springsteen's Longest UK Tour

By Mike Saunders

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S 1981 UK TOUR: THE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT

Bruce Springsteen's first, and longest, full-scale tour of the UK with the E Street Band took place in 1981, over five years after his debut concerts at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1975. Comprising 16 shows in one month, it was the last time that British audiences were able to see him playing indoors in intimate provincial theatres as well as larger city centre arenas.

The story behind the 1981 UK tour is long and convoluted, involving five years of rumour, speculation, near-misses and close calls before the first three dates were announced in December 1980. Nine more shows were gradually added until the beginning of March 1981. The entire tour was then rescheduled to allow Bruce to recover from exhaustion after his US tour. The addition of four more dates in April brought the grand total to 16 shows.

Highway 81 Revisited is the first and definitive full account of a unique and crucial tour in Springsteen history, which followed a month of concerts in Europe. Together, those road trips provided significant exposure to foreign countries, languages, cultures and alternative political views, sowed the seeds of an enduring relationship with overseas fans and marked the start of Bruce's life as an international artist. Featuring 130 lavishly-illustrated and meticulously-researched pages, it is an essential read for Bruce fans and an important addition to the growing archive of Springsteen reference works.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1738574377
• ISBN13: 9781738574377
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Trethewey Press
• Length: 134 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"