Greatest Cleveland concerts: No. 2 – Springsteen at the Agora

Flashback: Cleveland radio station WMMS was one of the first stations outside New Jersey to put Springsteen's debut album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.," in heavy rotation in 1973.

• With a local fan base established, WMMS tapped Springsteen's 1978 Darkness Tour stop as the station's 10th anniversary party and gave free tickets to 1,200 fans.

What happened: Springsteen and the E Street Band performed for just under three hours with the bulk of songs coming from 1975's "Born to Run" and 1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town."

• The concert included a thrilling 12-minute version of "Prove It All Night" that nearly brought the house down.

Between the lines: The concert was simulcast on WMMS, as well as stations in Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit and St. Louis with an estimated audience of 3 million.

• Bootleg recordings of the show circulated the globe until Springsteen finally released it as an official live album in 2014.

The bottom line: Springsteen has played more than two dozen concerts in Northeast Ohio during his career. Yet the Agora show remains the pinnacle.

• It's a concert that 1,200 people attended, but tens of thousands will claim they were there.

Go deeper: 15 greatest concerts in Cleveland history