Thirty-five years ago. The show. The ultimate show.

The one Bruce Springsteen fans always cite -- Aug. 9, 1978, at the old Cleveland Agora on East 24th Street.

A capacity crowd of 1,200 filled the club to hear Springsteen and the E Street Band roll out tunes from his new album, “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” along with set staples that would go on to become classics.

The concert, which aired live on WMMS FM/100.7, remains Springsteen’s most bootlegged show. Fans still point to it as “The Breakout” – when the club performer ascended to arena-rock stardom.

In Cleveland, the show took on a different, deeper meaning, according to WMMS program director John Gorman, in a 1999 interview with the Plain Dealer:

“That was the summer Dennis Kucinich had the vote recall. The mayor and city council were snarling at each other like dogs. Cleveland was sliding into default. The Springsteen concert was such an amazing high at the time, considering everything else was going south - and fast. As crazy as it sounds, rock 'n' roll was one of the few salvations in this city.”

(Aside: As history has shown repeatedly, rock 'n' roll and art and expression often thrive when the world is a mess.)

The show still lives on – in the mind and ears of Clevelanders.

This weekend, Wilbert’s will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Springsteen’s ’78 Agora show with tunes played by Swamps of Jersey.

At 9 tonight, the band will recreate the ’78 show – and not just by playing the same songs in order. The band will also incorporate arrangements and even between-song banter unique to the “Darkness” tour and the show in particular.

Swamps of Jersey will replicate the songs, arrangements and between-song banter of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Aug. 9, 1978 show at the Cleveland Agora.

“Different intros were done during the tour as well as some early versions of songs that were tweaked a bit when they were finally recorded,” says Howard Micenmacher. “Some of the between song banter by Bruce will be replicated as well, since it has become a part of the song in some places and is etched in people’s memories from listening to the bootleg concert for so many years.”

Micenmacher is one of those whose memories were formed by the recording of the show.

“I was too young to attend,” he says. “I was still in junior high, but like most Bruce fans I recorded the radio broadcast on my 8-track in my bedroom. It inspired me to practice my guitar and begin performing.”

At 9 p.m. Saturday, Swamps of Jersey – which also features Chris deHaas, bass; John DePietro, sax and keyboards; Kevin McCarthy, piano; Dave Smoot, drums; and Ann Marie Micenmacher, guitar and vocals – will do an encore the following night, playing an evening’s worth of Springsteen tunes.

Free. Call 216-902-4663.