FROM
THE "TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT" DEPARTMENT...
Boston's WBOS
92.9 is reporting studio
plans for Bruce and the Band: "A spokesperson for Bruce Springsteen
has confirmed rumors that he and the E Street Band will head back
into the studio after the holidays. Springsteen has reportedly written
25 songs for the project so far." That, under a header that
reads, "New
CD Info." As
good as that sounds, don't get too excited about a new album just
yet; when asked by Backstreets today to confirm the report, a Springsteen
spokesperson denied having any information whatsoever about studio
plans. It
wouldn't be surprising at all if Bruce is indeed looking to record
Little Steven has characterized the E Street Band as in the
album-tour-album cycle, and Springsteen spent time in the studio
in October working on Essential, which could certainly whet his
appetite. Even
so, there's a big difference in the world of the Boss between entering
the studio and putting out a record as the first post-Reunion
tour sessions, in the spring of 2001, recently demonstrated.
-
October 31, 2003
BRUCE
FOR A BUCK: "THE BIG PAYBACK" NOW IN APPLE'S iTUNES STORE
Get an advance taste of Essential Disc Three, with a pre-release
download: "The Big Payback" is now available for download
from the Apple itunes store. And at 99 cents, the "Payback"
isn't so big after all. The track is available to both Mac and Windows
users; get to the store through Apple's free iTunes
application.
-
October 29, 2003
LOOKING
FOR A SIGN: PETITION ASKS BRUCE FOR OFFICIAL BOOTS
The
official Bruce Springsteen bootleg series: just a fantasy? Right
now, yeah even though other notables like Pearl Jam and Bob
Dylan have been doing it, and doing it, and doing it well. But an
online petition is looking to help make fantasy a reality, collecting
signatures to encourage Springsteen to begin releasing complete
concerts. If you want to be part of the booty call, sign
the petition now at petitiononline.com.
-
October 28, 2003
THE
TENNESSEE TERROR TURNS 54
Happy Birthday to Garry Tallent, born October 27, 1949
|
BOTTOM
LINE: BRUCE "PUTS HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS"
At
an October 23 court hearing, Greenwich Village club The
Bottom Line was granted another reprieve of up to 30 days to
work out their rent dispute with NYU. With help on the way from
The Boss and others, it's not necessarily just a matter of delaying
the inevitable. An Associated
Press story reports: "Rocker Bruce Springsteen and Viacom
President Mel Karmazin pledged several hundred thousand dollars
for the preservation and renovation of the club." Of Bruce,
co-owner Allan Pepper told the New
York Daily News, "I'm tremendously grateful. He put his
money where his mouth is." Springsteen had previously issued
a statement of support,
posted at www.savethebottomline.com
(also
see "Springsteen Speaks in Support of the Bottom Line,"
below).
-
October 24, 2003
PATTI
AND BRUCE'S "LOVE'S GLORY" REVISITED
If
you've been waiting (for a decade and counting) for Patti Scialfa's
second album, here's something to tide you over with a Springsteen
performance as well. Patti and Bruce have re-recorded "Love's
Glory" together, a song originally on her 1993 Rumble Doll
album, for the October 24 episode of "Joan of Arcadia"
(CBS). According to Billboard,
Patti is an old friend of the show's executive producer, and the
new recording was "re-tracked in the couple's home studio with
her singing and Springsteen playing guitar." As for her Rumble
Doll follow-up,
Sony Music Austria has
the as-yet-untitled project on their schedule for February 2, 2004.
-
Updated October 24, 2003
FUNDRAISING
AND ROOFRAISING ON BTX
If you haven't been hanging out on the Backstreets
Ticket Exchange lately, we thought we'd point out a few things
from the "Loose Ends" board. Not a lot of tickets
to exchange lately, of course, but the BTX community has come together
for a couple of events centered around the Light
of Day weekend (November 1 and 2) in Asbury Park, helping a
pair of good causes and putting on a show.
- The
"Bruce
Sent Me" Auction/Raffle is raising money for World
Hunger Year and FoodbankNYC,
while offering the chance to win tickets to the sold-out Light
of Day shows. (For more on the ongoing "Bruce Sent Me"
donation drive, check out the original
BTX thread. In just the first 3 weeks, BTXers generated enough
for over 25,000 meals through the FoodbankNYC, and over $2000
for World Hunger Year.)
-
And
some ambitious BTX folk have also organized a Light
of Day pre-party for the afternoon of November 2, especially
for those who've been shut out of the evening concerts themselves.
To be held at Harry's Roadhouse in Asbury Park, the shindig
will include a BBQ buffet, entertainment from the Disco Rejects
(including original E Street drummer Vini "Mad Dog"
Lopez) and several other bands, plus a presentation by official
Stone Pony photographer John Cavanaugh.
-
Updated October 23, 2003
SONY
CONFIRMS 12 SONGS ON ESSENTIAL DISC 3; 42 TRACKS IN ALL
The
Essential Bruce Springsteen (C2K 90773), a three-disc set scheduled
for November 11, will present a two-disc career retrospective, plus
a limited-edition bonus CD that gathers rarities along with previously
unreleased tracks. The line-up for Disc Three has now been confirmed
by Sony:
- From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) - Unreleased,
previously recorded by Dave Edmunds
- The
Big Payback - B-side to "Open All Night"
- Held
Up Without a Gun (Live) - Previously unreleased live version
of the "Hungry Heart" B-side, from 12/31/80 (leaving
the original studio version still unavailable on CD)
- Trapped
(Live)
- Bruce's classic Jimmy Cliff cover, live with the E Street Band
on 8/6/84, previously available on U.S.A. for Africa's We Are
the World.
- None
But the Brave - Previously unreleased Born in the U.S.A.
outtake
- Missing
- 1995 song from the film The Crossing Guard
- Lift
Me Up - 1999 song from the film Limbo
- Viva
Las Vegas - A post-E Street studio recording from The Last
Temptation of Elvis benefit album
- County
Fair - Previously unreleased early-'80s outtake
- Code
of Silence (Live) - Previously unreleased, co-written with
Joe Grushecky, a live version from 2000 at Madison Square Garden
- Dead
Man Walkin' - 1995 song from the film Dead Man Walking
- Countin'
on a Miracle (Acoustic) - Previously unreleased, though a
Danny Clinch film of this country blues version played on the
screens after many a Rising show
Filling
in B-sides left off Tracks... but no "30 Days Out"? Airing
more classic outtakes... but no "The Way," "Protection,"
or (your favorite lost song here)? "Code of Silence" but
no "Another Thin Line"? Live cuts but no "Prove It
'78"? Always leave 'em wanting more, we guess... and "None
But the Brave" alone makes us happy. But if this is "essentially"
Tracks Disc Five and you've already started compiling Tracks Disc
Six in your head... well, you're not alone.
With
the 12 cuts above, that makes a total of 42 songs on the three-disc
Essential set. Discs One and Two, with 15 songs each, present a
career-spanning selection of album tracks:
Disc
One |
Disc
Two |
Blinded
By the Light |
Born
in the U.S.A. |
For
You |
Glory
Days |
Spirit
in the Night |
Dancing
in the Dark |
4th
of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) |
Tunnel
of Love |
Rosalita
(Come Out Tonight) |
Brilliant
Disguise |
Thunder
Road |
Human
Touch |
Born
to Run |
Living
Proof |
Jungleland |
Lucky
Town |
Badlands |
Streets
of Philadelphia |
Darkness
on the Edge of Town |
The
Ghost of Tom Joad |
The
Promised Land |
The
Rising |
The
River |
Mary's
Place |
Hungry
Heart |
Lonesome
Day |
Nebraska |
American
Skin (41 Shots) (live) |
Atlantic
City |
Land
of Hope and Dreams (live) |
Twelve
of these 30 songs previously appeared on Greatest Hits. Of
the remaining 18: the first five songs rectify Greatest Hits'
lack of pre-1975 material; the last six songs were released after
GH; in between are seven songs that didn't make the cut for
GH, including "Jungleland " and "Living Proof."
(On GH but not on Essential: "My Hometown,"
"Better Days," and GH's four "new" songs, "Secret
Garden," "Murder Inc.," "Blood Brothers,"
and "This Hard Land.") Also note: appearing here are the
title tracks from every studio album from 1975 to the present.
The
set will be "supported by an extensive TV campaign." Columbia
also specifies that this sequence is not final (surprise, surprise)...
and with Springsteen, things tend to change at the eleventh hour.
If there are any last-minute tweaks, we'll post 'em here.
-
Updated October 23, 2003
BARCELONA
DVD TO CONTAIN COMPLETE SHOW ON 2 DISCS
Just
as the reunion tour brought us Live in New York City, we'll
be getting a digital memento from the Rising tour, Live
in Barcelona.
Sony will release
the two-DVD set on November 18, which will contain the full 10/16/02
show from Palau Sant Jordi, in Barcelona. Of course we've already
seen some of this performance, on MTV/VH1 and CBS broadcasts; the
DVD set will contain much that was unaired, including "Spirit
in the Night," "Incident on 57th Street," "Night,"
"Ramrod," "Born in the U.S.A.," and more (see
the full tracklisting). More to the point: this is the first
time ever, in Springsteen's 30-plus-year career, that an entire
show, from start to finish, has been officially released, whether
audio or video. It's about time.
In
addition to the Barcelona show, the two-disc set will also include
a bonus featurette titled "Drop the Needle and Pray: The Rising
on Tour," with never before seen material including new interviews,
footage from this summer's US stadium tour at Fenway Park and Giants
Stadium, and a photo montage chronicling the Rising tour.
Between
the Barcelona show and "Drop the Needle," the 2-DVD set
contains almost three hours of footage, with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound audio recorded and mixed by Rising producer Brendan O'Brien.
The DVDs were produced by George Travis, directed by Chris Hilson,
and edited by Thom Zimny, who won an Emmy for his editing on the
2001 HBO concert special "Bruce Springsteen and the E Street
Band."
-
Updated October 22, 2003
SPRINGSTEEN
INVITED TO PLAY JOHNNY CASH BENEFIT
The Nashville
City Paper reports that a
tribute to the late, great Johnny Cash is planned for November 10
at the Ryman Auditorium, with Bruce Springsteen among those invited
to perform. Longtime Cash manager Lou Robin told the paper, "[The
family] just wanted to
give the public
closure to
their feelings about Johns death. They thought maybe this
would be an opportunity for a lot of different entertainers to come
and voice their feelings and perform and entertain. Currently
on the bill: Rosanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl
Crow, Hank Williams Jr., Jack Clement, Steve Earle and Larry Gatlin.
Springsteen, along with Bono and Bob Dylan, is not yet confirmed.
Bruce previously played the Ryman on the Tom Joad tour.
UPDATE:
Admission will be free, with tickets distributed by lottery.
To take your shot at a pair of tickets, send a postcard with your
name, address, and phone number to: Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute,
PO Box 20003, Nashville, TN 37202. The deadline is October 26 at
11:59 p.m. Eastern. One entry per person. Winners will be drawn
at random on October 27 and notified by phone.
-
Update October 21, 2003
SPRINGSTEEN
SPEAKS IN SUPPORT OF THE BOTTOM LINE
The
Bottom Line the famed Greenwich Village club where Springsteen
played a legendary run in 1975, and where he debuted with the core
1992-93 band is in trouble. The club's owners write: "Our
business, along with so many other small businesses, has not been
able to recover since the tragedy of September 11th. Attendance
to shows has declined. In addition, our customers are feeling economic
stress, our bills have been multiplying, and we have found ourselves
substantially behind in our rent. Our landlord, New York University,
has started eviction proceedings." A
Reuters follow-up story, "New
York's Bottom Line Gets Last-Minute Reprieve," reported
that the club was granted an extra 30 days, but time is still running
out. The owners of the Bottom Line are due back in court on October
23, at which time NYU appears ready to resume their plans to evict.
UPDATES:
Visit
the www.savethebottomline.com
to sign a petition and for more information on what you can do to
help; there's also a petition specifically for NYU
Alumni. Also
at www.savethebottomline.com
is a
new message from Springsteen himself:
"Over
the last 20 years, the Bottom Line has made itself a central part
of New York City culture. When I think of the most memorable nights
in my own career, few match the week of shows we did there in 1975.
As a musician, as a citizen, and as one who loves New York City,
I truly hope that a solution can be found that allows the Bottom
Line and Allan and Stanley to continue their important, valuable
work for many years to
come." Bruce Springsteen, 10/20/03
For
more on Springtseen at the Bottom Line, see Backstreets
#50/51.
-
Updated October 21, 2003
FURTHER ON UP THE ROAD...
(Deb Carvalho
photo, October 4, 2003)
After
120 shows that's 84 in North America, 31 in Europe, and 5
"Down Under"
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Rising tour twisted and
shouted to a close on October 4 in New York. We want to thank everyone
who checked in with us over the last 14 months and helped with our
coverage, and everyone who followed along here on Backstreets.com.
But, as Steve Earle sings, we ain't even close to through with you.
We've
already got more Bruce juice to keep our eye on, with the Barcelona
DVD (see below) now scheduled for November 18, and the Essential
3-CD set planned for November 11 (see below for the album cover
and track listing for the first two discs). Whatever Springsteen
does now
whether he enters
the studio soon, turns
up at the Light of Day benefit for the fourth year running, announces
hoped-for Holiday shows, all of the above or something else altogther
we'll be following it all as we have for nearly a quarter-century.
So stick around.
If
you enjoyed following the tour with us, we hope you'll subscribe
to Backstreets Magazine. In our next issue, which we're hard
at work on now, we'll have full coverage of the complete Summer
Tour 2003, with in-depth reports, beautiful color
photos, and much more. We're also planning a major tour wrap-up
(with loads of facts and figures, trivial and non-), as we did after
the Reunion tour. Backstreets has been publishing quarterly since
1980, and each issue is packed to the gills for Bruce fans, by Bruce
fans. Subscribing to Backstreets directly supports Backstreets.com
and BTX and enables us to keep all this going, while getting you
a Boss Magazine at a savings off the newsstand price. Read
more about Backstreets Magazine here.
Another
way to support Backstreets is to do your Springsteen shopping in
our online
store, where we carry all things Bruce: souvenirs, CDs, records,
books, posters, T-shirts, you name it. We've just added the new
paperback edition
of Springsteen's Songs,
which updates the great 1998 book with new Bruce-penned intros,
lyrics, and photos for Live in New York City and The Rising.
In the weeks to come, we'll be adding more new books, 2004 calendars,
and tour items, so we hope you'll keep checking in. And with the
holidays coming up fast, Backstreet Records can be a great place
for one-stop shopping for your favorite Springsteen fan. This train
keeps rolling, and thanks for helping us keep it that way.
SPRINGSTEEN
HONORED WITH LES PAUL AWARD
At the 19th Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards,
held in New York on October 11, the Les Paul Award was given to
Bruce
Springsteen. Named for the creator of the electric guitar, the Les
Paul Award was created in 1991 to honor individuals or institutions
that have set the highest standards in excellence in the creative
application of recording technology, according to the organization.
The presenters of the award were mastering veteran Bob Ludwig and
Les Paul himself. After a video presentation summarizing Springsteen's
career, Ludwig beamed, saying, "I'm one of his biggest fans.
Bruce is first and foremost a poet and it's a pleasure to work for
him." Although Springsteen was not in attendance to accept
the honor, he did send a letter to be read, thanking the production
team he has worked with for years, including Ludwig, mixer Bob Clearmountain
and engineer Toby Scott. The letter concluded with a special message
of gratitude to Les Paul, thanking him for the electric guitar,
stating, "It's just what I needed."
(Report by Ruth Barohn)
-
October 12, 2003
ONE
MORE TIME!... OKAY, 38 MORE TIMES!
Check
out the October 2003 issue of Mix magazine
for an article on the recording of The River by Maureen Droney.
In looking back at the 16-month album sessions at the Power Station,
she talks with River engineer Neil Dorfsman and mixer Toby Scott,
getting into the nitty-gritty technical details. A great article
for gearheads in particular, but also for anyone interested in a
peek behind the scenes of Bruce's recording sessions. Dorfsman recalls,
"We were doing multiple takes of every song 20, 30, sometimes
40 times... Bruce cut something like 50 songs, with multiple
at least 15 takes of each tune. We had over 400 reels of
tape." Scott describes just as intensive a process for the
mixes: "We did hundreds of variations: with backgrounds and
without; lead up, lead down; more echo; more slap. Once we started
taking mixes, I think we averaged 75 variations per song.
Read
"Classic Tracks: Bruce Springsteen's The River"
online now.
-
October 10, 2003
TICKET
ALERT: SECOND "LIGHT OF DAY" CONCERT ADDED
Tickets for Sunday show on sale October 11 at noon.
The Fourth Annual Light of Day benefit will now take place over
two nights at the Stone Pony. The November 1 show sold out
in less than a day, so a second show has been added for November
2, also at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Night Two goes on sale
Saturday, October 11, at noon. Tickets ($45 for general admission
tickets or $100 for reserved VIP seats) will be available at Ticketmaster
outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone, www.ticketmaster.com,
Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ, and at the Stone Pony box office.
Currently
on the bill for Night Two: Boccigalupe & The Bad Boys, Gary
U.S. Bonds, John Eddie, Dan Bern, Highway 9, Jesse Malin, Garland
Jeffreys, Marah, and Soozie Tyrell, with others to be announced.
On
the bill for Night One: Boccigalupe & The Bad Boys, Joe Bonanno
& The Godsons of Soul, Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan, Exit
105, Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers, Garland Jeffreys &
the Coney Island Playboys, the Danny White Band, and others to be
announced. There will also be a separate acoustic stage featuring
Mimi Cross, Rob Dye, Charlie McIntosh, Jason Shain, Bobby Strange,
Bruce Tunkel, and Mike "Rocket" Wurtele.
See
Concerts
East for more info. As always, the concert benefits the Parkinson's
Disease Foundation. The first three Light of Day concerts culminated
with appearances by Bruce Springsteen, who sat in with Joe Grushecky
and his band at all three shows. Last year, Springsteen also jammed
with Gary U.S. Bonds. The events raised over $100,000 for Parkinson's
and ALS research.
Concert
organizer Bob Benjamin also co-produced a new 2CD set of covers
with the same title, out this month, also to benefit PDF. Light
Of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen is available now through
Backstreet Records.
-
Updated October 9, 2003
BY
POPULAR DEMAND: MORE DAYS OF HOPES AND DREAMS!
Photographer Frank
Stefanko's all-Springsteen gallery show, up now at Govinda Gallery
in Washington D.C. (1227 34th Street NW), will be on the walls for
an extra week. Originally planned to close on October 18, the show
has been extended to October 25 due to its popularity. And for good
reason it's beautiful stuff. So you've got an extra week,
catch it if you can! See below for more on Stefanko, and his new
book that the Govinda show celebrates, Days of Hope and Dreams:
An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen.
-
October 9, 2003
NEW
"AMERICAN SKIN" CONTROVERSY: HAVEN'T WE BEEN HERE BEFORE?...
When "American Skin (41 Shots)" first stirred up a ruckus
back in 2000, its harshest critics responded before they'd even
heard the song. Unfortunately, that misinterpretation assuming
one can interpret something they haven't heard has stuck,
and there has been resistance to "American Skin" from
day one. To paraphrase what Springsteen said years ago about "Born
in the U.S.A.," when someone doesn't understand your song,
you just keep singing it.
And
Springsteen kept singing "American Skin," even at the
opening of the New York City stand. After which, according to the
New York Daily News story "Cop-out
on Bruce," NYPD Chief of Department Joseph Esposito "ordered
the escort cut for Springsteen's next show." The Daily
News and New
York Newsday and other major news sources have since followed
up, reporting criticisms of the police reaction from both Mayor
Bloomberg's office and the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Springsteen
writes explicity about "American Skin" in the brand new
edition of Songs, his longest statement by far about the
controversy and the song itself. Bruce writes, "Though the
song was critical, it was not 'anti-police' as some thought."
As he also points out, the first verse is
from the point of view of a police officer, "kneeling
over his body in the vestibule, praying for his life."
Rather than being an indictment of police, if the song points a
finger at anyone, Springsteen suggests that it points at all of
us in this country, the singer included. "The idea was here,"
he writes: "Here is what systemic racial injustice, fear, and
paranoia do to our children, our loved ones, ourselves. Here is
the price in blood."
We
highly recommend reading Springsteen's "American Skin"
intro in its entirety.
But the song itself really says it all. So if you can shut out all
the raised voices, we also recommend some deep breaths, some fresh
ears, and another listen to a song that, much like Neil Young's
"Ohio," says more about ourselves and the world in which
we live than it does about anyone in uniform.
-
October 9, 2003
NEW YORK CITY SERENADES AND A LEGENDARY RENDEZVOUS AS BRUCE AND
HIS BLOOD BROTHERS BRING IT ALL BACK HOME.
10/3:
For the penultimate concert of the tour, Springsteen pulls out some
big guns: a mighty "Roulette" to open, and a beautiful "New York
City Serenade," with Garry on stand-up bass, to warm up a chilly
night at Shea. Both were tour premieres, as were "Rendezvous" and
"Another Thin Line" (an unreleased song co-written with Joe Grushecky,
debuted at the end of the Reunion tour, and a strong contender for
Essential disc 3). "Souls of the Departed" again included the "57
Channels"-style "mass destruction" sound-bite intro, and while Night
2 was less overtly political than Night 1, the show did include
a quick guest spot from Al Franken during the band intros, as an
alternate "Big Man." A wild setlist and powerful performance all
around, though those hoping for songs written after 1979 might not
have been as thrilled with "That '70s Show" (as one fan called it)
until the encores, when a rollicking "Pink Cadillac" followed "Janey
Don't You Lose Heart." Introducing "My City of Ruins," Springsteen
thanked fans for their support, and called it the "best year we've
ever had, really." Guests galore joined in during the second encore,
including Mets pitcher (and big Bruce fan) Al Leiter on tambourine
for "Rosalita"; Jon Landau and Willie Nile, both on guitar, for
"Dancing in the Dark"; and a full stage with the addition of Gary
U.S. Bonds for a bonus show-closing "Twist and Shout."
10/4:For "the last dance," even the elements were on our
side. The all-day drizzle stopped just in time for the show, and
while Bruce later knocked on the wood of his acoustic, hoping the
skies would hold, we'd already stopped the rain. "Code of Silence"
opened the show, another Grushecky co-write last played in Pittsburgh.
"Roulette," "Johnny 99," "Tunnel," and "Another Thin Line" came
back; a stunning "I Wish I Were Blind" had its E Street Band debut,
a beautiful full-band electric performance that we wish had appeared
before the final show... other tour premieres were "Back in Your
Arms" and, opening the encores, the return of the Reunion tour staple,
"Light of Day." A 30-song blowout (previously, the longest Rising
show had been 27 songs) that lasted nearly 3 hours and 20 minutes,
this final show was one that may have had emotions running high,
but Bruce seemed committed to keeping things loose and fun. "Welcome
to the Last Dance," he said before "Waitin' on a Sunny Day." "I'm
getting a little misty here right about now... Steve, cheer me up!"
And he was chattier than usual, leading into "Back in Your Arms"
with some audience banter: "Ladies, have you ever felt taken for
granted?" But Bruce saved his speechifiyin' for the biggest surprise
of the night, as a fellow legend came out to share the stage for
"Highway 61." Bruce told the crowd, "We have my great friend and
inspiration with us tonight, Mr. Bob Dylan... we wouldn't be here
tonight without him." The resulting performance was rough and ramshackle,
best in theory, but it was clearly a meaningful moment for Springsteen.
Introducing "Land of Hope and Dreams" a couple of songs later, he
continued talking about Dylan as an artist "who was willing to stand
in the fire... he made me think big thoughts... got me thinking
about the world outside my little town. I don't know if great men
make history or if history makes great men, but I know Bob's one
of the greatest. Now and forever. I dedicate this one to him tonight,
and thank him for gracing my stage... when I wrote this one I was
doing my best to follow in his footsteps." And after his call for
vigilance, and stressing the notion that the search for the truth
is "the American Way": "And I learned that from Bob Dylan. This
is 'Land of Hope and Dreams.'" After the historical summit, the
show became about celebration. "Rosie, I'm home!" Willie Nile and
Jon Landau returned for "Dancing," Bonds returned this time with
Garland Jeffreys for the tour debut of the chestnut "Quarter to
Three" along with "Twist and Shout." And that takes us to song 29.
Song 30, the last song of the night? History repeats itself, with
the first performance of "Blood Brothers" since Bruce and the E
Streeters closed the Reunion tour with the same. All guests left
the stage before this one, leaving just the E Street Band that has
brought us the power, hour after hour, night after night, over the
last 14 months. Springsteen seemed to be holding it together, but
there were tears streaming down Clarence's face. Once again, Bruce
brought bandmembers front and center to hold hands for the extra
verse. It's a good night for a ride, and with that, the Rising tour
rides off into the sunset. "The past four or five years have been
some of the most fun and exciting of my life," Bruce told the crowd,
"Thanks for sharing them with us."
For
the full setlists from these final Rising shows, as well as setlists
from Springsteen's previous performances, go to our setlists
page.
BACKSTREETS.COM
SERVER UPGRADE TODAY
We can make it stronger, faster, better
You
may have noticed Backstreets.com moving a little slow over the past
few days or in the case of BTX, sometimes not at all, as
our message boards have been overloaded by traffic. Obviously,
end-of-tour excitement
accounts for the extra action right now, but just because this is
a rare occasion doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make it better.
We're in this for the long haul, after all. So there's no time like
the present, and this afternoon we'll be upgrading our server hardware.
It means that Backstreets.com will be down for a short time later
today, likely for an hour or so, while we make the switch. But it
also means that you'll notcice increased speed and reliability here,
on BTX, and in our online shop, in time for Shea reports as well
as further on down the road. Thanks for your patience while we make
it happen.
UPDATE: Upgrade completed at 6:30 p.m. Eastern
-
October 1, 2003
NEW
RELEASE NOTES FROM FAR AND WIDE
Though
the Rising tour is about to end, we're anticipating some happy holidays
this year. A few weeks back, we reported that an "Essential
Springsteen" collection is in the works (two CDs, with a bonus
third disc planned for the first pressing), and there have also
been plenty of rumors lately about a DVD release planned from the
Rising tour. Still no official confirmations of either project in
the U.S., but here are a few links to check out that hold promise:
HMV
Japan lists "Essential" as due for release there on
November 19, and while there's no mention of a third disc, you'll
find a 30-song track listing, 15 songs per CD. From "Blinded"
through "Rosalita" and "The Promised Land" to
"Tunnel of Love" (and beyond), this line-up fills in plenty
of gaps that the one-disc Greatest Hits couldn't cover. Sony
Music Norway
and Sony
Music Austria both list "Essential" on
their schedule of upcoming releases,
due on November 3 (with Sony Austria listing a seperate Limited
Edition version as well). We'll
keep you posted on all the Essential details as they come in.
And
get this: Sony Austria also has Patti Scialfa's long-awaited second
album on the schedule for February 2, title to be announced. Will
her Rumble Doll follow-up finally see the light of day?
As
for a DVD, Sony
Music Norway has a DVD titled "Bruce Springsteen: Live
in Barcelona" on their schedule, with a due date "To Be
Announced." HMV
Japan lists "Live From Barcelona" as a 2-DVD set due
November 19. Things clearly aren't yet set in stone, but it's looking
good keep those fingers crossed.
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Updated October 1, 2003
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