After much waiting and speculation, Shorefire has finally released a more complete tour itinerary for the fall leg of the American tour. Starting on August 19 in Hartford (why do they always get the first show of a tour leg?) the tour will run all the way into the fall and end on November 15 in Milwaukee. That is, if no more shows are added later, which is always an open question. As usual the tour will focus on the North East, but Florida and the Mid-West have also been blessed with a few dates. In return, the South West and North West have been completely overlooked this time around, although there is still room for additional dates here and there. So if you live in one of the forgotten areas, don't quite give up hope yet. There are rumors of at least one show in the North West, so stay alert!

If you are wondering about ticket sales, some of the shows are on sale already. Others will go on sale in the coming weeks. Check Ticketmaster for more information.

Here is a list of the tour as it looks now. We'll add it to the tour section ASAP.

19-Aug Hartford, CT Comcast Theater On Sale Now
22-Aug Mansfield, MA Comcast Center On Sale Now
23-Aug Mansfield, MA Comcast Center On Sale Now
25-Aug Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center On Sale Now
10-Sep Nashville, TN Sommett Center 25-Jul
12-Sep Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre 24-Jul
13-Sep Ft. Lauderdale, FL Bank Atlantic Center 24-Jul
16-Sep Greenville, SC Bi-Lo Center 31-Jul
20-Sep Chicago, IL United Center 1-Aug
30-Sep East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium Sold out
2-Oct East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium Sold out
3-Oct East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium Sold out
8-Oct East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium On Sale Now
9-Oct East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium Sold out
13-Oct Philadelphia, PA Spectrum 27-Jul
14-Oct Philadelphia, PA Spectrum 27-Jul
25-Oct St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center 8-Aug
26-Oct Kansas City, MO Sprint Center 8-Aug
2-Nov Washington, D.C. Verizon Center TBA
3-Nov Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena 28-Aug
7-Nov New York, NY Madison Square Garden TBA
8-Nov New York, NY Madison Square Garden TBA
10-Nov Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena 22-Aug
13-Nov Auburn Hills, MI Palace At Auburn Hills 22-Aug
15-Nov Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center 1-Aug

Back after a little hiatus, but what better excuse than to have spent the time seeing  the three shows in Munich, Frankfurt and Herning respectively. The good news, for those who haven't had a chance to see it for themselves: Bruce still has it. In spades! My personal gauge is that as long as I can come out after a show and honestly feel it was the best I've ever seen, then there's nothing to worry about. It doesn't happen with every show, but probably with every fourth or fifth show on average. So the day I've seen 7-8 shows in a row that didn't give me that "best ever" feeling, I may reluctantly start to admit that Bruce is over the hill.

But you know, that's for some distant future. I can happily declare that this time it was the show in Frankfurt on July 3 that, when the last note of "Twist and Shout" had died out, made me spontaneously burst out, "Best show ever!" Everything about that night formed a glorious synthesis of pure perfection. The crowd, the setlist, Bruce's mood, my own mood, the pace and energy of the band. It all clicked. No, it didn't have that one mega-rare tour premiere that so many fans long for. There was no "Drive All Night" or "Fade Away" moment, but there was still plenty of unpredictability and spontaneity. And these days that's really one of the most important things that sets Bruce apart from most other major live acts.

While Frankfurt may have been the only one of the three shows that gave me the "best show ever" feeling, that does not mean the two other shows were in any way sub-par. Let there be no doubt that Bruce and the band are on a roll this summer. How many other artists of his league would work their asses off in some anonymous wind-swept Danish provincial town far away from the international media radar? How tempting it would be to go through the motions and take a little breather before the much higher profiled pair of Dublin shows. But not Bruce. He gives his all no matter what. And if things don't quite click right away, as may have been the case in Herning, he doesn't give up and say, "Ok, we'll do better next time". No, he just works even harder and brings it up another notch and another notch and another notch, until every soul has been touched and all skeptics have unfolded their arms and are waving them in the air while singing along to "Twist and Shout". That's the Bruce you can witness this summer if you are able to catch a show. Which of course is nothing new. It's what he's always done. But if you were under the impression that it was a thing of the past and that this tour is some kind of half-assed afterthought, think again.

Of course, no one knows the future and what goes on behind the scenes, but nothing I have seen or heard suggests that this is the last we will see of the band or that they are no longer among the top acts of the world. If at this point they can still add another "best ever" show to this (admittedly pretty non-cynical) veteran's Bruce CV, I hope that will make any doubters sleep just a little better. It's all good.

In a show that as legendary before it even ended, Bruce and the E Street Band came, saw and conquered one of the biggest festivals in the world at Glastonbury in the England. Upwards 100,000 people were gathered around the Pyramid Stage during the 2 hour 45 minute performance with millions other people watching parts of the performance on TV and online. Even this site experience a record turn-out as almost 400 people were following the setlistvision. The show itself opened with Joe Strummer's "Coma Girl", but didn't feature any other surprises or tour premieres, although that probably wasn't what most of the crowd were there to see anyway. What they did get was an extremely energetic Bruce who, sporting a new short haircut, performed the songs with even more vigor and passion than usual, fully aware that Glastonbury was an opportunity even a band with a 35-year carreer doesn't get every day.

Earlier that day Bruce repeated his stunt from the Bonnaroo Festival and joined a younger band (I guess they all are) for a song. This time the honor went to The Gaslight Anthem and their song "59 Sound".

Read the complete setlist from Bruce's own show here and comments from the Brits here.

Just a little reminder to go to www.thelightindarkness.com and submit your story about Darkness on the Edge of Town, the tour and/or album. If you do so, it may end up in an upcoming book by Lawrence Kirsch, the guy who was also behind one of the best Bruce books of recent years, For You. This new book promises to be even more exciting as it focuses completely on what many fans think was Bruce's greatest era. And don't worry, you don't have to have experienced 1978 yourself. As long as you have something valuable to say on the subject, your story will be considered for inclusion. But you can't hesitate for too long. Deadline for story submissions is July 3, so only a couple of weeks left.

Fuse TV informs us that they will broadcast highlights from the Bonnaroo Festival this weekend, or Saturday June 20 to be more specific. This will indeed include footage from Bruce's show, but exactly how much we don't know. Look on their website for more information. It has also been confirmed that Bruce's Glastonbury Festival performance will be broadcast on BBC 2, but again, it's not completely clear whether it will be the whole thing or just excerpts.

As if this wasn't enough, a documentary by Thom Zimmy about Bruce's Superbowl performance will be aired in several countries in the near future. It's called Working on a Dream: A Superbowl Journal and Bruce himself is the narrator. Expect a motion picture version of his written journal that was published on brucespringsteen.net  a few months ago. Check your local TV listings for more information.

If you haven't spent all your money on the tour yet, soon there will be another opportunity to burn it on some Bruce. On June 21, Backstage Auctionsis launching a most interesting auction of rock memorabilia that includes several  rare Bruce items. Among those are a number of prints of classic Phil Ceccola photos of Bruce from the mid-Seventies, posters dating back to Darkness on the Edge of Town, and a collection of singles that contains some interesting titles that are worth a look by any collector. Take a look at the auction so you can be ready when it opens in a week.

Bruce didn't go home after his Bonnaroo show on Saturday night. Instead he hung out and joined Phish for three songs at their show last night. First, good, old "Mustang Sally", followed by good, old "Bobby Jean" and finally good, old "Glory Days" to wrap things up, albeit in a somewhat alternative version with an extended guitar solo at the end. Here's the proof:

Four more shows have been added for August in the US. Without any official announcement from Bruce's organization the shows have just been popping up on Ticketmaster and LiveNation today. August 19 at Comcast Theatre in Hartford, August 22 and 23 at Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA, and finally, Bruce will be in Saratoga Springs, NY, on August 25. The first three-mentioned shows are already on sale through Ticketmaster and/or LiveNation whereas Saratoga Springs won't go on sale till Thursday. Hopefully, tickets won't be too hard to come by. With tons of shows in the North East this year and the previous years, you would think the market is getting just a little saturated. It seems like the sentiment among fans that, just as "World Tour" to Bruce means North America and Western Europe, the USA has been reduced to 4-5 states in the North East, is getting more and more justified. But there is still plenty of time for more announcements and a wide open month in September for Bruce to hit places like Cleveland, Seattle, Portland, Florida, and perhaps a couple more in Los Angeles. Time will tell.

At a press conference in Stockholm today, Bruce was asked several questions about the status of the band and any future plans. Bruce revealed that the band would probably take a break after the current tour is over. It wasn't quite clear if he was only talking about the E Street Band or himself altogether, but he did say he couldn't imagine being gone for several years like in his younger days. While he couldn't or didn't want to say what would be next, he said that he was working on solo music and some other projects. He was also asked if the tour would extend beyond the Giants Stadium shows, to which he said that Giants Stadium would be "among the last shows" of the tour. There was no indication in anything he said that this would be the last E Street Band tour. On the contrary, he said the band was still growing and mentioned the addition of Jay Weinberg as an example. So while the core of the band, hopefully, will stay the same, you may have to get used to seeing old familiar faces being replaced by new members.

The last shows ever at Giants Stadium weren't the last ones after all, because now two more have been added for October 8 and 9 making these the last ones ever, ever by a major musical artist at the old stadium. The first three shows have sold very well - perhaps even surprisingly well - helped not least by a TV advertisement campaign and posters, so perhaps the extra shows shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. But fans who managed to get tickets for the now sold-out October 3 show thinking it would be the last one, not only at Giants Stadium but of the whole tour, will have to shell out again if they don't want to miss whatever special treatment Bruce will pull out his sleeve for that special occassion. Tickets for the two additional shows go on sale next Monday.