The rain was pouring down before Bruce's first ever show in New Zealand. But around the time the band hit the outdoor stage the rain stopped. However, that didn't prevent Bruce from debuting "Who'll Stop the Rain" on the tour. Other than that, no rare songs were played, but you should still check out the setlist. Read more

   

The latest issue of Uncut, which is now becoming available in newsstands all over the world, has Bruce on the cover and includes a long article where other artists talk about their favorite Springsteen songs. As if that wasn't enough, Uncut put together two different CDs with cover versions of Bruce songs by a host of different artist from Steve Earle to Heather Nova, several of which have never been released before. Problem is, you only get one of the CDs with each magazine, so you have to buy two magazines to get both. Read more

   

Two shows at the Entertainment Centre in Brisbane ended Bruce's first tour in Australia with the E Street Band since 1985. Tuesday's show finally saw the tour premiere of "Jungleland", but those who hoped Soozie Tyrell would add her violin to the intro to make it resemble to original studio version, were disappointed. The second Brisbane didn't have any tour premieres, but featured "This Hard Land" and the rarely played "I'm a Rocker". Read more

   

For the first time since 1985 Bruce was back in Australia with the E Street Band. The first of four Australian shows took place in Melbourne and opened with an acoustic version of "Born in the USA" followed by "War". Bruce dedicated "Empty Sky" to the Australian victims of 9/11 and at some point also did an anti-war speech. But perhaps the biggest surprise was the fact that for the first time on the tour, "Into the Fire" did not close the main set. Instead "Thunder Road" took that spot. To some fans, the show was somewhat marred by the fact that corporate VIP people had been placed in front of the stage rather than a general admission pit. Several times Bruce had to scold them for not being into the show. But altogether reports are glowing, and Bruce gave his all with a 25-song, 170 minute show. Read the setlist. Read more

   

At three hours and 20 minutes and 27 songs the show in Sydney was by far the longest so far on the tour, and what a show it was. On at least four occassions during the performance, power was lost in the building, which of course didn't make the show any shorter. Still, at the end it was like Bruce didn't want to leave the stage and he added no less than four songs after "Land of Hope and Dreams" including the first "Rosalita" outside the United States since 1985. "I will never forget Sydney," Bruce commented. Neither will the fans who were present. Read more

   

A DVD with hitherto unreleased material has been released in Australia to coincide with the Australian shows. The DVD contains the "The Rising" from the MTV Video Music Awards, "Waitin' on a Sunny Day", "Mary's Place" and "Dancing in the Dark" from the Barcelona broadcast and the official "Lonesome Day" video. Australian fans should be able to buy it in regular CD stores, but there is also hope for international collectors who can get it through Sound World in Australia, a company that specializes in international orders. Just be aware that your DVD player must be able to play the Australian region 4 PAL format if you want to watch the bonus DVD. In other news from downunder, Sony in Australia has also released a single for "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" that so far is not available anywhere else. Bonus material consists of previously released tracks from Live in New York City, "Born to Run", "Darkness", and "Thunder Road". Read more

   

Bruce will allegedly be performing at a benefit show at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank on April 29. The show is called The Hope Concert and benefits "the ongoing care of Bobby Bandiera's son". Bruce will join a lineup of several old friends including Southside Johnny, Gary US Bonds, Jon Bon Jovi, and of course Bobby Bandiera. Tickets will go on sale at the Count Basie Theatre box office and the box office phone 732-842-9000 on March 21 at 9:30 AM. Read more on their website. Read more

   

A new batch of rumored dates are circulating the discussion fora. According to the rumor the Rising Tour will end with an October arena leg in on the US East Coast. The dates include a show at First Mariner Arena in Baltimore, which would be one of the smallest arenas of the tour with a capacity of about 12-13,000. See these rumored dates on our tour schedule. Read more

   

As most had expected neither Philadelphia nor Boston was left with just one show on the upcoming stadium leg. A show was added in each place, Boston (Foxboro) on August 2 and Philadelphia on August 9. There are still tickets for all shows. Read more

   

Not only was last night's show the first official concert by Bruce and the E Street Band in the Jersey Shore gambling city, it was also the first time to our knowledge that they did a Lennon/McCartney tune in public (correct us if we're wrong.... and, no, "Twist and Shout" was not written by Lennon/McCartney)). The honor went to the relatively obscure "Tell Me Why" from the Beatles 1964 album A Hard Day's Night. It was done as the first encore, a position in the show that lately has been dedicated to obscure cover songs. Tom Waits' "Jersey Girl" can hardly be called obscure. Yet, when Bruce sat down at the piano toward the end of the main set, it was the first time he performed the song in what could be called real Tom Waits fashion. Finally, as the last song of the evening, "Roll of the Dice" was pulled out for the first time on this tour and thus ended perhaps the most eagerly anticipated show of the tour so far on a high note. Oh, by the way, do we have to say that Bruce opened the show with "Atlantic City"? Check the setlist, which also included "Does This Bus Stop" and "Saint in the City. Read more