Time and circumstances have caused some rather infrequent updates recently. Unfortunately, it will stay that way for a few more weeks. We will try to get the setlists posted in a fairly timely manner once the tour kicks back in action, but other than that you may want to refer to other sites, and of course the Greasy Lake community, for your Bruce juice. In return, we will try to be back with a vengeance later this month. Thank you for your patience and your loyalty to this site.
For anyone who is wondering, the message board under "Community" is currently being upgraded to the newest version. As always these things take time and much longer than expected. We may not be able to open the forum again until tomorrow, Wednesday, but that remains to be seen. We will be back in one form or another in time for Bruce's show tomorrow night. I'm very sorry about this interruption in our services, but I'm afraid it can't be avoided.
Another five dates were added to the tour schedule today. According to a press release, the five dates will be the last ones to be included in the Working on a Dream Tour itinerary. Again, the dates are focusing on the North East region with additional shows in Madison Square Garden and shows in Washington DC, Buffalo and Baltimore, plus one in Des Moines, Iowa. In other words, fans in the west and particularly North West who were hoping for a few shows, will have to hope for better luck on the next tour or travel to the east.
The Nashville show that was originally scheduled for September 10 has been rescheduled for November 18. At the same time it was announced that Nashville, like Chicago, will feature a performance of the complete Born to Run album. The Nashville show allegedly suffered from rather poor ticket sales and the fact that it was very badly arranged logistically. Time will tell if the new date can fix some of that. Ticket holders can of course get a refund if the new date doesn't suit them.
Imagine this: after having been closed for almost 40 years, the Upstage Club in Asbury Park reopens and invites the local youth to come and hang out and play music all night. New bands are formed. New guitar heroes born. New stars are discovered. And maybe most important, kids with nothing else to do than hang on the streets would have a place to be.
Does it sound like an impossible dream? Well, not to a guy named Rich Yorkowitz, who has bought the old Upstage building and is planning to restore not only the building itself, but what it used to be. He wants, in other words, to bring back the Upstage Club and turn it into exactly what it was around 1970: a musical haven for anyone with an instrument.
But before this dream can be realized, Rich Yorkowitz needs all sorts of licenses and permissions, plus tons of money to finance the refurbishment of the building, which these days is more or less a ruin. All of those things can prove to be huge challenges. However, what he needs most right now is the moral support of people all over the world who want to see this happen. So if you are so inclined, and not least if you actually experienced the Upstage Club in its heydays, post a comment here and let the Asbury Park officialsknow why this thing needs to become reality and what it could do for the city.
Personally, having stood outside the building and tried to sense what it must have been like all those decades ago, I find it to be an amazing, and quite unexpected, opportunity to see the possibility of something like that happening again. It doesn't all have to be MySpace. Music still needs to be played and created in a live setting. Kids still need to get together and do magic things with their instruments. We may not get another Bruce Springsteen out of it or anything resembling that, but less would do. Anything that could turn bored, destructive kids into creative musicians - or even just spectators to creative musicians -should be heartily embraced, especially by local authorities.
No matter what, it will be interesting to see what happens to the old building. The fact that it's still standing is somewhat of a miracle in itself. To see it flourish again as a music club would just be mind-blowing and a good reason for any music lover to travel to Asbury Park.
The European part of the Working on a Dream Tour, which started more than two months ago and included 27 shows, was wrapped up last night in Santiago, Spain with a 29-song set that ended with a spontaneous "Born in the USA". As is usually the case with Bruce, the shows have seemed to just gain more and more intensity as city after city was conquered. Although the length has remained more or less the same (2:45 to 3 hours), the setlist has seen some major revision. Gone is the "recession pack", "Kingdom of Days" and "Hard Times Come Again No More" in favor of more good time rock 'n' roll, but also welcome revisits by old favorites such as "Murder Incorporated" and "American Skin" as well as numerous one-off rarities and cover songs.
In return, Bruce has stubbornly stuck to the two Working on a Dream cornerstone songs, the title track and "Outlaw Pete", and rightly so. "Outlaw Pete" to these eyes and ears is one of the biggest hightlighs of this tour and has really resurrected some of the romantic drama that may have been a bit missing from Bruce's live shows since the early Eighties. Bruce is so into this song it's almost impossible not to be carried away.
Other than those two songs, it has almost been the exception to hear anything from the album that named the tour. Half the album was not played in Europe, and several of the songs that were played, were only heard 2-3 times. At this point, it's highly unlikely that this will change. Only one thing is certain: by the time the next American leg is over (probably in November) we will again be looking at a very different show from the one we see now, as the living organism of a Bruce tour continues to mutate into new shapes. The best part is, the next show is only a couple of weeks away.
Thank you, Bruce and band, for another incredibly exciting summer tour.
At least three different news sources are reporting that Bruce's show in Chicago on September 20 will see Bruce play the Born to Run album in its entirety. No official announcement has been made about this, so it may turn out to be a hoax, but at this point in Bruce's career, nothing really comes as a surprise anymore. He's doing lots of things that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. And of course, he already did perform the entire Born to Run album (and Darkness album) at a benefit in 2008 so this wouldn't exactly be a first. One can only wonder, why Chicago? Or who knows, maybe this will actually be done in several places and Chicago just happened to have the beans spilled first.
If true, doing a Born to Run show puts yet another nail in the Working on a Dream Tour coffin. Whatever theme the tour had is quickly going out the window, and as the European tour wraps up in Spain this week, only two Working on a Dream songs remain in the set at most shows ("Outlaw Pete" and the title track), just as the "recession three-pack" is down to just one song: "Johnny 99". Instead, Bruce and the band seem to be playing whatever springs to their mind with several tour premieres entering the setlist every night.
Tickets for the Chicago show go on sale this Saturday. With the Born to Run rumors this could be one that hardcore fans will want to plan a pilgrimage to.
The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame turns 25 this year, and to celebrate that Bruce Springsteen along with Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and probably others) are scheduled to perform at two big anniversary shows at Madison Square Garden on October 8 and 9. The organizers promise unique collaborations among the involved artists, so brace yourself to see Crosby, Stills, Nash & Bruce or Simon & Garfunkel & Bruce reinventing some of their legendary music. Should be interesting.
As a lot of you will know, Bruce has often been part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame events and was himself inducted in 1999. Four years prior to that, in September 1995, he helped open the physical Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum at a big show in Cleveland where he briefly reunited the E Street Band and performed with Jerry Lee Lewis and Bob Dylan. At a time when he hadn't released an album of new material in 3½ years, the future of the E Street Band was up in the air, and any appearance by him was savored by fans, the 1995 show was a huge deal. This time around, with constant touring, TV appearances and new releases, we'll see if we even remember to tune in on the highlights show that will be shown on HBO. (Oh, who am I kidding? Of course we will).
In the most dramatic setlist change of the tour, Bruce stunned the hardcore fans in Turin last night, plus the setlist watchers behind their computer screens, with no less than five tour premieres and several other surprises. The "recession pack" turned into a "murder pack" when "Seeds" was dropped from the setlist from the first time and replaced by "Murder Incorporated" and "American Skin" moved to the spot after "Johnny 99". Before that "Loose Ends" had opened the show, and later on Bruce did the first version of "My Love Will Not Let You Down" since 2003 and the first E Street Band version of Fogerty's "Travelin' Band" since the Born in the USA Tour. Time will tell if this was a one-off or if Bruce will continue in this new direction. Tomorrow night when the band wraps up their Italian tour will give us a clue. Check the complete Turin setlist.
Ever wonder what Meat Loaf would sound like singing Bruce songs? No, me either, but nonetheless you now have the chance to check it out. UK Meat Loaf tribute act Dean Torkington has taken a stab at singing "Dancing in the Dark" and "Born to Run" the way Meat Loaf himself might have done it. Now, Greasy Lake recieves quite a few letters from musicians covering Bruce or writing songs inspired by Bruce, and they are usually well worth watching, but this one is unusual enough that I can't help sharing it. Plus, Dean seems like a good fellow, and he's interested to know if covering Bruce songs as Meat Loaf should become a permanent part of his act. So check this out and go to www.meatloaf.org to learn more and leave a comment.
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