In 1994 British singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding was playing at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. In the crowd was none other than Bruce Springsteen. He agreed to come on stage to help out, and together the two did a beautiful duet of "Wreck on the Highway", a song Bruce had not performed for almost ten years. Now their duet is released on a re-issue of Harding's 1998 album, Awake. The song was not included on the original release, but is a bonus track along with a studio recording of another Bruce original, "Jackson Cage". Read more

   

The second night at the Convention Hall featured the same setlist as the first night. Only difference was that an extended soundcheck ended after the crowd had started to enter the hall, so a few lucky people got to hear "Jambalaya", "Hey Good Lookin'" and "Mystery Train". Later we'll have some more eyewitness accounts from the show. Read more

   

Let's just say it and rub it in: it was a show to die for (and no, we weren't there either). Every song (except "Bobby Jean") was a surprise and not just that, many of them were long awaited gems. First of all, "Kitty's Back" made its first appearance since 1978, and "Rosalita" returned for her first performance since her one-night stand in 1999. Other interesting songs included a slowed-down "For You", "The E Street Shuffle" (complete with horns), world premiere of "So Young and in Love" from Tracks and a new song called "My City in Ruins" or something like that. The whole E Street Band was there, including Nils, who did his old fan-favorite "Shine Silently". Also Patti Scialfa did a few of her own songs and Southside Johnny. See the complete setlist here and the mighty Balloon Man's first reaction. Read more

   

As announced by Holiday Express themselves, Bruce did not appear at last night's show at the Continental Airlines Arena. The top-names remained Gary US Bonds, Bobby Bandiera and Mary Mary. They performed for a more than half empty arena, and there was absolutely no Bruce involvement of any kind. Read more

   

In the midst of the sudden live activity by Bruce, we must not forget to tell you that the two "other" DVDs, Blood Brothers and Video Anthology, are now more or less official. January 16 looks like it could be the release date, but that may change. However, it seems certain that it will be around that time. The Video Anthology will include a second disc which will bring the set up to date with all the videos released since 1988 plus a lot of bonus material. See the complete song list. Read more

   

The few lucky people to have tickets for the first of the two Convention Hall benefits may be in for something extraordinary. Rumors are circulating that the entire E Street Band (perhaps minus Nils) will be on stage, and there is also speculation that the show may somehow be linked to the Sorprano shooting taking place in Asbury Park this week. If you don't have tickets, there is always the possibility of a ticket dump before the show, but we have not heard anything to confirm that. If you have a lot of money there may also still be time to get a ticket through online auctions where tickets have been said to go for upward $1,000. Read more

   

Yesterday Shorefire Media, Bruce's publishing firm, announced that Bruce would perform two shows, on December 17 and 18, at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park. Tickets will go on sale today, Wednesday, at noon through Ticketmaster (phones only) and with a limit of two tickets per person, one show only. The shows will benefit local New Jersey charity organizations and will feature not only Bruce, as we suggested a couple of days ago, but also the Max Weinberg Seven and probably various guests. Read more

   

We have some unconfirmed, but very solid indications that Bruce will play two benefit shows sometime this month somewhere in Asbury Park and that an official announcement can be expected this week. The shows will be solo acoustic, but guest appearances by others can be expected. Again, this is unconfirmed, so nothing is certain, but it would be a good idea to keep your ears and eyes open. We hope to be able to post any news on this right away, but be sure to check out other news sources too if you want to be sure. Read more

   

For those of you who are still considering whether or not to go to the Holiday Express benefit concert on December 16, Holiday Express themselves have now denied that Bruce will make an appearance (read it here). Nothing is of course certain, but Holiday Express would have a big problem if they make such a statement and Bruce does turn up after all. In return we have a new rumor saying that Bruce will play two shows at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park on December 17 and 18 with tickets going on sale on the 16th at 9 AM. This sounds completely unlikely, but again, you never know. Read more

   

According to Backstreets Magazine's website, the live DVD that was scrapped a couple of months ago may not be completely dead after all. So far nothing is certain, but Backstreets says there is indications that it will be scheduled for release in 2001 along with a live album. What's more certain is that both the Video Anthology and Blood Brothers will come out on DVD early next year, perhaps January 16. Read more