Earlier today it was announced that Bruce will perform at a Barack Obama benefit on October 16 in New York. He will join Billy Joel and other artists, and Obama himself, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in a show that is billed "Change Rocks" and which will benefit Obama's Victory Fund. Not a surprising move by Bruce after he announced his endorsement of Obama several months ago, but one that is likely to cause controversy like his involvement in the last presidential campaign. On that note, if you don't like this decision (not that Bruce probably cares much) and feel like making a comment about it here, try to use better arguments than "f* you Bruce" and "Bruce is a commie". They won't be approved, so save yourself the trouble. Anyway, tickets start at $500 and can be purchased from here. Oh, and according to American law, you need to be an American to contribute to an American presidential candidate so this is for US citizens only.. Read more

   

It's already all over the news. As has been rumored for a few months, Bruce and the E Street Band are now officially scheduled to play during half time of the Super Bowl on February 1, 2009. This probably means a 15-minute, 3-4 song set of greatest hits (I'd bet my collection that "Glory Days" will be played). But with any luck Bruce may take the opportunity to air some new material too. Rumors are intensifying that a new album will be released as early as January. New Jersey radio station The Hawk even claims to have it confirmed. Read more

   

First of all, a big Happy Birthday to The Man who turns 59 today! How time flies. If Bruce is feeling a little down about his age, he can take comfort in the fact that he was just named one of the 50 sexiest men over 50 by online women's magazine wowOwow. That's pretty high praise, but even to this straight guy's eyes, he can compete with most guys under 50 too. Isn't that right? Have a great birthday, Bruce!
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For the main part of the Devils & Dust Tour in 2005 Bruce ended each show with a cover of the band Suicide's song "Dream Baby Dream". In Bruce's hands the song became a 7-minute hypnotic chant that left crowds mesmerized. Well, soon you will be able to hear an official release of this live masterpiece, but you need to dust off your old turntable, because the release will be vinyl only. The 10-inch single will be released in October by a small UK label celebrating the 70th birthday of Suicide lead singer Alan Vega. The other side will be the original version of the song. If interested, the single can be preordered from Backstreets and other Bruce outlets.

Speaking of weird releases, Tom Jones is scheduled to release a cover version of "The Hitter" on his new album due out on November 25. I'm not a big fan of Tom Jones, but this may actually be a good fit. At least, it will be interesting to see what a Tom Jones in a serious mood can do with it. Read more

   

The Magic Tour has only just ended when there is already speculation about a new album and tour. According to a source, Bruce is currently spending time in Brendan O'Brien's studio in Atlanta with select members of the E Street Band working on a new project. The plan is allegedly to finish an album and follow it up with a four-month mini-tour in the spring. The reason for the short tour could be Max Weinberg's move to Los Angeles when Conan O'Brian take over from Jay Leno which will happen in the summer of next year. What exactly this will mean for the band in the long run remains to be seen, but right now the short term prospects are looking good. However, take all of this with a grain of salt. Plans could be changed or the rumors may not even be true.

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A new website has emerged dealing with the abundance of DVDs that is hitting the trading and download circles these days. The website is called Springsteen DVDs and uses the blog format. Here a large amount of bootleg DVDs, old and new, are described and even previewed, just as you can find artwork and, hopefully in the long run, comments by users. Springsteen DVDs looks like the most ambitious site for bootleg DVDs since www.brucevideos.com wrapped up their activities a few months ago (they may still return). If they keep it up, this site will be indispensible for downloaders and traders. I already got it in my bookmarks. Read more

   

A brand new Bruce original had its debut yesterday at the Venice Film Festival in Italy. The song is called "The Wrestler" and so is the movie it belongs to. The movie was directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Mickey Rourke, a good friend of Bruce's, and is about just that... a former professional wrestler who now lives in a trailer. The title and the plot both make you think of Bruce's song "The Hitter", but the new song "The Wrestler" is supposedly a brand new production, written especially for the movie while Bruce was touring Europe. It's an acoustic piece and probably made in the same tradition as "The Hitter", but time will tell. The movie will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival tomorrow, Sunday, and on the New York Film Festival on October 12. No opening day for the general public has been announced. Read more

   

31 songs and 3? hours. The Magic Tour was officially wrapped up last night at the Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary celebration in Milwaukee with a marathon show that appropriately kicked off with "Gypsy Biker" and closed with "Born to Be Wild". The tour last 11 months and contained exactly 101 shows not counting rehearsal shows. How many different songs were played still remains to be figured out, but I will go out on a limp and guess it was record high and that it was the most unpredictable tour ever. Toward the end, upward half the show was open to audibles. Anything was possible on any given night. From obscure covers that hadn't been played since 1975 to... well... "Crush on You".

Performance-wise this was also a high-point in the history of the E Street Band. Bruce's energy and physical ability defied his age. After opening the tour with the shortest shows since 1977 at only about 2 hours, 15 minutes, 10 months later, a full hour had been added, making these final shows the longest since 1993.

While this of course was all excellent news, the shows did lose a bit of focus. The Magic songs that set the theme of the show in the beginning, were to a large extent dumped in favor of... whatever the crowd requested or Bruce thought of. Thus, thematically strong songs like "Backstreets" or "Roulette" could appear out of nowhere regardless of whether or not they fit. You can say that a lot of songs were played for the hell of it rather than necessity. It was fun, it was loose, but it didn't have the urgency of say the Darkness shows.

That's a minor complaint. When all is said and done, it's a blessing that Bruce and the band can still show such vitality after 35 years. There is absolutely no reason why this would be the last tour. Despite Danny Federici's very tragic death, the band is still very much alive with a lead singer who shows no sign of slowing down. Bring on the next chapter! Read more

   

Back after a nice vacation in the wilderness with not a lot of Internet. Sorry about the lack of updates and delayed appovals of eyewitness accounts and comments. As you have probably seen elsewhere, Bruce seems to have run out of originals to shock people with (although "Crush on You" in Richmond must count among the more surprising appearances of the year) and has instead been pulling out a host of cover songs that in many cases haven't been heard since the Seventies. "Double Shot of My Baby's Love", "Then She Kissed Me", "Mountain of Love", "Quarter to Three", "I Fought the Law", "Gloria" plus "Mona" and "Not Fade Away" as intros to "She's the One", are some of the more exciting inclusions. Either Bruce has been listening to tapes of the Born to Run and Darkness tours lately or he's just in a nostalgic mood.

Anyway, as of right now only two shows of the Magic Tour remain (sniff). But there are no indications that Bruce will disappear from the public eye for long. Rumors are already floating around the Internet that he will perform at the Superbowl on February 1 and the Democratic convention this coming week, not to mention participate in a show at Yankee Stadium before its demolition. Moreover, a Spanish promoter has allegedly been contacted regarding shows in Spain in 2009 (indicating a new European tour), and then there are the rumors of a Darkness anniversary set and a new E Street Band album recorded at the same time as the Magic album. So far none of this has been confirmed, but if only half of it is true, we're in for more exciting times. Read more

   

Don't forget that September will see the biggest European Springsteen convention to date. It will take place in Rotterdam at a place called the Van der Ree Horeca and is billed as Land of Hope and Dreams. There will be everything a Bruce fan's heart can desire, perhaps with the exception of the man himself. The organizers promise a "Theme Park-like Springsteen Wonder World". If that doesn't sound like a place you have to be, I don't know what does. It will all happen on September 27 and 28 and the price for the whole thing will be ?85, but you can also get a one-day ticket for ?45. Read more on www.rouletteshop.nl. Read more