The rehearsals for the Working on a Dream Tour started today in Asbury Park. The band, minus Clarence and Patti, worked on some of the new songs, including "Outlaw Pete", "My Lucky Day", "Working on a Dream", "What Love Can" Do and "This Life". Some reports say that Jay, Max Weinberg's son, was there instead of Max, while others say they were both there. Still, could this be an indication that Max won't be there for all the shows and that his son will be his replacement? Particularly the European leg seems like it may conflict with Weinberg's schedule as he is supposed to start his new gig at the Tonight Show in Los Angeles around the same time as the tour heads overseas. Jay Weinberg already proved his worth when he sat in for his father on "Born to Run" at Giants Stadium during the Magic Tour so he may be a realistic possibility.
Another question that the next few days of rehearsals may provide an answer to, is how the band will adapt the new songs to a live setting. Many of the Working on a Dream songs are heavily produced with strings and studio effects. Particularly a song like "Outlaw Pete", which has loads of things happening in its instrumentation, could prove difficult to keep interesting for 7-8 minutes in a live setting.
For now the rehearsals take place behind closed doors with fans trying to eavesdrop from outside the Paramount Theater, but as usual, public rehearsal shows are expected to take place close to the official tour start in San Jose on April 1.
As some of you will have read elsewhere, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland is planning to open a Bruce Springsteen exhibit on April 1 that will run throughout 2009 and 2010. Among the exclusive items you will be able to see see are the clothes he wore on the Born in the USA and The River album covers, the recorder that Nebraska was recorded on and much more.
But one item in particular is worth noticing: apparently the museum has gotten permission to exhibit the legendary Fender Esquire that has graced several album covers, including Born to Run and Live 1975-85. That's quite a scoop and something that is bound to attract lots of attention. But, but, but....something doesn't quite add up. Isn't Bruce supposed to be touring this year? With the E Street Band? With the guitar in a museum, doesn't that mean that Bruce won't be bringing it on the Working on a Dream Tour?! If so, that would make it the first "electric" tour since around 1973 that the Equire hasn't been part of. Granted, since the 1990's it hasn't been Bruce's main guitar, maybe because it doesn't hold its tuning for very long at a time, but it has always come out for songs like "Born to Run" and others, and it has become part of Bruce's image like almost nothing else. I personally remember the first Bruce show I went to in 1988, one of the first things that struck me was not so much, "Now I'm finally seeing Bruce Springsteen", but instead "Now I'm finally seeing the guitar!"
But of course, the world keeps moving forward and the guitar is battered as a musket from the Revolutionary War, so it had to happen sooner or later. Still, couldn't Bruce just have put it on a piedestal on the stage from where it could have continued to be an albeit passive part of the legend that is Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band? All the young fans who will be turning out for this tour would have appreciated it.
Oh, and the same suggestion could apply for Clarence when he's no longer able to blow his horn properly.
According to Sunday Mail, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play Hampden Park in Glasgow on July 14. This will be the first E Street Band show in Scotland since 1981 and the first of any Bruce show since 1996 (and the first with any kind of rock band since 1993). No wonder the Scots are happy today. Tickets will go on sale on March 6, and with capacity of upward 50,000 there should be a decent chance of scoring one, even in a Bruce deprived country like Scotland.
The Scottish show also bodes well for more UK shows being announced, but that remains to be seen.
As you may have noticed the frontpage of Greasy Lake along with this news page has undergone a bit of change today. The frontpage especially finally got spiffed up the way I've intended for a couple of years. I hope I finally got it right. I'm especially proud of the scrolling headlines from the community and the new poll thingy. I intend to change the poll question every couple of weeks, so keep an eye on it. As for the news page, it's not least marked by the wonderful opportunities modern web technology provides you of putting together your own content based on other people's web services. Expect to see more of that here on Greasy Lake in the future, hopefully along with other much-needed changes and updates. Read more
It has been confirmed that the announcement announced for today will be that of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing at the Glastonbury Festival this summer. At least if you believe this article in the Guardian. While it was hardly a surprise that Bruce will headline the biggest festival in northern Europe, it's still nice to finally get the official word. Fans have already been speculating that the lack of "real" Bruce Springsteen shows (as in, not festivals) may be due to UK promotor Harvey Goldsmith promising the festival organizers to keep the lid on his shows in order not to hurt festival ticket sales. This is of course pure speculation, but at least Harvey Goldsmith more than hinted that he has something up his sleeve in a brief press release recently.
Someone from Q magazine marketing department is telling us that they have a major Bruce Springsteen announcement to make on Monday, February 23 at 10 a.m. Since Q is located in the UK, a good guess would be that it concerns further UK dates, but that's still just a guess, so don't hang me if that turns out not to be true. It could be other things too, but I can't think of what.
Now is your chance to own a brand new reissue of a 1952 Fender Telecaster signed by Bruce Springsteen himself. The guitar is being auctioned off on charitybuzz.com and the proceeds will benefit Musicians On Call, which is a non-profit organization that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. The current bid is at $3,250, so this may not be for everyone. In return, a guitar signed by Little Steven is currently selling for only $500, so that may be within reach without taking out a loan in your house. Click on the links to go to the auctions.
In an unprecedented move Bruce yesterday published on his official website what can only be described as a blog post about his performance at the Super Bowl. The post describes everything from the rehearsals to his returning to his house at 3 a.m. Along the way, we get a unique glimpse of what goes on in Bruce's mind before and during his stage shows. It's truly an amazing read that no fan should miss. One can only speculate whether this is a one-time affair or if Bruce intends to spend part of the next tour writing blog posts from the road. It would almost be too good to be true.
Even though it was released din 2007, "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" was the best rock song in 2008. At least according to the Grammy Awards committee, who gave Bruce the honor at Sunday night's awards show. Bruce himself wasn't present, but was probably pleased to see his pop serenade get a rock award.
UK fans drew a sigh of relief today when a show in London was finally announced. But then the sigh of relief turned into hesitation. The show will be part of the Hard Rock Calling festival in London's Hyde Park on June 28 with Dave Matthews Band as the warm-up, which means there's still no "real" Bruce show scheduled for England this year. And with the Glastonbury Festival still a very likely possibility that may not change at all.
Whatever the case, tickets will go on sale this Thursday, February 12. More info here.
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