Opening night of the next leg of the Magic Tour is drawing near. In just nine short days the band will hit the stage in Hartford for another round of high-intensity rawk and roll. Rehearsals for the new leg will begin in a couple of days and will be sealed off to the public. No rehearsal shows are planned. The big question is whether Danny Federici will be back behind the keyboards. Rumors say yes, but nothing is known at this point.
So what can we expect from this new leg? Well, if previous tours are any indication, don't expect too many changes in the first couple of shows, but I would be surprised if Bruce doesn't start to loosen up the very fixed setlist that especially the European tour featured. Personally I hope that rather than reintroducing older songs that we heard on the Reunion Tour and The Rising Tour, Bruce will try out E Street Band arrangements for the Devils & Dust songs and possibly the lesser played songs off Tracks. We shall see what happens, but rest assured that Greasy Lake will have the setlists published as quickly as possible. Read more
Bruce won three Grammies at Sunday night's awards show in Los Angeles, including Best Rock Song and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, both of them for "Radio Nowhere". Those were to be expected. The last category was Best Rock Instrumental for his contribution to the Ennio Morricone tribute album. Bruce covered "Once Upon a Time in the West". Or rather, he laid down a guitar solo on top of the original soundtrack version. Sure, it sounds fine and probably took all of 30 minutes to cut, but a Grammy? Well, needless to say Bruce himself wasn't present at the awards show. It takes more than that for him to show up. Read more
Back in 2006 I agreed to letting Greasy Lake host the contents of the former springsteen-chords.com website. The transfer went well, and all the chords from the old site have been stored here ever since. However, it wasn't just supposed to be an archive. It still needs to expand, not least with the songs from the Magic album. The following are still missing from the collection:
Your Own Worst Enemy
Livin' in the Future
I'll Work For Your Love
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
All you musicians out there, the songs don't transcribe themselves. Your input is needed. Do the best you can (it doesn't have to be perfect) and submit your text files through the contact form or through the Union Street forum in the Community section. I will thank you and your fellow musicians will thank you. Also, feel free to use the contact form if you have suggestions for improvements of the presentation. Read more
I get a lot of inquiries through the Greasy Lake mailbox about all sorts of things. Some people want to know how to invite Bruce to their wedding, others want to offer me affiliate deals, and still others just want to know how to get a bootleg recording of a show they've been to. So when Lawrence Kirsch contacted me a couple of years ago regarding a book he wanted to publish, it wasn't anything too much out of the ordinary. Lawrence was looking for a way to tell the fans that their input was needed. His book was going to consist of tales from fans about their concert experiences and meeting Bruce, etc. I offered to mention it on this news page of Greasy Lake and post something on the message board, but otherwise didn't think much of it. Maybe I even had a slight feeling that this project wasn't likely to succeed. Fans these days have loads of outlets for their Bruce stories. Contributing to a book may seem a little "last century" to a lot of people. But Lawrence seemed full of optimism and even asked if I would like to submit a story. Being the nice person that I am, I agreed to do it and wrote a piece about my close encounter with Bruce at the Stone Pony in 2001. I was a little surprised when he then asked me to send it to him in Danish, but again I agreed.
Well, fast forward a year or two where I didn't hear much about the project and, if anything, thought that it probably wasn't going anywhere. But last summer I got a message from Lawrence saying that the book was in its last stages of being completed and would be published in October. I think this may have been the first time I truly realized Lawrence actually meant business and that he was more than just another fan with a good idea that would never be realized. Well, to make a long story short, when I received my own copy a few months later, the last shred of doubt was removed. This was an awesome looking, beautiful hardcover book full of amazing stories and no less amazing pictures. The best part is that this is not just another run-of-the-mill Bruce biography like we have seen so many times. This book is indeed made up 100% of fan tales from around the world and with loads and loads of never-before seen pictures, many of which are among the best shots of Bruce you are likely to see anywhere, including several by one of my personal favorite Bruce photographers, Rene van Diemen.
I admit, I haven't read the book cover to cover yet. So far I have enjoyed opening random pages and reading whatever story I would come across. What strikes me every time is the enthusiasm that all the contributions radiate. When you spend a lot of time hanging out at Bruce message boards where every aspect of Bruce is analyzed and nit-picked over and over, it's actually refreshing to read these stories where genuine Bruce passion is all-dominating. In other words, if hero-worshiping is not your thang, this book probably isn't for you. You won't find anyone questioning why "Let's Be Friends" was included on The Rising (at least I haven't seen it yet) or why we have to hear "Bobby Jean" at every show. That's not the purpose of the book at all. It's a tribute to Bruce and a tribute to fandom and all the blessings it brings.
We have seen several new Bruce books in the last few years, including another long-awaited book by official Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh and a lavish book about the E Street Band. I bought them all, because as a librarian by profession, I see it as my holy duty. But if you are going to buy just one of the current Bruce books, I won't hesitate to recommend getting For You. Dave Marsh's On Tour is merely a rehash of himself. Robert Santelli's book about the E Street Band is gorgeous, but doesn't offer a whole lot of new insight. For You is a much-needed fresh breath in the Bruce bibliography and essential to any serious fan. My sole gripe is a personal one in that the story I submitted was published only in its Danish incarnation, which means hardly anyone who reads the book will understand my pearls of wisdom. To compensate for that, I have posted the English version as an eyewitness account in the Stage section of Greasy Lake where you can read it. After that, go read more about the book on www.foryoubruce.com.
Bruce and the E Street Band will headline the 105th Anniversary Celebration of Harley Davidson. The unusual announcement came today on the official Harley Davidson website. The show will take place on August 30 at the "Lakefront" outside the festival ground in Milwaukee. 60,000 people will be able to attend, but in order to qualify to buy a ticket you also need a ticket to the Harley Davidson Festival itself. So if you aren't already a biker, now is the time to go to your local second-hand store and see what they have in the leather jacket department. This show is already bound for legendary status. Sure setlist bet: "I'm a Rocker". Read more
The new "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" video can now be viewed on YouTube. It was released earlier this week as part of an EP available for downloading on iTunes for people living in the US. But now the rest of the world can also get a glimpse of the video, but you may need to hurry up as the publishing on YouTube probably wasn't authorized by the record company and it could be taken down any time.
A "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" EP is now appearing on iTunes, but only if you access the online store from within the United States. For the rest of us, it's just tough luck. At least for now. It will probably be made available to everyone later. The EP includes the video of "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" that was shot on the beach of Asbury Park back in November. No news of a possible physical release. Read more
The people of BigL Radio in the UK informs us that they will have a full hour of Bruce this Sunday evening at 9 p.m. local time. Hosted by former BBC DJ Mike Read the radio special will feature both classic songs, covers, and songs from Magic. It appears that everyone can listen online. Just click the "Listen Live Now" link in the top right corner of the BigL website. Read more
Welcome to the new year which promises to be another year full of fantastic Bruce activity. It's also a welcome back to me after several weeks of hiatus due to a horrific cold, technical problems with a new computer, and of course the Christmas holidays. Not that a lot has happened in my absence. Bruce ended his European tour with a show at London's O2 arena, possibly the longest show of the tour so far and will now take a break until late February when Hartford once again will host the tour opener. Rumors of some sort of new release in the early part of the year are still unconfirmed. They seem more like speculation to me, although I personally wouldn't object if a Darkness anniversary box is in store for us. Cross your fingers. Read more
All right, so I've been on my own personal Bruce tour this last week and haven't been able to keep up with the news, but for the two people out there who hasn't found out: Bruce has announced three shows at Giants Stadium for July 27, 28, and 31 of 2008. This is the first indication of a summer leg in North America, and there will no doubt be more shows added, including probably more at Giants Stadium once the first three sell out. Read more
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Well, fast forward a year or two where I didn't hear much about the project and, if anything, thought that it probably wasn't going anywhere. But last summer I got a message from Lawrence saying that the book was in its last stages of being completed and would be published in October. I think this may have been the first time I truly realized Lawrence actually meant business and that he was more than just another fan with a good idea that would never be realized. Well, to make a long story short, when I received my own copy a few months later, the last shred of doubt was removed. This was an awesome looking, beautiful hardcover book full of amazing stories and no less amazing pictures. The best part is that this is not just another run-of-the-mill Bruce biography like we have seen so many times. This book is indeed made up 100% of fan tales from around the world and with loads and loads of never-before seen pictures, many of which are among the best shots of Bruce you are likely to see anywhere, including several by one of my personal favorite Bruce photographers, Rene van Diemen.