According to New York Daily News, the New York Police Department were so displeased with the fact that Bruce played "American Skin (41 Shots)" at the first Shea show that they refused to give Bruce a police escort out of the stadium after the following show. Some police officers in New York apparently still see the song as an attack on the force due to its references to a shooting incident in 1999 where policemen killed an unarmed African immigrant with 41 shots. Read more

   

Amazon.com now mentions the Live in Barcelona DVD as an upcoming release. The release date is listed as being November 18. If you don't believe it, check it out for yourself. Read more

   

According to a Dutch fan site, Bruce has personally not only confirmed the release of the Essential Bruce Springsteen, he also allegedly told fans that some of the bonus tracks on the third disc will be "Another Thin Line", "Code of Silence", "County Fair", and "Trapped". Meanwhile, the Japanese HMV site is already listing the new album, including what is supposed to be the complete track list. It doesn't mention the four above-mentioned songs on the bonus disc, but instead lists "None But the Brave", "Richfield Whistle" (both known outtakes from the Eighties), "Devils and Dust" (a song soundchecked during the tour), "Prove It All Night" (live from Berkely 1978), "The Wall" (played live in Somerville in February), and "Break of Day". The last-mentioned is allegedly a duet with Bono from U2. To us, Bruce's own statements sound like the more reliable of the two, but only time will tell. Read more

   

The Rising Tour ended last night at Shea Stadium in New York City. After 120 shows (not counting numerous rehearsal shows) and 14 months, Bruce and the band wrapped up this chapter with a tour de force of a show that fully lived up to what you can expect from a "last night". 30 songs, including five songs that haven't been played on this tour before) and numerous guest stars helped give the night legendary status almost before it was over. Bob Dylan himself came on stage to sing on his own "Highway 61". This is, as far as we remember, the first time His Bobness has guested at an official Bruce Springsteen show (correct us if we're wrong). Other guest stars included Gary US Bonds, Garland Jeffreys, and Willie Nile. With the tour now over, speculation can begin as to what Bruce's next step will be. He didn't reveal anything at last night's show, possibly because even he doesn't know. One thing is certain, we will be there to cover it and to bring forth and news and rumors we hear. For now, however, we will try to catch up with the updates in our tour section. We're sorry we have been slow lately. We thank you for all your eye witness accounts and other contributions and promise that they will be posted soon. Read more

   

According to Backstreets a double DVD containing the entire October 2002 Barcelona show is now official. No release date has been revealed yet, but as we reported earlier, November 3 is a good guess. The double DVD set will be titled Live in Barcelona (how original!) and will also contain a documentary with never before seen backstage footage and interviews from The Rising Tour. Read more and take a look at the artwork on Backstreets.com. Read more

   

Of course, we already knew that, but now it's official. According to a survey among 10,500 people conducted by guidebook publisher Zagat, Born to Run beat out every other album on the planet. The results of the survey can be seen in Zagat's book Music Guide, which was published a couple of weeks ago. Read more in this Reuter's article. Read more

   

The Rising Tour may be coming to an end soon, but Springsteen fans' credit card accounts will only be in for a short breather. According to Backstreets a 2-CD "essential" Springsteen set is slated for release on November 3. The two discs will allegedly contain the "best of" Bruce Springsteen, but Sony is also planning a a limited editition third bonus CD with hard to find and previously unreleased goodies for the hardcore fans. No info on what songs will be included as of yet. Also, a "reliable" source reveals that the October 2002 show in Barcelona will be released on DVD on the same date, November 3. It is supposedly the complete show and lots of bonus material such as interviews and backstage footage. Altogether more than four hours worth of material. None of this is official yet and therefore nothing is certain, but it does look like we're in for an exciting month. Read more

   

As tickets for the first two shows at Shea Stadium were quickly selling out, a third show was added to the itinerary. It will take place on October 4 and is officially the last show of the Rising Tour according to a press release from Shorefire Media. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 10 A.M. Read more

   

With a bit of delay due to vacation, we are finally able to forward the, for most people probably old news that two shows have been announced for Shea Stadium in New York City. The shows will take place on October 1 and 3 with tickets going on sale on Monday, Sept. 8. That is, unless you are a season ticket holder for one of the teams using the stadium in which case you can already buy tickets as of today. The two shows are likely to be followed (or preceded) by two more shows to be announced as the first two shows sell out. Whatever the case, the Shea shows will be the final shows of the Rising Tour, which started in August 2002. Read more

   

All three Giants Stadium shows this week are being filmed with high-definition cameras. The purpose of this is not known, but it would be a safe guess to assume that Bruce is at least considering some sort of release. For years fans have been clamoring for a full show to be released. Live in New York City did not put an end to this, so hopefully it's something along those lines that's in the cards, but don't hold your breath just yet. Read more