A more and more politically vocal Bruce participates in the Vote For Change Tour. The tour, which happens not the least because of Bruce's initiative, is part of the campaign to put the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in the White House. Along with the E Street Band, John Fogerty, REM and others, he performs six shows in the so-called swing states and one in New Jersey just for the heck of it.

The first official show of the tour is a stop at New Orleans Jazz Festival and one of the most emotional. It is marked by Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on the city, with Bruce making several comments, as well as playing Alfred Reed's "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" with three new verses written by himself about the New Orleans floods.

After being postponed for a few days due to Danny Federici's death, the tour continues in Tampa, Florida. The Tampa show ranks among the best and most emotional of Bruce's career. Starting out with a video tribute to Danny, the show goes on to contain seven songs from 1975 or before and a beautiful version of the Albert E. Brumley hymn "I'll Fly Away".

Three days after ending the spring leg of the North American tour, Bruce and the band perform a benefit show at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank. The show marks the first time Bruce has played one of his albums start to finish. In fact, he does two albums start to finish: Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born to Run.

Bruce and the E Street Band perform for 12 minutes during the SuperBowl halftime show. Clarence is just out of the hospital bed after another surgery and can barely walk, but no one notices during this high-energy performance that incudes the new "Working on a Dream" as well as "Tenth Avenue", "Born to Run" and "Glory Days".

After a two-week break in the European tour, Bruce is back with a vengeance when he and the band appear for the first time at the Glastonbury Festival in England. Performing on the Pyramid Stage at the legendary festival is one of the biggest honors a band can achieve in Europe, and Bruce works hard to fulfill expectations. And while the set is well received, critical voices believe he should have focused more on his hits than just doing a regular Working on a Dream Tour show. Part of the Glastonbury gig is shown on TV.

The day after the exhausting Glastonbury gig Bruce is back on stage, this time at the Hard Rock Festival in London where he plays to a humongous crowd. The show is filmed and shown on TV and later released on DVD and Blu-ray.

Chicago becomes the first show of the tour to include a performance of a full album. The chosen album is Born to Run. All but one of the remaining shows of the tour will feature a full album performance. Usually Born to Run, but Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born in the USA, The Wild, the Innocent, Greetings From Asbury Park, and The River get their turns.

Bruce performs at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame anniversary show at Madison Square Garden. With the E Street Band as backing band, he plays with several other musical legends: Sam Moore, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Darlene Love and Tom Morello. On the second night, Bruce guests with U2 for "Because the Night" in a duet with Patti Smith.

The band may be on a touring break, but they get back together in Asbury Park for one weekend to do a live performance of the Darkness on the Edge of Town album to be included on the upcoming Darkness re-release. The performance takes place at the Convention Hall and is done in more or less secrecy without an audience.