Backstreets.com: Springsteen News

PLAY BALL!
For one night, the Lakewood BlueClaws become the BruceClaws
Next weekend, Bruce and the E Street Band return to New Jersey with a homecoming stand at Giants Stadium. To help gear up, this coming Friday night, July 25, the BlueClaws -- Lakewood, NJ's Minor League Baseball team -- are celebrating with Bruce Springsteen Night at FirstEnergy Park. And they're going all out, wearing these custom BruceClaws jerseys, created with special permission from Minor League Baseball. After the game, the jerseys will be auctioned to benefit the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean County.

Plus: nothing but Bruce playing over the PA all night, a Bruce-signed baseball raffle, Giants Stadium ticket giveaways, and more. General admission/lawn tickets are currently available at the ballpark ticket windows or by calling 732-901-7000 (option 2). For the general admission seating, fans can bring a blanket or a beach towel to spread out on the lawn overlooking the outfield, however no chairs are permitted.

And as an added perk available only to our readers, mention "backstreets" at the time of purchase (phone or in-person only) and receive a voucher for a free hot dog, bag of chips and small soda with each ticket purchased. So go enjoy an evening of The Boss and baseball... and eat for free!

For more information, enlarge the PDF below, and visit www.blueclaws.com.

- July 19, 2008

JULY 17, MADRID
The penultimate city on the European tour. Patti's still in the fold, and out come "Brilliant Disguise" and "Tunnel of Love." "Cover Me" gets its second tour performance. A UK fan writes: "From reading the setlist alone, one could almost describe the Madrid show as formulaic -- coming in at 28 songs, just under three hours, no huge surprises. But that view abjectly fails to describe what was a rip-roaring, passionate affair at the Bernabeu.

"In a magnificent stadium, pretty well packed to the rafters, Bruce and the band incited the crowd to near frenzy status on occasion. The energy, passion and sheer joy coming from the crowd was uplifting and at times electrifying -- no wonder Bruce delights in playing to Spanish audiences. I was lucky to be able to watch the show from the pit (which was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it), yet the fans sat high up at the back of the stadium appeared to be just as exhilarated.

"The show kicked off shortly after 10 p.m. Stand-outs amongst many were 'Spirit in the Night,' 'Cadillac Ranch,' and a barnstorming 'Seven Nights to Rock,' along with an extended 'Mary's Place.' 'Badlands' brought the stadium to yet higher euphoria -- with Clarence bizarrely forgetting to join in for his sax solo! The show drew to a close just after 1 a.m. with a fabulous 'Twist and Shout.'

"So while this show may not go down as a classic from setlist scrutineers, for those present amongst the Madrid hordes, it will certainly go down as a summer's evening to remember."

And hey, friend-o: Check out the intro from Javier Bardem!

Next: Saturday and Sunday in Barcelona, the European tour's final stop.

For the full song list, and reports from other recent performances,
see our Setlists page.

- July 19, 2008 - photographs by Rene van Diemen

AUCTIONS AND MORE FOR GIANTS STADIUM
With only three shows left in Europe, Springsteen and the E Street Band's three-night homecoming stand at Giants Stadium is just ten days away. For the July 27, July 28, and July 31 shows, tickets may still be available through Ticketmaster (300 levels popped up for the last two shows when we checked), but if you want to go a different way...

Expensive tickets to be sure, but they come with quite a bonus... The winning bidder for Max Weinberg's completely restored 1957 Corvette on eBay -- man, is that a beauty! -- will also receive four complimentary tickets and VIP backstage passes for their choice of the three New Jersey shows. Auction ends July 23.
Also on eBay, Jon Landau Management has donated a pair of tickets with E Street Lounge pases to a Giants Stadium show of the winner's choice, with all proceeds benefitting the Skin Cancer Foundation. Tickets are either in the general admission pit or first tier loge section, bidder's choice. Visit www.skincancer.org for more information. Auction ends July 21.
As usual, check Charityfolks.com for a number of Springsteen ticket auctions -- right now they have pairs with E Street Lounge passes up on the block for July 27 and July 31, benefitting Farmers Against Hunger and Paterson Habitat for Humanity.
"NY's Rock Experience," 101.9 RXP, is calling itself "NY's Boss Experience" for an extended weekend, today through Sunday. In addition to beefing up their Springsteen airplay, the'll also be giving away Giants Stadium tickets over these four days. Go to 1019rxp.com to request three Springsteen tracks, and you'll be automatically entered to win tickets. And on Monday, morning show host Matt Pinfield will be giving awa y pit passes to one of the shows. Stream the station here to listen.

- July 17, 2008

ON THE ROAD
Backstreets photographer Guy Aceto has just added a new feature to his website: "Springsteen Roadtrip" is a three-page travelogue that shows off more of his stunning work from the 2007 Magic tour. Check it out at aceartanddesign.com.

Aceto's work can also be seen in the digital booklet for the new Magic Tour Highlights, along with fellow Backstreets photographers Riku Olkkonen and A.M. Saddler.
- July 16, 2008

BRUCE, PATTI & ELVIS ON ONE DVD
An expanded DVD version of Elvis: Viva Las Vegas, last year's ABC television special documenting the triumphs and tragedies of Elvis Presley's Las Vegas concerts, will be released on August 12. The documentary includes Bruce Springsteen’s 1990 version of "Viva Las Vegas" over the opening credits and footage of Patti Scialfa performing a great version of "Looking For Elvis," filmed last year at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall. This performance also features Bruce playing one mean harmonica as part of the Whack Brothers Rhythm Section.

The documentary is being released inexpensively (at $10 for DVD or $19 for Blu-Ray disc) and exclusively through Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores -- somewhat strangely, since Springsteen has long been a vocal supporter of organized labor, which has mounted a multi-union campaign against many of Wal-Mart’s policies. Fans who wish to refrain from giving Wal-Mart any more profits have several options. CMT will re-broadcast the two-hour Elvis: Viva Las Vegas special on August 11, so you can "roll your tapes" (or TiVos, DVRs etc.). CMT is also running a contest with prizes that include a free copy of the DVD. The video of Patti's Asbury Park version of "Looking For Elvis" is still available for purchase at the iTunes store.

The soundtrack to Elvis: Viva Las Vegas has been available from many outlets, including Backstreet Records, since last January, featuring audio versions of both Bruce's and Patti's performances from the special.
- July 16, 2008 - report by Shawn Poole

YOU'LL BE COMIN' DOWN
As the Philadelphia Inquirer reports today, the Spectrum -- home to many a legendary Springsteen show -- isn't long for this world: "Comcast-Spectacor officials revealed yesterday that the city's oldest major professional-sports venue will be demolished to make way for a proposed hotel, retail and entertainment complex." Demolition is tentatively planned for spring 2009; according to the story, Comcast-Spectacor president Peter Luuko "hinted that a concert by Bruce Springsteen, who has performed at the arena on numerous occasions since the early 1970s, might bring down the curtain." ["We're going to ask," Luuko is quoted as saying in the Philadelphia Daily News.]

Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca recounts the venue's musical history ["Spectrum showcased great music"], leading with the 12/9/80 show there as the best concert he's ever seen. We'd also point to the six-night stand on the Born in the U.S.A. tour in September 1984 as a highlight for both the venue and for Springsteen's performing career. Bruce also opened for Chicago there in '73, played his first arena show there in '76, Raved On with Garry Busey on the Darkness tour, and celebrated his 50th birthday with a magical one-off show there in '99.
- July 16, 2008

BACKSTREETS MAGAZINE: "THE GOLD STANDARD"
So says the Chicago Tribune. And it's got a nice ring to it, we think.

Every year the Tribune compiles a list of their Fifty Favorite Magazines. "We like magazines that instruct, entertain, and take us places we'd otherwise never know," they write. This year, for the first time, Backstreets Magazine has made the list -- and as Bruce might put it, we're honored from our ass to our heels. See what they have to say about our magazine at right, and see the full list at Chicagotribune.com.

If you haven't checked out Backstreets Magazine yet, right now happens to be a perfect time to susbcribe: the new issue, just out, is our biggest ever, and we're doing a bulk mailing this week to get it sent out to everyone who has signed up in recent weeks. (See our Subscriber Services page for mailing dates and ETA info.)

Subscribe now, and your first issue will be on its way to you in a matter of days!
- July 15, 2008

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY: MAGIC TOUR HIGHLIGHTS OUT NOW
Downloadable as of today, Springsteen and the E Street Band's Magic Tour Highlights digital EP collects spring 2008 guest spots from Alejandro Escovedo, Roger McGuinn, and Tom Morello, plus "Sandy" from Danny Federici's final performance.

The iTunes Store has the four audio tracks plus accompanying videos (99 cents per song, $1.99 per video; all eight files bundled with a digital booklet for $7.99), with all profits going to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund; you can also download the mp3s from Amazon.com (99 cents individually, or $2.99 for all four).
- July 15, 2008

"I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WE WERE WALKING INTO..."
Escovedo talks to Backstreets about his duet with Bruce, out tomorrow
Just before killing a sold-out crowd at Washington D.C.'s 9:30 Club this past weekend, Alejandro Escovedo sat down with Backstreets Magazine to discuss playing with Springsteen in Houston on April 14 and the inclusion of his "Always a Friend" on Bruce's impending digital-only release, Magic Tour Highlights, due Tuesday, July 15.

“We were driving towards Houston," Escovedo recalled, "when I got a text message from [manager] Jan that said Bruce wants to do 'Always a Friend.' 'Are you in? Can you make soundcheck in 45 minutes?' We were two hours out!”

Despite missing out on soundcheck, Alejandro and Bruce ran through the song twice acoustically before he called the entire E Street Band into the dressing room.

"There's Soozie, and Little Steven, and Max, and Garry... I mean, they’re giants," Escovedo continued, "Just giants. And so we ran through it once acoustically in the dressing room. And then I went out to see my first Bruce Springsteen show. I've seen a lot of music in my life: you know punk rock, The Stooges… everything. But this is one of the most powerful things, if not the most powerful thing I've ever seen.”

“Those four minutes on stage with Bruce were more important than the 33 years I've been playing music. It just changed my life. It was like being blessed by the Dali Lama. Suddenly all those years of working really hard and struggling, someone said, 'You're alright. You're good at what you do. You deserve to be up here.'"

Alejandro's Real Animal continues to be one of the best-received albums of his career. Watch for the full interview with Alejandro in an upcoming issue of Backstreets. Subscribe to the magazine now!

TICKET AUCTION: WOMEN BUILD, ANYONE BID
Paterson Habitat for Humanity -- which Patti Scialfa partnered with as the honorary First Lady of New Jersey -- will be auctioning off a pair of tickets to the final Giants Stadium show on July 31. The tickets were donated from Patti as part of her commitment for Women Build 2008. The winning bidder will get their choice of Pit or choice lower level seats, as well as passes to the E Street Lounge. The auction begins Monday, July 14, at 11:00 a.m. at www.charityfolks.com, with all proceeds going to Women Build. Click here for more information, and watch this space for the Charity Folks link once the auction is live.
- Updated July 10, 2008

FIREWORKS ARE HAILIN'...
- photograph by Mike Black, Asbury Park, NJ, 7/4/07
Happy Fourth of July! Bruce and the E Street Band will be in Sweden for the occasion, where the Magic tour resumes in Goteborg tomorrow night. Don't forget the live broadcast from the concert, on E Street Radio, beginning Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern.

More radio action for the holiday: Vin Scelsa's fantastic "Idiot's Delight" program this weekend will be an encore broadcast of his July 2005 show with Daniel Wolff, author of Fourth of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land. It's the complete four-hour show, with a lot of Springsteen and Asbury Park content, airing from 8 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, July 5, on WFUV 90.7 FM. Listen to a stream online at wfuv.org.

MAGIC TOUR FOUR-TRACK LIVE EP DUE JULY 15
Special guests in the spotlight on new digital release

With official live Springsteen recordings few and far between (even though they've stepped up the game in recent years), we've always been fans of the Chimes of Freedom EP model -- no grand statement or tour summation, just getting great live music out fast. Twenty years later, we've got something of the same species: a four-track live EP with recordings from mere months ago, to be released even as the Magic tour continues.

Magic Tour Highlights, available in less than two weeks, embraces the digital era, delivering mp3s and videos online with no physical release currently planned. The EP will be available for download from all digital downloads stores, including the iTunes Store and Amazon.com.

Four songs from Bruce and the E Street Band's spring 2008 U.S. leg have been selected, each highlighting a special guest -- if you count Danny Federici's re-emergence for his only 2008 appearance, what turned out to be his final performance in Indianapolis. A "guest spot" or not, it was an emotional high point of the tour that's captured here, along with three other unique performance highs. The tracks:

In addition to the audio tracks, each of these will be available in accompanying live videos. The recordings were mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig; Thom Zimny handled re-editing on the videos.

The artists, songwriters, and music publishers are waiving all of their royalties, and Columbia Records is donating all of its net profits, for all sales to benefit The Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. The iTunes Store is donating their first year's net profits as well. Magic Tour Highlights will be available for download beginning July 15.
- updated July 3, 2008

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN REMEMBERS MADAM MARIE
Back in the day when I was a fixture on the Asbury Park Boardwalk, I'd often stop and talk to Madam Marie as she sat on her folding chair outside the Temple of Knowledge.

I'd sit across from her on the metal guard rail bordering the beach and watch as she led the day trippers into the small back room where she would unlock a few of the mysteries of their future. She always told me mine looked pretty good -- she was right. The world has lost enough mystery as it is -- we need our fortunetellers. We send our condolences out to her family who've carried on her tradition. Over here on E Street, we will miss her.
--Bruce Springsteen

MADAM MARIE, TELLING FORTUNES SINCE THE '30s, DIES AT 93
According to the Asbury Park Press, "Madam Marie" Castello passed away on Friday. The fortune teller was, of course, immortalized in Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy):

and her booth was a fixture of the Asbury Park boardwalk. As the Press reports: "Legend has it that she told Springsteen he was going to be a success. Springsteen later joked that she told all the musicians that. And Springsteen never forgot Madam Marie. 'He always comes by to say hello,' she told Press columnist Bill Handleman in May. 'He knows where he came from.'"

Her great-granddaughter Sally Castello continues the family tradition of readings at the "Temple of Knowledge" booth in Asbury Park. Rest in peace, Madam Marie.
- July 1, 2008 - photograph by Mike Black