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The Band’s influence on this tour is quite clear if you forget the Pete Seeger folk themes for a moment. And Bruce made it even clearer last night in Columbus, when he premiered Robbie Robertson’s brilliant tune «Rag Mama Rag» (released on The Band’s self-titled album), a real surprise that came appropriately right after «My City of Ruins» (back on the set as first encore).

Patti was absent last night, therefore there was no scat vocal intro to «Open All Night». And drummer Larry Eagle debuted yet another instrument on the tour: a real kitchen sink!

A shorter set last night due to the venue’s curfew, which happily meant no «Ramrod» or «Buffalo Gals», thus letting some space for «Rag Mama Rag».

Check out the full set list at the Concerts page.

The Seeger Sessions Band returned to the U.S. after a short European tour and opened the American tour last night in Mansfield, Massachussets. Patti’s back in the band, and the horn section increased from 4 to 6 members as Mark Pender and La Bamba joined the band mid-show and raised the entertainment level with their skills.

Peter Wolf, as usual in Boston everytime Bruce plays there, joined to sing the classic «Dirty Water» plus «Buffalo Gals». «My City of Ruins» was dropped from the set and Bruce did «Bring Them Home» instead, the Pete Seeger song that debuted in Paris and re-appeared in Stockholm during the last show in Europe.

A new TV appearance was confirmed yesterday. Bruce and the Seeger Sessions Band will be performing live at the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) on June 5th. The show can be seen in Europe (normally with a 3-day delay) thru MSNBC.

Bookmark this date: June 23rd. Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band will perform live at Conan O’Brien’s late night show.

This will be the third appearance of Bruce Springsteen at the program. The first one was in February 1999 «Working on the Highway»), and the second one on December 11, 2002, with the E Street Band, for a fantastic performance that included «Kitty’s Back» and «Merry Christmas Baby».

Bruce Springsteen has been recording at a studio facility in Oslo, Norway, according to the Dagbladet newspaper. Apparently Bruce arrived on thursday May 18th in Oslo and visited the Disclab studio, where he made some recordings.

The studio, owned by Hans Olav Grottheim, was hired by Toby Scott, Bruce’s recording tech, for a few hours that afternoon. They had help from the studio’s recording technicians, Richard Low and Jorn Dahl. Grottheim, who was not present as he just had become a father, says Bruce made some vocal recordings over previously recorded music. No more details have been given about this mysterious recording session.

Photo: Hans Olav Grottheim, owner of Disclab studios in Oslo.