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After six weeks on the road Bruce ended his Southern Hemisphere tour with two shows in Auckland, New Zealand. His last visit to the country happened 11 years ago, when he performed one only show in Auckland on March 28th 2003, during The Rising tour.

There was a lot of anticipation for this return, and Bruce celebrated it with two festive concerts, plenty of his most popular songs, and performing in full some of his most famous albums: Born in the USA (on Saturday night) and Born to Run (on Sunday).

Both nights Bruce entered the stage alone and delivered a stripped down, acoustic version of Lorde’s «Royals». Quite a surprise, which was well received by the local audience.

There weren’t much surprises for the hardcores, except for the tour debuts of «Loose Ends» and «My City of Ruins». The last show ended with a long «Twist and Shout» and the solo acoustic version of «This Hard Land».

It’s been 6 weeks of intense performances in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, with 17 concerts and a total of 129 different songs performed. Plus, with the bonus joy of the official live downloads Springsteen has offered for this tour, with each show (except one) usually available 2 to 4 days after its performance at a fair price in the official store. The High Hopes tour returns now to the U.S., and the next show is scheduled in Cincinnati on April 8th.

Auckland 1.3.2014 set list
Auckland 2.3.2014 set list

See the Auckland 1.03.2014 photo gallery

Photo: Patrick Lion (@patricklion)

Royals

Atlantic City

Loose Ends

My City of Ruins

I’m On Fire

Thunder Road

11 shows, 118 different songs, hours and hours of marvel and excitement. That was Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band touring Australia for a month. And the final night in Brisbane was the crown jewel to top it all. After paying tribute to the best of the Australian rock, from AC/DC to INXS, it was time to honour… The Bee Gees.

You have read well. Bruce opened his last show Down Under with the world famous «Stayin’ Alive», and for that he brought a full string section onstage (Cooper + Koo). Then came four songs in a row off Greetings: «It’s Hard to Be To Saint In The City», «Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?», «Growin’ Up» and «Spirit in the Night».

After a couple of songs from his last album, «High Hopes» and «Just Life Fire Would», there was time to revisit some of the great songs from the underplayed album The River, with «You Can Look», «Sherry Darling» and the wonderful, and rarely performed, «Fade Away», one of the highlights of the show. In between, another gem: «Save My Love». It was a surprising and memorable first hour, but Bruce had one more trick off his hat. He asked the audience to choose an option: more songs off signs or a full album performance. Wisely, the Brisbane audience chose the later and Bruce announced he’d play his amazing second album, The Wild, The Innocent & The And Street Shuffle, from top to end. It was only the second time this ever happened (after it’s first performance in New York City in November 2009).

The following hour was entirely devoted to that album, a tremendous collection of amazing songs, from the opening funky rhythms of «The E Street Shuffle» to the wonderful romantic ballad «New York City Serenade» (with the string section onstage again), and a rare opportunity to see Garry Tallent play the tuba or hear «Incident on 57th Street» segue into «Rosalita» (last seen at MetLife Stadium, Sept. 21st, 2012). At this point the show had already reached legendary status. (For those keeping count, it was the first time ever that Bruce had played 11 songs from his first two albums in a single concert. Back in 1973/74 the most he played was 10 songs from those albums).

For the last part of the main set, and the encores, Bruce offered some of his most famous and known songs, such as «Darlington County», «Badlands», «Born to Run», «Glory Days», «Dancing in the Dark», «Bobby Jean», «The Rising»… with a little surprise at the end when Eddie Vedder joined the band for a final performance of AC/DC’s «Highway to Hell» (Eddie had spent the night watching the show from the pit with Glen Hansard). The solo acoustic version of «Thunder Road» put an end to a historic concert that lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes.

PS. As usual, you can buy the audio of this show at the official store, possibly in the next 2 or 3 days.

See complete Brisbane set list

Photos: Patrick Lion (@patricklion)

See the Brisbane photo-gallery

Bruce Springsteen has announced the release of 4 new songs. «American Beauty» is a 4-song 12″ vinyl EP that will be published by Columbia Records on April 19th as a special Record Store Day release. The four tracks were recorded for High Hopes but left off the album.

‘American Beauty’ tracklist:

• 1. “American Beauty”
• 2. “Mary Mary”
• 3. “Hurry Up Sundown”
• 4. “Hey Blue Eyes”

 

Previous to this release, there’ll be a new concert film released on March 25th on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download: A Musicares Tribute to Bruce Springsteen. The film includes all the performances from the 2013 Musicares Person of the Year concert, held in Los Angeles on February 8th 2013. It includes Bruce’s performances with The E Street Band, along with the tribute performances by other artists.

‘A MusiCares Tribute To Bruce Springsteen’  tracklist:

• 1. “Adam Raised a Cain” Performed by Alabama Shakes
• 2. “Because the Night” Performed by Patti Smith
• 3. “Atlantic City” Performed by Natalie Maines, Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite
• 4. “American Land” Performed by Ken Casey
• 5. “My City of Ruins” Performed by Mavis Staples and Zac Brown
• 6. “I’m On Fire” Performed by Mumford and Sons
• 7. “American Skin (41 Shots)” Performed by Jackson Browne and Tom Morello
• 8. “My Hometown” Performed by Emmylou Harris
• 9. “One Step Up” Performed by Kenny Chesney
• 10. “Streets of Philadelphia” Performed by Elton John
• 11. “Hungry Heart” Performed by Juanes
• 12. “Tougher Than the Rest” Performed by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
• 13. “The Ghost of Tom Joad” Performed by Jim James and Tom Morello
• 14. “Dancing in the Dark” Performed by John Legend
• 15. “Lonesome Day” Performed by Sting
• 16. “Born in the USA” Performed by Neil Young with Crazy Horse
• 17. “We Take Care of Our Own” Performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
• 18. “Death to My Hometown” Performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
• 19. “Thunder Road” Performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
• 20. “Born to Run” Performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
• 21. “Glory Days” Performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band & cast ensemble

Nearly at the end of his Australian tour Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band offered two open-air shows at Hunter Valley, in the Hope State winery, two hours north of Sydney.

Bruce kicked off both shows with fantastic wine-related songs. «Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee» (written by Stick McGhee and covered by The Electric Flag and others) on Saturday night, and «Spill The Wine» (by Eric Burdon & War) on Sunday night. As usual in this tour, both nights featured radically different set lists.

«Friday on My Mind», «Trapped» and «Murder Incorporated» made their comeback on Saturday, along with a magnificent solo acoustic version of «The Wish». Sunday’s highlights included «Seeds», «My Love Will Not Let You Down», «Rosalita», «Human Touch» and «I’m Goin’ Down», plus the tour debut of «Brilliant Disguise» and a particularly interesting encore section, with the tour debut of «Sandy» (in its full band performance), plus «Ramrod», «Born in the U.S.A.», «Rockin’ All Over The World» and a riveting duo of acoustic songs to end, with the marvelous «I Wish I Were Blind» and «Thunder Road».

Set list 22 febr Hunter Valley
Set list 23 febr Hunter Valley