Magic Tour (Bruce Springsteen)
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| Magic Tour | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | ||
| Locations | North America Western Europe |
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| Start date | October 2, 2007 | |
| End date | TBD | |
| Legs | 5 | |
| Shows | TBD | |
| Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour chronology | ||
| Sessions Band Tour (2006) |
Magic Tour (2007–2008) |
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On August 28, 2007, it was announced on Bruce Springsteen's website that there would be a tour with the E Street Band immediately concurrent with the release of his album Magic.[1] The tour will run from October 2, 2007 through at least July 31, 2008.[2] This is his first tour with the E Street Band since 2004's Vote for Change shows, and the first prolonged outing with them since the 2002-2003 Rising Tour.[3]
In an interview at the time of the tour's announcement, Springsteen made clear that this outing would be a return to expectations after the substantial stylistic departures of the solo, multi-instrumental 2005 Devils & Dust Tour and the big folk 2006 Sessions Band Tour: "Yeah — I'll be playing the rock music this time."[4] Magic selections would be likely heavily featured, as they were written for playing in concert.[4] And he shot down fan speculation that (with band members getting on in age and health and drummer Max Weinberg likely heading to Los Angeles when Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show in 2009[5]) this might be a farewell tour: "I envision the band carrying on for many, many, many more years. There ain't gonna be any farewell tour.... I'll never do that, man — you're only gonna know that when you don't see me no more."[4]
After the conclusion of the tour's first leg on November 19, 2007, organist Danny Federici took a leave of absence from the tour, to pursue treatment for melanoma.[6] He was replaced by Charles Giordano, who had played with Springsteen on the 2006 Sessions Band Tour.[6] Federici made his only return to the stage on March 20, 2008, during the tour's third leg, when he appeared for portions of a show in Indianapolis.[7] He passed away on April 17, 2008; the next two shows of the tour were postponed.[8]
Contents |
[edit] Itinerary
The two first-announced legs followed the practice established during the 2002-2003 Rising Tour, of quickly visiting cities in North America followed by the same in Western Europe. Possible lengthier engagements, or dates in areas outside the Northeastern United States, where Springsteen's commercial appeal had dimmed, were viewed as additional legs in 2008.
As per past Springsteen practice, the tour proper was preceded by a couple of weeks of the band holding closed rehearsals at Asbury Park Convention Hall — but now with loudspeakers playing local radio stations positioned outside the hall to foil the Springsteen faithful who gathered outside the building to hear a glimpse of the set lists and arrangements to come. This was followed by two rehearsal shows (which doubled as charity benefits) at Convention Hall on September 24 and 25, an early morning appearance on The Today Show's concert series on Rockefeller Plaza on September 28,[9] and another, small-audience rehearsal at Continental Airlines Arena that night.
The first, North American leg began at the Hartford Civic Center on October 2, 2007 and played in arenas through two shows at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston concluding November 19. The second, European leg began on November 25 at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid and finished at The O2 in London on December 19. As customary on some other Springsteen tours, a two-month winter holiday break was then taken.
The third, North American leg again started up at the Hartford Civic Center, on February 28, 2008, playing both previously visited and not markets, in arenas. Meanwhile, both arenas and stadiums were scheduled for a fourth, European leg to take place in mid-May through mid-July 2008.
The fifth leg of the tour would return to North America for stadium shows, with no final end date yet set.[5]
[edit] The show
When the tour opened at the Hartford Civic Center, several things were immediately apparent. The show was clearly shorter than in years past, beginning at around 8:30 and ending at around 10:45. However more songs were played than could be extrapolated from this time, given past practice, due to the omission of elongated numbers with stage hijinks, and in particular no long monologues or band intros.
Soozie Tyrell, while now clearly not an official member of the E Street Band by analysis of publicity material, tour T-shirts and the like, was nonetheless a full member on-stage, appearing on every song with some combination of violin, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals. On the front line of the stage, age was taking its toll:[10] on one side Clarence Clemons was once again sitting in a chair when not playing his saxophone or percussion parts[11] and needing a steadying hand for getting on and off stage,[10] while Danny Federici was also looking a little frail. On the other side, not only was Springsteen's teleprompter (a fixture since the early 1990s) still in view, but sidekick Steven Van Zandt had his own (for lyrics) as did wife and band member Patti Scialfa (for guitar chords). In the latter respect, however, the show featured a breakthrough: the first Scialfa song played in its entirety, the mid-set "A Town Called Heartbreak", which would continue to be played intermittently on the first leg of the tour. Drummer Max Weinberg also had a small teleprompter within his drum kit, showing lyrics, unusual in that Weinberg does not sing onstage.
The set list heavily leaned on Magic material, as might be expected, with The Rising initially also well represented. The 1970s were also featured, with a number of songs off Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. Thematically, the show was organized in recent Springsteen fashion, with certain fixed sequences that appeared every night, interspersed with "wild card" sequences in which a variety of recent or old songs might appear. Shows usually began with a calliope playing "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" as the band took the stage, followed by several calls out from the darkness by Springsteen — "Is there anybody alive out there!?" Then, as might be expected, Magic's first single "Radio Nowhere" and its expression of social longing began the concert. This was followed by some older number such as "The Ties That Bind" or "No Surrender" that supplied that social connection, and then by The Rising's "Lonesome Day" to balance the equation. The next part of the show brought out ''Magic'''s political undercurrents, first with a spoken introduction to "Magic" that made clear that song's understated lyric: "This is about living in times when the truth gets twisted into lies and lies get twisted into truth. So, it's not about magic. It's about tricks."[10] Thus set up to follow was just that, a trick: yet another at-first-puzzling rendition of the always challenging "Reason to Believe". The Nebraska closer was transformed from a low-key acoustic number to a heavy-hitting, harmonica-driven, boogie-woogie blues rock version,[10] with Springsteen pumping up the audience with phantom overhand throwing motions ... all for a song that represented, despite frequent misinterpretations, a void empty of hope;[12] only a return of the Devils & Dust Tour's ultra-distorting "bullet mic" at the end served to reveal a bit of the deceit. An explicit public service announcement rap during "Livin' in the Future" listed Springsteen's complaints about developments in American during the George W. Bush administration, including extraordinary rendition, illegal wiretapping, voter suppression, no habeas corpus, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the continuing Iraq War. "The Promised Land" followed by wild card slots would then alleviate the mood.
Another fixed, socio-political sequence occurred at the end of the main set, "Devil's Arcade" into "The Rising" into "Last to Die" into "Long Walk Home" into "Badlands"; in an interview, Springsteen said of the transition out of "The Rising" and into "Last to Die", signalling the course of American society from the September 11 attacks to the Iraq War,[13] "The whole night is going to turn on that segue. That's what we're up there for right now, that thirty seconds."[13] Encores started with the relaxed lament of the new "Girls in Their Summer Clothes." This was followed by pot luck back catalog choices, often involving one of his long epics, the inevitable "Born to Run", a celebratory "Dancing in the Dark", and as the show finalé, "American Land". This, the only holdover from the Sessions Band Tour, featured Clemons on pennywhistle, both Federici and Bittan on accordion and joining Tyrell and the others on the front stage line, in an up-tempo jig that sought to convey the whole tale of immigration to the United States. As such it careened wildly in purpose between a rousing closer and a message summation; these dual roles were emphasized as the tour went on when the large video screens above the stage began scrolling the lyrics as the song played, and then illustrated Springsteen's quick-paced band intro spiel with 1960s Batman-styled cartoon bursts: E! Street! Band!!
The European second leg featured very enthusiastic crowds and shows lengthening towards two and a half hours, but also largely static set lists, possibly due to stand-in organist Charlie Giordano needing time to learn the Springsteen oeuvre. By the North American third leg, set lists were slightly loosened, with "Night" or other choices often preceding "Radio Nowhere" as the show opener. Oddball selections showed up more as wild cards or audibles,[5] sometimes prompted by audience signs held up in the pit below the stage.[14] Clemons' chair was now comically upgraded to a guilded throne,[15] with a tambourine placed next to it so he could play along on songs where he was catching a breather. His role overall was not diminished, however, as "Jungleland" and his longest and most famous saxophone solo began appearing more often in the encores. "Long Walk Home" gained more emphasis, with Nils Lofgren and especially Steve Van Zandt adding their own vocal parts during the coda.[5]
The third leg continued the development of the tour. After a slow start, setlists began to become more and more varied, with old, rarely played songs becoming more and more a part of the show. This was highlighted most by the constant changing of the first song of the setlist, when Springsteen would either play an old classic such as Thunder Road or Out on the Street or a rarity such as Loose Ends. Danny Federici played one show on this leg, but passed away towards the end of it. This lead to another change at the start of the concert, as a video montage of Federici played out to the sound of Blood Brothers. After Federici's death, setlist noticably focused on older material - both well known, such as Growing Up, and songs which had remained virtually unplayed for 20 years such as Wild Billys Circus. Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town and Magic continued to be well represented, while Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love, Human Touch and Lucky Town continued to be largely ignored. The middle of the set had by now become extremely varied, with "Livin' in the Future" and "She's the One" the only constants. The Promised Land, which had been a mid-set regular, was moved to various places in the set lists. Encore length varied, but again "Born to Run" and "American Land" remained the only constants.
[edit] Critical and commercial reception
Reviews of the Magic Tour have generally been generally favorable. The New Haven Register found the band "ripping through a spirited set" on opening night and judged Weinberg, Van Zandt, and Clemons as the main stars of the performance besides Springsteen.[16] The paper also profiled fans who had come from nearby states to see the opener.[16] A Jon Pareles review in The New York Times of a Madison Square Garden show two weeks later framed the performance thusly:
| “ |
The sheer vitality of Mr. Springsteen, 58, belting an entire set of showstoppers straight from the gut and working the stage with his longtime band, provides all the hope the lyrics struggle to find. He's as serious as any public figure alive, but he leaves audiences euphoric — a paradox that only grows more profound as he endures.[17] |
” |
The Syracuse New Times summed an Albany, New York show late in the first leg as "a masterful presentation of Springsteen’s new album Magic and a few moments of his mumbling political cajoling, all wrapped up in a joyous rock’n’roll revival replete with his most famous hits going back to the 1970s."[10]
North American ticket sales during the first leg were generally strong. Prime markets in the Northeast sold out in less than ten minutes. The faithful knew, as usual, that this was only the beginning of the ticket acquisition process, as the later secondary market — online ticket outlet drops of heldback allotments, later drops due to stage setup revelations, day of show drop lines, online forum exchanges, and eBay — all offered opportunities for success. The first, North American leg garnered $38.2 million in ticket revenues,[18] making it the 14th biggest grossing concert tour in North America for 2007.[18] Springsteen saw more younger fans appearing in America than in a decade, while in Europe younger fans were constantly replenishing his fan base.[19]
Meanwhile, over in Europe, the London concert, which went on sale first on 30 August, sold out in about ten minutes.[20] The Belfast concert sold out in eight minutes, setting a venue record for The Odyssey;[21] thousands left standing outside the venue, other ticket outlets, or phone or online users, were left quite frustrated.[21] Most of the tickets were bought my major companies and sold on eBay or other websites for hundreds of pounds.[21] The Belgian concert was sold out in a few minutes, the booking site having experienced constant lag.
On the show's third leg, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle praised the shows concentration on newer material and detected implicit support for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.[14] In a USA Today interview Springsteen professed admiration for both Obama's effort and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign,[19] although he seemed to have a greater affinity for the former: "I always look at my work as trying to measure the distance between American promise and American reality. And I think [Obama]'s inspired a lot of people with that idea: How do you make that distance shorter? How do we create a more humane society? We've lived through such ugly times that people want to have a romance with the idea of America again, and I think they need to."[19] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saw the concert there as exemplifying Springsteen's ability to have "dark words ride along on a buoyant pop melody", terming the enterprise "an exercise in danceable agitation."[15]
Commercially, though, the third leg was softer, with most of its shows not sold out.[22] Moreover, when tickets went on sale in December 2007 for three hometown, summer 2008, fifth-leg Giants Stadium shows, they did not come close to selling out right away.[23] This paled in comparison to the fast sales and many added dates for The Rising Tour's Giants Stadium stand in 2003;[23] theories advanced included poor sales timing before the holiday season and way in advance of the shows, a worsening U.S. economy, stagnant European leg set lists, and afteraffects of Springsteen's Vote for Change explicit political stances and non-E Street Band tours.
[edit] Band members
- Bruce Springsteen - lead vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica
- Roy Bittan – piano, synthesizer
- Clarence Clemons – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, percussion, pennywhistle, background vocals
- Danny Federici – organ, electronic glockenspiel, accordion (first leg, appearances on third leg)
- Charles Giordano – organ, accordion (second and third legs)
- Nils Lofgren – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, pedal steel guitar, acoustic guitar, background vocals
- Patti Scialfa - background vocals, some featured lead and duet vocals, acoustic guitar
- Garry Tallent – bass guitar, occasional background vocals
- Soozie Tyrell - violin, acoustic guitar, background vocals, some featured duet vocals when Scialfa absent
- Steven Van Zandt – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, mandolin, background vocals
- Max Weinberg – drums
Scialfa missed a number of shows in the North American first leg, and all the shows in the European second leg, due to family duties. She has missed all of the shows in the North American third leg as well,[15] with Springsteen giving different humorous explanations at each stop for her absence, all revolving around their teenage children misbehaving.
The starting line-up was unchanged from the 2002–2003 Rising Tour.
[edit] Tour dates
[edit] First leg: North America 2007
| North America | |||||||
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Ticket grossing | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tickets sold | Tickets on sale | Percentage sold | |||||
| September 24 | Asbury Park, NJ | United States | Convention Hall (Rehearsal show) | — | |||
| September 25 | Asbury Park, NJ | United States | Convention Hall (Rehearsal show) | — | |||
| September 28 | New York, NY | United States | Rockefeller Center / Today Show (Promotional appearance) |
— | |||
| September 28 | East Rutherford, NJ | United States | Continental Airlines Arena (Rehearsal show - Limited) |
— | |||
| October 2 | Hartford, CT | United States | Hartford Civic Center (Tour Opener) | 15,290 | 15,290 | 100 % | $1,401,205 [24] |
| October 5 | Philadelphia, PA | United States | Wachovia Center | 38,229 | 38,229 | 100 % | $3,616,172 [24] |
| October 9 | East Rutherford, NJ | United States | Continental Airlines Arena | 38,976 | 38,976 | 100 % | $3,604,315 [24] |
| October 14 | Ottawa, ON | Canada | Scotiabank Place | 13,616 | 13,616 | 100 % | $1,568,391 [24] |
| October 15 | Toronto, ON | Canada | Air Canada Centre | 18,677 | 18,677 | 100 % | $2,113,450 [24] |
| October 17 | New York, NY | United States | Madison Square Garden | 37,735 | 37,735 | 100 % | $3,435,254 [24] |
| October 21 | Chicago, IL | United States | United Center | 35,697 | 35,697 | 100 % | $3,300,087 [24] |
| October 25 | Oakland, CA | United States | Oracle Arena | 30,818 | 34,859 | 88,4 % | $2,581,456 [24] |
| October 29 | Los Angeles, CA | United States | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | 33,122 | 34,080 | 97,2 % | $2,949,650 [24] |
| November 2 | St. Paul, MN | United States | Xcel Energy Center | 18,970 | 18,970 | 100 % | $1,754,825 [24] |
| November 4 | Cleveland, OH | United States | Quicken Loans Arena | 19,223 | 19,299 | 99,61 % | $1,644,179 [24] |
| November 5 | Auburn Hills, MI | United States | Palace of Auburn Hills | 14,559 | 19,555 | 74,45 % | $1,231,928 [24] |
| November 11 | Washington, D.C. | United States | Verizon Center | ||||
| November 14 | Pittsburgh, PA | United States | Mellon Arena | ||||
| November 15 | Albany, NY | United States | Times Union Center | ||||
| November 18 | Boston, MA | United States | TD Banknorth Garden | ||||
[edit] Second leg: Europe 2007
| Europe | |||||||
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Ticket grossing | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tickets sold | Tickets on sale | Percentage sold | |||||
| November 25 | Madrid |  Spain |
Palacio de Deportes | ||||
| November 26 | Bilbao | Spain |
Bizkaia Arena | 100 % | |||
| November 28 | Milan |  Italy |
Datchforum | ||||
| November 30 | Arnhem |  Netherlands |
Gelredome | ||||
| December 2 | Mannheim |  Germany |
SAP Arena | ||||
| December 4 | Oslo |  Norway |
Oslo Spektrum | 100 % | |||
| December 8 | Copenhagen |  Denmark |
Forum Copenhagen | 100 % | |||
| December 10 | Stockholm |  Sweden |
Globe Arena | 15 895 | 15 895 | 100 % | |
| December 12 | Antwerp | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Belgium |
Sportpaleis Merksem | ||||
| December 13 | Cologne | Germany |
Kölnarena | 100 % | |||
| December 15 | Belfast |  Ireland |
The Odyssey | 100 % | |||
| December 17 | Paris |  France |
Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy | 100 % | |||
| December 19 | London |  United Kingdom |
The O2 | 100 % | |||
[edit] Third leg: North America 2008
[edit] Fourth leg: Europe 2008 outdoors
[edit] Fifth leg: North American 2008 outdoor stadiums
| North America | |||||||
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Ticket grossing | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tickets sold | Tickets on sale | Percentage sold | |||||
| July 27 | East Rutherford, NJ | United States | Giants Stadium | ||||
| July 28 | East Rutherford, NJ | United States | Giants Stadium | ||||
| July 31 | East Rutherford, NJ | United States | Giants Stadium | ||||
| August 2 | Foxboro, MA | United States | Gillette Stadium | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ "BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND ANNOUNCE FIRST FULL SCALE TOUR OF US & EUROPE SINCE 2003", Brucespringsteen.com, August 28, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2007.
- ^ Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Announce Series Of New Jersey Shows In 2008. Shore Fire Media (2007-12-07). Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Announce First Full Scale Tour Of US & Europe Since 2003", Shore Fire Media, August 28, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Dates are set; Bruce revs up E Street Machine for Fall", Backstreets.com, August 28, 2007. Accessed August 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c d "Q&A: Steve Van Zandt", Rolling Stone, 2008-03-17. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ a b "Statement", Shore Fire Media, November 21, 2007.
- ^ "March 20, Indianopolis: Return of the Phantom", Backstreets.com. Accessed March 21, 2008.
- ^ Sean Piccoli. "Springsteen concert postponed over bandmate's death", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2008-04-17. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
- ^ "ROCKING ROCKEFELLER PLAZA: Bruce & the E Street Band live on Today, Sept. 28", Backstreets.com, August 30, 2007. Accessed August 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Ed Griffin-Nolan. "Still the Boss", Syracuse New Times, 2007-11-28. Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
- ^ David Malitz. "All Eyes on the Big Man", The Washington Post, 2007-11-13. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
- ^ Marsh, Dave (1987). Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-54668-7. pp. 137–139.
- ^ a b A. O. Scott. "In Love With Pop, Uneasy With the World", The New York Times, 2007-09-30. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
- ^ a b Jeff Spevak. "Springsteen, E Street Band rock with 11,500 at Blue Cross", Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 2008-03-07. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ a b c Dave Tianen. "Still powerful, Springsteen masters the contradictions", Milwaukee Journal Sentintel, 2008-03-18. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ a b Patrick Ferrucci. "'Boss' is Back: Springsteen opens tour in Hartford", New Haven Register, 2007-10-03.
- ^ Jon Pareles. "Songs of Anguish With a Hopeful Beat", The New York Times, 2007-10-19. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
- ^ a b "The Police Lock Top 2007 Tours Spot", Pollstar, 2007-12-26. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
- ^ a b c Elysa Gardner. "Rock legend Bruce Springsteen still plays to the audience", USA Today, 2008-02-27. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ "London tickets sold-out", Point Blank magazine, 2007-08-30. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ a b c Maureen Coleman. "Springsteen tickets eBay fury for fans", Belfast Telegraph, 2007-09-06. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ Mark Brown. "Springsteen skipping Denver", Rocky Mountain News, 2008-03-14. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ a b Jay Lustig. "Despite brisk sales, tickets remain for Springsteen's Giants Stadium shows", Newark Star-Ledger, 2007-12-15. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Billboard Boxcore. Billboard magazine. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ a b c Sean Piccoli. "Springsteen concert postponed over bandmate's death", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2008-04-17. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.
[edit] External links
- Bruce Springsteen (Official Site) Magic Tour News
- Backstreets.com Magic Tour Info & Setlists
- FREE! Magazine Magic Album & Oct 2, 2007 Hartford, CT (opening night) show review
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