Sweet....

I hope you saw Bruce at the Inauguration concert by the Lincoln Memorial. He played "The Rising" with a choir of over 100 singers wearing red robes and it was an awesome sight and sound.
My sister sent me a pic of Bruce performing in the distance. Quite a spectacle. She didn't get as close to the stage as when Bruce played the jazz festival in New Orleans a couple of years back. She was a volunteer this time so she had to stay in an assigned area.
I read the crowd was estimated at around 400 thousand. After that, the Super Bowl will seem like the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

It's my understanding that Bruce and the E Streeters have 12 minutes to do their thing at halftime. It'll be tight for them getting even three songs done in that amount of time...heck, two songs might be tough. My wife said she saw somewhere that Bruce said there would be no lip-syncing either.

But no Portland stop. At least not until the Fall.

Current Vegas odds on The Boss' opening song:
Born in the USA 21/20
Born to Run 9/4
Glory Days 11/4
The Rising 6/1
The Wrestler 13/2
Radio Nowhere 9/1
I'm On Fire 14/1

Just waiting to see what will be exposed with his wardrobe malfunction.

My guesses: Three songs, all rockin' loud and relatively short. "The Promised Land," "Badlands," or "The Rising." Then "Workin' on a Highway," "Darlington County," or "No Surrender." Ending with "Born to Run."

I know there's little chance of this but I wish he'd play my favorite Bruce Springsteen song: The E Street Shuffle.

Sparks fly on E Street when the boy prophets walk it handsome and hot
All the little girls' souls grow weak when the man-child gives them a double shot Them schoolboy pops pull out all the stops on a Friday night
The teenage tramps in skintight pants do the E Street dance and everything's all right
Well the kids down there are either dancing or hooked up in a scuffle
Dressed in snakeskin suits packed with Detroit muscle
They're doin' the E Street Shuffle

I'm sure his manager is whispering in his ear that a tune from the new album wouldn't be a bad idea. Be interesting to see if Bruce elects to seize that marketing moment(let's see-$2,000,000 x 30 seconds x a four minute song=$16,000,000 of ad time).

P.S. I took The Rising at 6 to 1.

I think Super Bowl artists tend to stay away from their new stuff, despite the marketing potential. Petty and Prince did.

So, too, did Chubby Checker...

Perhaps it's a contractual obligation.

Jack, you'll have to give us a review of the new album once you've checked it out. Rolling Stone gave it 5 stars, then elsewhere I read that it's the worst thing he's releases this decade.

...it's the worst thing he's releases this decade

It's gonna have to suck extra hard if it hopes to compete with Devils & Dust.

NPR has had the album available for free streaming since last week. Give it a listen and decide for yourself. Personally, I give it a thumbs up.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99173117

You can't trust Rolling Stone reviews. And you shouldn't pronounce a Bruce album bad until you've listened to it a few times over a week or so. Coming two years or less after Magic, though, it could be clunky.

It would be quite difficult to exceed what was achieved with The Rising.

I can see it now:

Bruce and the boys (and girl) take the stage at halftime at the Super Bowl and don't give it back until they've played for three and a half hours.

"The E Street Shuffle"

Bill likes it funky.

Workin' on a dream, Magic, then Born to Run. Unless the Rising replaces Magic.

Darkhorse candidates:

Promised Land
Livin' in the Future
Because the Night
Jungleland

and really dark horse - American Land

I think he'll do a nod to a new President and a more hopeful, yet still American, future.

Alas, there won't be time for "Jungleland."

With the stadium crowd, you might even get something like "Hungry Heart."

The Florida reference in "Working on the Highway" should be enough to get it on the list.

Dressed in snakeskin suits packed with Detroit muscle

The few times I saw them do this in concert, they did it as a slow shuffle. It worked.

If they get that many horns on stage for the Super Bowl, they'll probably play "Tenth Avenue Freezeout."

I've heard the slow version but it's the guitar riff from the original record that grooves it for me. It's soulful.

My predictions: Opening number "Born to Run" Second number, "The Rising", Third number "Born in the USA."

I don't want to commit blasphemy here but I like the early Jersey rocker better than the anthems. If I got to choose it would be, "E Street Shuffle", and "Rosalita":

'Tell him this is last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
Because a record company Rosie just gave me a big advance
And my tires were slashed and I almost crashed but the Lord had mercy
And my machine she's a dud out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey"

Actually, the perfect Springsteen song for me captures how I felt after the Eagles lost last week:

"I was bruised and battered and I couldnt tell what I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself
I saw my reflection in a window
I didn't know my own face
Oh brother are you gonna leave me
Wastin´away
On the streets of Philadelphia."

"E Street Shuffle" -- the LP version -- owes a lot to Curtis Mayfield.

We all owe a lot to Curtis Mayfield.

Okay, sorry, that was stupid.

Hey, I had a good Super Bowl joke on: The economy's so bad the coin toss is going to be replaced by rock-paper-scissors.

He could really upset the apple cart if he played New York City Serenade, with the lyrics and the piano intro and the acoustic guitar and the soaring sax finish.

That'd have more than a few people scratchin' their heads.

Maybe he'll do a non-Springsteen-written set of songs that he's done periodically over the years...Quarter to Three, the Detroit medley, Trapped...

"God Bless the USA"

The Boss has spoken:
"We want it to be a 12-minute party," he said. "The idea of the show is, you are going to the Meadowlands, you get lost on the way. You are watching your clock, `Damn, the show is starting right now.' You stop at a bar to get some directions, and the bar gets held up while you are there. So that takes another 45 minutes to get out of there.
You come back and you miss your exit on the turnpike, and you are driving to get back around. And so you make it into the stadium 2 hours and 48 minutes into the show — that's what you are going to see: the last 12 minutes."

"that's what you are going to see: the last 12 minutes."

In that case, based somewhat on the encores of the last tour:

Dancing in the Dark
American Land
Born to Run

Pritty Bird, sing Pritty Bird.

Slacker Friday, by Eric Alterman, 01/30/2009.

Springsteen and the E Street Band's official Working on a Dream Tour itinerary from the beginning of April to the beginning of August, consisting of a two-month North American leg and a two-month European leg.

The vast majority of these go on sale the morning after the Super Bowl, February 2.

Apr 1 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion at San Jose (Feb 2)
Apr 3 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Center (Feb 2)
Apr 5 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center (Feb 7)
Apr 7 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center (Feb 7)
Apr 8 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center (Feb 7)
Apr 10 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Arena (Feb 2)
Apr 15 - Los Angeles, CA - LA Memorial Sports Arena (Feb 2)
Apr 21 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden (Feb 2)
Apr 22 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden (Feb 2)
Apr 24 - Hartford, CT - XL Center (Feb 2)
Apr 26 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena (Feb 2)
Apr 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum (Feb 2)
Apr 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum (Feb 2)
May 2 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum (Feb 6)
May 4 - Hempstead, NY - Nassau Veterans Mem. Col. (Feb 2)
May 5 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena (Feb 2)
May 7 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre (Feb 6)
May 8 - University Park, PA - Bryce Jordan Center (Feb 2)
May 11 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center (Feb 2)
May 12 - Chicago, IL - United Center (Feb 2)
May 14 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center (Feb 2)
May 15 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium (Feb 2)
May 18 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center (Feb 2)
May 19 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena (Feb 2)
May 21 - E. Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center (Feb 2)
May 23 - E. Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center (Feb 2)

Gimme a shout-out if you need to fill a decent seat in my hood.

A new Springsteen interview will appear in the Arts & Leisure section of Sunday's New York Times, and it's online now. -- Bruce calls Wal-Mart move "a mistake".

I sure wanna hear Pritty Bird ... blinded by the light, wrapped up like a deuce, another runner in the night, take a right at the light and keep on straight until night on your own ... which is what happened to Palin and the Repubics, I think.

10th Avenue Freezeout
Working On A Dream
Glory Days
Born to Run

Wardrobe malfunction would have to involve Steve.

On Bruce and Walmart...politicians should keep Bruce's quote in their wallet.

The new album is a total mess. Horrible. It sounds careless and devoid of sincerity. Unlistenable. It has as much soul as The Today Show.

His acrobatics were more impressive than his music...How does he jump around all over the stage and not hurt himself?

He's over 60, right?

He's 59. At this age, that's a whole show's worth of jumping around.

You should have seen him 30 years ago. The acrobatics were truly spectacular.

Jack, good call on 10th Ave. Freeze-out - a co-worker and I talked after halftime - we were both surprised, but pleased - since he often starts concerts with 10th Ave.