Concert Notes: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Death Cab Going on Sale

See below for links to tickets to Springsteen and other NYC-area concerts.

Springsteen's New York area shows aren't the only high-demand concerts going on sale this weekend. (See my post with links to tickets for the NYC-region Springsteen shows.) Here are some other gigs on sale today and tomorrow that should sell pretty briskly:

• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prudential Center in Newark, Fri, May 4th. On sale Sat., Jan. 28th. This is said to be the band's only NYC/NJ area appearance, so pounce if you're into RHCP, pounce. [UPDATE: Second RHCP show added at Prudential Center, May 5th; on sale now.]
• Death Cab for Cutie, Beacon Theatre, with The Magik*Magik Orchestra, Sat., April 28th. Tickets went on sale this morning. (The first show on April 27th is sold out already.)

And there are some interesting upcoming shows now on sale that, while not as popular as Springsteen or the others, are in small venues and will be well worth attending for fans of this blog:

• Suzanne Vega and Duncan Shiek at Highline Ballroom, April 25th and 26th. Tickets went on sale at Noon today. I've seen Vega live many times in different venues, and it's always a good set from her diverse catalog of tunes.
• Graham Parker and the Figgs, City Winery, April 20th. On sale now.
• Richard Barone at City Winery, May 4th,  "Cool Blue Halo" 25th Anniversary Concert with special guests. On sale now. A recreation of the former Bongos frontman's first solo album, plus additional songs, featuring the original quartet from "Cool Blue Halo" with additional musicians. (See an NPR article on the album here.)

By the way, congrats if you got tickets to see The Boss: I got shut out of the Prudential Center and MSG shows. The wait times on Ticketmaster were unlike anything I had ever seen. No doubt scalpers were out in force to snap up the tickets. No doubt Springsteen and band will add more shows, maybe at MetLife Stadium or other outdoor venues in the late summer after they wrap up their European tour in late July.

Bruce Springsteen Announces Spring 2012 U.S. Tour Dates

Bruce Springsteen today announced a slate of U.S. tour dates starting in March (see below). These dates all precede the late Spring/Summer European tour that Springsteen put out last week.

Of special interest to those in the NYC area, Springsteen and the E Street Band will play two shows in NYC (Madison Square Garden, April 6th and 9th) and three in NJ (two at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, April 3rd and 4th, and one at the Prudential Center in Newark, May 2nd). Tickets for all of the NYC and NY shows go on sale this Friday, Jan. 27th.

Springsteen's website doesn't say what time tickets go on sale, but it's typically 10 a.m. or noon. I'll post the time if I can find it. UPDATE: Izod Center tickets go on sale 10 a.m.; Prudential Center at 11 a.m.; and MSG at 12 Noon.

• Date         City        Venue              On-Sale Date
• March 18: Atlanta, GA, Philips Arena - Feb. 4
• March 19: Greensboro, NC, Greensboro Coliseum - Feb. 3
• March 23: Tampa, FL, Tampa Bay Times Forum - Jan. 28
• March 26: Boston, MA, TD Garden - Jan. 28
• March 28: Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center - Jan. 28
• March 29: Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center - Jan. 28
• April 1: Washington, DC, Verizon Center - Jan. 28
• April 3: East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center - Jan. 27 (10 a.m.)
• April 4: East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center - Jan. 27 (10 a.m.)
• April 6: New York, NY, Madison Square Garden - Jan. 27 (12 Noon)
• April 9: New York, NY, Madison Square Garden - Jan. 27 (12 Noon)
• April 12: Detroit, MI, The Palace of Auburn Hills - Jan. 28
• April 13: Buffalo, NY, First Niagara Center - Jan. 28
• April 16: Albany, NY, Times Union Center - Jan. 28
• April 17: Cleveland, OH, Quicken Loans Arena - Jan. 28
• April 24: San Jose, CA, HP Pavilion - Feb. 3
• April 26: Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena - Feb. 3
• April 29: New Orleans, LA, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (On sale now)
• May 2: Newark, NJ, Prudential Center - Jan. 27 (11 a.m.)

"Wrecking Ball,"the 17th studio album by Bruce Springsteen, goes on sale March 6th.

New Bruce Springsteen Album Details; Single "We Take Care of Our Own" Out Now

Bruce Springsteen is back, and he's back with a vengeance. You can buy his new single "We Take Care of Our Own" now (it went on sale at 12 Midnight on Jan. 19th). The song is available for sale on Amazon.com and iTunes here in the U.S. It's also on sale in the U.K. (and possibly other places as well). [UPDATE, 1/19 11 a.m.: Springsteen has posted a video version of "We Take Care of Our Own" at his website... complete with lyrics (uh, for doing sing-alongs?).]

(For a first impression of "We Take Care of Our Own," see the comments of NYC music writer and Backstreets contributor Caryn Rose on her Tumblr, Jukebox Graduate.)



The new Bruce Springteeen album, to be called "Wrecking Ball," will be released on March 6th in the U.S. A batch of European tour dates have been announced for the spring and summer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (U.S. tour dates and more European gigs will be announced later [see U.S. tour dates below]). If the album's name sounds familiar, it's the name of a song Springsteen wrote to commemorate his run of shows at New Jersey's Giants Stadium (he was the last performer to play there before it was demolished).

[UPDATE: See initial series of Bruce Springsteen U.S. tour dates here.]

Rolling Stone quotes Springsteen's manager, Jon Landau, as saying that "Wrecking Ball" is a "big-picture piece of work" that has, as one source who's heard it described, "unexpected textures–loops, electronic percussion... influences and rhythms from hip-hop to Irish folk rhythms." Landau says the album touches on issues of politics and social justice, and RS quotes him has saying that Springsteen feels it is "the angriest album he's ever made."

"Wrecking Ball" was produced by Ron Aniello. Here is the track listing:

1. We Take Care of Our Own
2. Easy Money
3. Shackled and Drawn
4. Jack of All Trades
5. Death to My Hometown
6. This Depression
7. Wrecking Ball
8. You've Got It
9. Rocky Ground
10. Land of Hope and Dreams
11. We Are Alive

The Springsteen European tour begins May 13th in Seville, Spain and includes stops in Barcelona, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Berlin, London, and Oslo, among other places before wrapping up in late July. (See all the current Bruce Springsteen tour dates here.)

Bruce Springsteen Brings the "Wrecking Ball" to Giants Stadium

Bruce Springsteen just turned 60, but he's still running rings around performers half his age. I saw the Friday show at Giants Stadium from Springsteen and the E Street Band, the second of their five-night run of shows to close out that venue. And not only did they play another of their famous three-hour shows, they didn't even take an intermission.

Springsteen is doing something new on this tour: playing an album in its entirety. Friday's was one of my favorites: 1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town." (Other albums performed have included "Born to Run" and "Born in the U.S.A.")

The show began with six tunes before "Darkness," starting with "Wrecking Ball," a new song Springsteen penned specifically about the end of Giants Stadium. After that first group of songs he performed "Darkness on the Edge of Town," from "Badlands" to the title song. (For a song-by-song chronicle of the show, Jay Lustig's in-depth review from the Newark Star-Ledger and Stan Goldstein's review from NJ.com.)

I expected a brief post-"Darkness" set of tunes, but Springsteen delivered a longer group of songs, many of them requests from signs held up by audience members. He ended the show with one of his oldest songs, "Rosalita," from his second album (one of the few songs from that set to be performed live regularly). It's one of his most rousing tunes, and he's used it to close a show many a time.

So Springsteen will outlast Giants Stadium, but that isn't the only venue in his home base of NJ and New York City that he's outlived: he played several shows at the now-defunct Shea Stadium in Queens a few years back. The Boss also was the first musical act to play what's now called the Izod Center (the arena next to Giants Stadium), which is on its last legs but will be around at least until the NJ Nets get their new home in Brooklyn built. I was fortunate enough to see one of those shows back in 1981.

This was a very satisfying show from The Boss and the E Street Band, and although I've never seen them give a bad show, they seem extra motivated to give Giant's Stadium a rousing sendoff. There are two more shows at "the old girl," as Springsteen called the Stadium, on Oct. 8th and 9th, and if you'll be in the NY/NJ area, you might want to go. You're in for a real treat if you do. (I'm not sure if the shows are officially sold out, but even if they are there are usually quite a few people outside the gates trying to sell extra tickets.)

Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium: Must-Know Info on Parking, Transit, Policies, and More

A few days ago I posted some information on getting to the Bruce Springsteen concerts at Giants Stadium. Now Springsteen has gone one better and put a detailed information sheet on what to know about attending his Giants Stadium shows on his Web site, www.brucespringsteen.net. Titled "GOING TO THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND SHOWS AT GIANTS STADIUM? HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW," the document is available in both PDF and Word formats.

The info sheet covers everything from parking location and cost to tailgating policy, tips for traveling by bus or train, items prohibited from the Stadium, and much more. It's great that Springsteen's people put all this together in one place to save fans from scrounging around trying to find it in various places. You'll definitely want to read it before you head out to the concerts.

Here's a quick look at some of the pertinent info from the document:

• Dates are September 30, October 2-3, 8-9, 2009
• Parking lots open at 1 PM for all 5 shows
• General Admission line is at gate B
• Stadium gates open at 6:00 PM
• Show time is 7:30 PM
...
* Patrons with tickets located in lower tier (100’s) mezzanine (200’s) and
upper tier (300’s) may enter through gates A, C or D.
* All patrons with General Admission (GA) field tickets may only enter through gate B.

And, at each date he'll be playing an entire album in full (as well as material from additional albums), according to Brooklyn Vegan. Here is the schedule they have their Web site:
Sept. 30 - playing 'Born To Run'

Oct. 2 - playing 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'

Oct. 3 - playing 'Born In The USA'

Oct. 8 - playing 'Born To Run'

Oct. 9 - playing 'Born In The USA'

Seeing Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium? Plan Ahead for Getting There

If you're going to one (or more) of Bruce Springsteen's run of farewell shows at NJ's Giants Stadium Sept. 30th to Oct. 9th, you'll want to plan ahead and allow extra travel time. New Jersey Transit now offers train service to Giants Stadium, a long-awaited option for visitors, but are some kinks to be worked out. Namely, how to get 80,000 people onto trains efficiently without unduly long waits.

(The recent arrest of a man who was allegedly wanted to carry out terrorist attacks on sites in the New York area, including sports stadiums, means that security measures might well be more strict at events like this. So you may face longer delays on screening to get into Giants Stadium... another reason to allow more time.)

The U2 concerts this week at the Stadium have seen long waits for the trains, so provide a good idea of what you can expect if you're taking the train to the Springsteen shows. (I'll be taking the train to and from next Friday's show, so I took notice.)

Among other things, the article mentions that a NJ Transit spokesman recommends buying your return trip ticket before entering the concert... this will save you from having to stand in line after the concert. For more information, check out NJ Transit's Web page for the Meadowlands train to Giants Stadium, including parking details, directions, timetables and maps, and more.

If you're driving to Giants Stadium, make sure you check in with one of the NYC news radio stations, WCBS (880 AM, www.wcbs880.com) and WINS (1010 AM, www.1010wins.com) for traffic updates, alternate routes, accidents, acts of God, and other delays.

And speaking of Bruce Springsteen concerts at Giants Stadium, a couple of extra shows were added, and with the large capacity of the stadium, you can probably still get tickets. Check the Web page here for Bruce Springsteen Giants Stadium tickets.

Here are the dates. (Showtimes for each day are listed as 7:30 pm, but the show actually starts later, around 8 pm.)
Wed., September 30
Fri., October 2
Sat., October 3
Thu., October 8
Fri., October 9

Bruce Springsteen Final Shows at Giants Stadium - On Sale Now

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are closing out the concert history of Giants Stadium in style with three concerts this Fall, and tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Monday morning, June 1st.

Here are the details:

• Link to the Springsteen Giants Stadium tickets page (Note: Tickets will not be sold at the IZOD Center Box Office on this date)
  
• There are three shows: September 30th, October 2nd, and October 2rd
  
• Ticket prices are $98, $65, and $33
  
• Field tickets are General Admission standing only, no seats
  
• There is an eight-ticket limit per person, per show. (Tickets can be all reserved, all GA or a combination of the two)
  
• Giants Stadium is located in the Meadowlands sports complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey
  
• Tickets will not be sold for areas behind the stage

These concerts by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be the last concerts at Giants Stadium, which will be retired at the end of the 2009-2010 NFL season.

You can find more information and Bruce Springsteen tour dates at the official Bruce Springsteen Web site.

Bruce Springsteen Announces 2009 Tour Dates -Ticket Info

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band are hitting the road to support their new CD "Working on a Dream," and the first set of tour dates has been announced. You can find the Bruce Springsteen concert dates and on-sale dates at the Live page of the Springsteen Web site.

Conveniently, tickets for many of the shows go on sale Monday, February 2nd, the day after the band is exposed to hundreds of millions of eyeballs playing the Super Bowl halftime show. The NFL had apparently wanted Springsteen to do the halftime show for years, but the artist only recently agreed. As articles in the L.A. Times and other sites have noted, the Super Bowl gig gives aging rockers a big boost in sales, and Springsteen even did a press conference to talk about the upcoming set. Apparently it's the first presser The Boss has given in more than 20 years.

"Working on a Dream," which came out on Tuesday, is currently the top-selling album on Amazon.com and is second on iTunes (number one is a reissue of a greatest-hits album by Credence Clearwater revival, which just recently became available on the online service).