Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will be making an appearance a little sooner than expected. On March 9 they will be on stage at the Apollo Theater in New York City for an exclusive performance and live broadcast on Sirius XM. The performance - apart from probably being a good rehearsal for Bruce and the boys - is part of the satellite radio's 10-year-anniversary celebration. Thus, for now only Sirius subscribers (by January 24) get a chance to attend the concert and only by entering a contest that will be decided by a random draw that will take place around February 23.

Bruce's association with Sirius XM started back in 2005 when E Street Radio appeared on the dial for the first time. It became a permanent fixture on Sirius XM in 2007 and has since worked as a semi-official outlet for Bruce broadcasts. Bruce himself has appeared as a DJ on one occasion and also participated in a fan question session around the time of the Darkness box set.

The show on March 9 will be Bruce's first real performance at the famous Apollo Theater. In 2009 he did a TV shoot there as part of Elvis Costello's Spectacle show.

Another wait is over. After weeks of speculation, the dates for the US part of the Wrecking Ball Tour were announced today. The result is 19 shows in 11 states plus Washington DC, starting in Atlanta, GA, on March 18 and ending in Newark on May 2. As is usually the case, Northeasterners have plenty of shows to choose from, including three in New Jersey and two in New York City, while the rest of the country have to make do with shows in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Jose, Greensboro, Tampa and New Orleans. Surprisingly, there are no shows scheduled for either Chicago or Texas. That may still change - if nothing else, in the fall - but for now this is the gist of it. You can check out the complete list of shows on our tour page. If you're looking for ticket info, please visit backstreets.com, but don't wait too long. The first tickets go on sale this Friday.

The official announcement also included the lineup of the E Street Band and additional musicians, but there was no mention of a replacement for Clarence. Again, this could be subject to change. Especially since Steve Van Zandt recently said in an interview with a Norwegian paper that there would be a replacement. Either he didn't check this with Bruce or nobody has been selected yet. Rumors have been mentioning both Clarence's nephew Jake Clemons and long-time Asbury Jukes saxophonist Ed Manion, but absolutely nothing has been confirmed.

That will be the next thing we have to wait for.

When things happen in the Bruce world they happen fast. Twenty-four hours ago we were clamoring for news about the new album. Now we've heard the first song, seen the video, analyzed the lyrics, read the official press release, and felt that rush of excitement that comes with a new Bruce release.

For the few of you who've missed it: Bruce Springsteen's new album is called Wrecking Ball and will be released in the US on March 6 (March 5 in Europe probably). The first single (as if there were still such a thing as singles) is called "We Take Care of Our Own" and can be purchased as a download from Amazon.com (by people in the US) and streamed from YouTube. There's even a video that goes with it that can also be found on YouTube.

The album will contain 11 songs. Apart from "We Take Care of Our Own", we know two of the other songs: the title track, which Bruce played live on the last part of the Working on a Dream Tour and "Land of Hope and Dreams", which needs no further introduction, except that allegedly its inclusion on the new album is a tribute to Clarence Clemons. It is not known whether "Wrecking Ball" and "Land of Hope and Dreams" are previously released live versions or brand new studio versions. Other song titles include "Rocky Ground", "Death to My Hometown" and "Easy Money". You can find the complete track list in our discography section.

The new song that was released as an appetizer today, "We Take Care of Our Own" is an anthemic full-band piece that is bound to make audiences sing along from Spain to Los Angeles. It doesn't reveal any traces of the hip-hop and other modern influences that the Hollywood Reporter quoted an anonymous source as having heard on the new album. In return, it's clearly about economic crisis and hard times, which was also mentioned in the Hollywood Reporter article. You can read the (correct) lyrics of "We Take Care of Our Own" in the lyrics section.

So while we're a lot better off today than yesterday in terms of feeding our Bruce craving, we still don't know anymore about the US tour than we did a week ago. It will probably start in March, but where and when exactly remains to be seen.

The cover of the new album.

It was unannounced but hardly a surprise when Bruce showed up for last night's annual Light of Day show at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park. Since their beginning more than 10 years ago, he's only missed a few of these Parkinson Disease Foundation benefits, and with him being in town on Friday to shoot a video for the upcoming album, most observers would have been more surpised had he chosen to stay away.

The recipe was the same as most years: Bruce made a couple of appearances early in the show during Garland Jeffreys and Willie Niles' performances before making his real entrance as the final act, which was billed as Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers, but quickly turned into Bruce Springsteen with Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers.

For anyone who had hoped to hear one or two tracks from Bruce's upcoming album, that was not to be. But even they could hardly be disappointed with what they did witness, which was an exceptionally loose and physically fit Bruce who was all over the stage and in the crowd during his two-hour performance. The songs chosen were nothing out of the ordinary for these events. "Darkness on the Edge of Town", "Save My Love", "Atlantic City", "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" (with a nod to Clarence where the sax solo usually appears) and with acoustic versions of "Incident on 57th Street" and "Thunder Road" respectively opening and closing his set.

For more information go check out the full setlist and read Stand Goldstein's play-by-play review on NJ.com.

Is this a first ever? Bruce Springsteen just announced a new tour and a new album to appear in 2012 without issuing one of those Shorefire Media press releases. The message with this delightful, if still rather sketchy news, just showed up on his official website yesterday along with  Facebook and Twitter messages. A new album is almost finished, a world tour is being planned, it will be with the E Street Band, and European shows from May to July will be announced this week. Those are the four essential pieces of information that were being presented. Since then, shows in England have indeed been officially announced:

21 June Sunderland, England, Stadium of Light (on sale 3 Dec)
22 June Manchester, England, Etihad Stadium (no on sale date yet)
24 June Isle of Wight, England, Isle of Wight Festival (on sale 25 Nov)
14 July London, England, Hard Rock Calling (on sale 3 Dec)

Most likely, the reason for this unusual announcement by Bruce is that the British, and probably other European festival promotors, needed to announce their lineup now and couldn't wait for Bruce to finish up the details regarding his new album. So for once fans actually have a little time to plan even if we have to wait a few more weeks to hear more about the new album.

The announcement is of course also significant in that it answers the question everybody has been asking since the news of Clarence's death: would the E Street Band continue? The answer, we now know, is YES! If and how Clarence will be replaced still remains to be seen, but apparently the rest of the gang is up for another round of touring.

Last night, in the first of two highly anticipated shows, Bruce and Joe Grushecky tore the roof off the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall. From a setlist standpoint, it was a typical Bruce/Joe show featuring lots of their common war horses like "Never Be Enough Time", "Atlantic City", "Murder Incorporated", and "Code of Silence". But for those present and judging by the videos, it was a Bruce itching to play and entertain. His stage presence and physical energy still defy his age, his voice was in fine shape, and when he performed the last song of the night - a solo acoustic version of "Thunder Road" - he was confident enough to do it with the houselights on and within arm's length of the first row.

Other than proving he still hasn't lost a thing after his relatively long hiatus, the show didn't point in any particular direction regarding the future. No new songs were tried out and no announcements were made. So after tonight's repeat performance and next week's Bob Woodruff Foundation benefit, it's back to waiting for news.

Check out last night's setlist and while you're there, don't miss the videos.

We are approaching the end of another year, and it looks like it may come and go with the only new releases being a separate DVD of The Promise documentary and a re-release of Essential. Sure, rumors of a new album “soon” appear at regular intervals, but so far nothing tangible has emerged and there may be nothing to it.

While this prolonged silence may seem unbearable, it has in fact been less than a year since the last major release (the Darkness box) and only about 2½ years since the last album of brand new material. But those numbers are only unusual in light of the last six years or so. The years that started with the release of Devils & Dust in 2005 and saw a new album every year until 2010 (with the exception of 2008, which in return was a busy touring year) were extremely productive by Bruce standards. Before 2005 a year without a new Bruce album was the rule rather than the exception.

There have been several much worse waits for Bruce fans over the years: the wait for the Born to Run album, the wait for the Darkness album, the wait for the Darkness box set, the wait for the E Street Band to be reunited. But in modern Bruce history, there has been no wait like the one that drove fans out of their minds between 1988 and 1992. The 3½ year wait that started when the last note of the last Human Rights Now! show faded away in the Buenos Aires October sky and ended with the release of Human Touch and Lucky Town in the spring of 1992, is legendary among fans.

It was a period in Bruce history when Bruce releasing a duet with Nils Lofgren was major news (“Valentine”); when fans were excited about Bruce recording a children’s song to a charity album (“Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips”); and when the main story in Backstreets Magazine would be an article about the Cadillac Ranch sculpture in Amarillo, Texas.

Sure, there were rumors the whole time that an album was imminent. Since this was before the Internet, most of the rumors were reported by the Backstreets Hotline in the US and the Badlands Hotline in the UK. I personally spent fortunes calling both of them on a weekly basis in the desperate hope that there would be just the tiniest bit of news or the unlikeliest of rumors. At one point Backstreets did report that venues for a Bruce tour had been booked, but nothing materialized.

What made the wait even worse was how it started out with the announcement that Bruce wouldn’t be needing the E Street Band. This left everything up in the air. No one knew what to expect. A clue was given during one of Bruce’s few live appearances in 1990 when he debuted several new songs at the Christic Institute benefit shows in Los Angeles, including “57 Channels” and “Real World”. Another clue was the release of “Viva Las Vegas” for a benefit album that saw Bruce work with Jeff Porcaro of Toto and other session players. But there was no telling how big of a departure the new music would be and altogether what the lack of E Street Band would mean.

Another unknown factor was Bruce’s new status as a father. When Patti Scialfa gave birth to the couple’s first child in July of 1990 few fans knew just how deeply that would affect Bruce’s life, character and music. Again, the Christic shows offered a glimpse of a strangely insecure and vulnerable Bruce, but surely, it was just a matter of a few more months before the good, old, larger-than-life superstar would be back to reclaim his rock ‘n’ roll throne. After all, it had already been two years with no news.

The months, however, grew to yet another full year of... nothing. His public appearances in 1991 could be counted on one hand, and frustration among fans was on the verge of turning to apathy when finally.... FINALLY... the announcement came. A new single, two albums, a tour, new band, full-scale marketing attack. Bruce was back!

As we all know now, Bruce was indeed back with Human Touch and Lucky Town, but the 3½ year hiatus came with a price. Things were different. Not just because of the new faces on the stage behind Bruce. Bruce himself was different. His untamable power and take-no-prisoners approach had been replaced by a new sensitivity and - dare I say it - contentment. Also, and more importantly, the times had a-changed. Bruce was no longer number one on the charts for months at a time. He was absent from most readers’ polls. The young generations had found new spokesmen in Nirvana and R.E.M. Even among the converted, critical voices were becoming more and more dominant.

It took most of the Nineties for Bruce to find a new role and purpose for himself. How much of a factor his 3½ year hiatus played in the new direction his career took, for better or worse, no one knows. And only time will tell if the wait we are currently going through will result in a similar upheaval. In the 1990’s it was the birth of his children, his sacking of the E Street Band, and a changed world that shaped his music. In this new decade it’s the loss of Danny and Clarence, his own aging, and the rapidly changing music business that can present both serious obstacles and interesting opportunities for him. No doubt all of this is on his and Jon Landau’s minds in deciding what the next step should be.

Meanwhile, all we, the fans, can do is count the days, months and years between albums and hope that, after all, this wait won’t rival that legendary one of 1989-1992.

If you missed the chance last year, Lawrence Kirsch is once again raffling off a copy of his much sought-after book For You, which currently cannot even be found on eBay. The book is a brand new copy and signed by the author. However, you shouldn't want it because it's worth a lot of money or signed, but because it's simply a great book that all Bruce fans should own... and not in the least, because the proceeds of the raffle goes to cancer research. In order to participate, please go to Lawrence Kirsch's website for more info and you may also want to read Greasy Lake's review of For You. Good luck!