Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - USA & Europe 2023 tour

I am going to jump the gun and assume that's what this new social media post is referencing and start the thread! Hopefully I'm not wrong.

 

Wasn't an expanded BITUSA also in the works? Could be that as well.

 

This is for a tour, although it's possible it could be both. If it was specifically for a release, they'd use old footage, no?

I'm really hoping this isn't a BITUSA album tour though. I mean that'd still leave 2 hours for other stuff but it's not a very interesting album to a lot of diehards and one full album show for me is pleeeenty.

 

Could be. But given the contemporary images of all band members, I’m leaning towards a tour.

Or as Walrus just posted…both?

 

I'll take it, since there are loads of tracks that seldom get played and they could polish the whole thing off in 45 minutes.

I assume there'll be a good deal of Letter to You tracks as well, so this could be a really interesting tour.

And I am also guessing a tour AND a reissue, since that wouldn't otherwise be the song I'd expect to hear on a tour announcement.

 

I agree with @bRETT ... seems like an odd choice of song to use for a tour announcement teaser... I'm guessing it's both an announcement of a box set release and a tour. This box set has long been rumored/hoped for.. I love the outtakes from this period and demos ..

 

Tagline for the tour: If you thought we were divided in 1984 when "BitUSA" was originally released, what til you see how divided we are now...!

 

max was on local radio a couple of days ago promoting a solo show next week. he said he would be touring into the fall, nothing about a bruce tour. said they do a couple of meatloaf tunes during the 'jukebox' segment.

 

What BITUSA songs are seldom played? I'll say he doesn't usually play a bunch from this album in one show very often, but I wouldn't say there's much remotely considered a rarity here...even "I'm Goin' Down" got some outings on recent tours. I guess he doesn't do the title track and "Glory Days" much in the US, but I don't know how many fans are really missing them.

I suppose there's always going to be some casual fans at his shows, but unlike most classic rockers, he's cultivated a big fanbase that knows the ins and outs of the catalog, and so he doesn't really have to do all of his hits every gig, and I definitely think most people going to see him at this point are diehards, and he doesn't need a full album show gimmick to sell tickets, but that's just me.

Definitely looking forward to hearing some of the Letter stuff live though.

 

I can only say that I've seen every ESB tour since '84 and am pretty sure I haven't heard Down Bound Train, I'm Goin Down, or Cover Me since the tour behind the album, though I am sure they've been played here and there. Haven't heard My Hometown as part of an ESB set either, and I missed the B'way show.

 

I hope this is a massive BORN IN THE USA Box set and a tour to support. I love BITUSA and anyone who doesn't should have their brain removed.

 

My guess is that they picked that song because of the "1, 2, 3, 4" intro, which is a good way to tease an announcement countdown. Although Bruce certainly has other recorded songs where he does that, I'm sure. But it might also be his most well-known song to casual fans, if that's who they're trying to reach. I'd guess if it was simply a BITUSA release, they'd have used old footage.

I thought he'd said last year that he was planning to tour in support of "Letter to You," so it seems like it would be strange if he just stuck in some of those songs on a BITUSA tour, or did a weird hybrid thing. I hope it's not a BITUSA tour, it would be disappointing for him to do two retrospective tours in a row.

 

At least it's not another cowboy movie

 

Back to motorcycle boots!

 

I'm curious to see if any Western Stars songs will make it into an E Street Tour. "Tucson Train" seems like it could work with the band, though I'd like them to try out a bunch of them.

 

What would be his motivation to tour in support of the BITUSA box? He already cashed in. He must be eager to play his new material.

 

It has a lot of hits yet many of those aren't the album's best songs.

Wasn't there a whole album's worth of songs he recorded both before and even after Nebraska that Bruce tossed aside from '82-'83 wasn't early recording sessions from that partly how Nebraska came about? In addition to the electric versions of some Nebraska songs of course.

 

Come on Bruce, you know you want to come to Tulsa, OK.

 

It's the anniversary of Nebraska and the early Born In The USA sessions. The dude ain't getting any younger. Give me Electric Nebraska !! And don't tell me it doesn't exist.

 

An early 80s box encompassing the Nebraska and BITUSA sessions is an absolute no-brainer, IMO. It’s the last box set that even the casual Springsteen fans would clamor for en masse, and like you said he’s not getting any younger.

This your can simultaneously promote LTY, as well. None of those songs have been performed in a major tour setting. And they could also play E-Street versions of songs from WS, too. Add some Nebraska/BITUSA outtakes, and a lot of new material can be played on this tour.

 

It accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do: make Bruce huge. But it did that by sort of stripping away a lot of the things that made him interesting: longer songs, busier E-Street arrangements, Clarence popping in every so often..and streamlining the whole thing for maximum possible appeal. I think this had been happening naturally anyways with his writing for a little while (I certainly wouldn't have wanted him to force songs that weren't coming naturally to him, as many artists often feel compelled to do), but the end result just isn't that interesting to me. It's not that I don't like it, it's just one of the last things I'd reach for when wanting to put on some Bruce. And if he ended up doing the whole thing in order to move tickets...meh. I don't want to know what the next song is ahead of time when I'm at a Bruce show.

What's funny is I only ever saw him do the title track once, since he doesn't do it much in stateside shows, and I really thought the crowd response would be off the charts since it's a big hit and oddly kind of a live rarity in it's proper full-band form, and it ...didn't really get that much of a reaction, honestly. No idea why, other than my theory that shows are mostly populated by diehards at this point.

 

He no longer has a financial stake in the boxset, correct?

 

I disagree... it took the bleak tone of Nebraska and gave it a dance beat. The words and themes of BITUSA are very bleak and as Americana as you can get. Frankie is 7 minutes long so he was writing longer songs. And the production and band have never sounded better as they did on BITUSA. Darkness sounds thin and The River sounds even worse. It was peak Bruce before he fell in Love and changed his path.

 

I don't think so, but you could still make an argument that he has other stakes in a box set like this to be released:

-He has the ability to tell the story of these sessions the way he wants them told, before he goes to the great beyond and the label can release what they wish. Also I think he's been at work on Tracks 2/a BITUSA-centric set/other archival releases long before that deal was done, so there's probably still some personal satisfaction in completing something you put a lot of effort in.
-Columbia has, for the most part, treated him pretty well during his career. So there could be the mutual benefit of Bruce saying something like "I'll promote this box set, and you'll promote me finally going back out on the road." Or vice versa. And it really doesn't hurt to have something to promote while you're on tour. Plus they just gave him $500 million, so a promoting of a box set makes for a pretty decent "thank you" on his part.

But also I don't think Springsteen's camp is the kind of team that just randomly throws out a song on a teaser like this. There has to be some thought and meaning. So even if it's just them playing the album in full on tour, I'd expect something BITUSA-related to be announced tomorrow.

 

Downbound Train which is one of his more underrated songs as well.

He often does Working on the Highway/Darlington County back to back. Dancing in the Dark a staple. Bobby Jean a regular.

I'm On Fire probably not played as often as you'd expect either.