While I’m a tried and true Metalhead I can admit to being raised on the powers of Rock for many years before the glories of the heavy took hold and with that being said, I look fondly on the Bruce Springsteen albums in my record and now CD collection. In addition to the seminal “Born To Run” and the chart-topping “Born In The USA” albums, there is another that holds a special place and that is “The River”. The double album release bore so much fruit so it’s great to find a special edition release of the album coming out along with a tour that is focused on it. I’ve copied some art and the press release for you below but will return at the close to discuss. Check it out.
The Press Release:
New York, NY: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band launch The River Tour, a nine-week North American trek, on Jan. 16 in Pittsburgh. The announcement of the tour coincides with today’s release of ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’, a comprehensive look at the era of the 1980 ‘The River’ album that Rolling Stone calls “Springsteen’s best archival release yet.”
Springsteen precedes the tour with a Dec. 19 performance on Saturday Night Live, his third appearance on the NBC show.
The River Tour (#TheRiverTour) is the first for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band since the 2014 High Hopes Tour.
Each night of the tour will be mixed for release on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net as high-quality downloads and CDs. Recordings will be available within days of each performance.
The original The River Tour began Oct. 3, 1980, two weeks before the release of Springsteen’s fifth album, and continued through Sept. 14, 1981. With sets that regularly approached the four-hour range, the 140-date international tour firmly established a reputation for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as marathon performers.
‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ includes 52 tracks on four CDs with a wealth of unreleased material and four hours of never-before-seen video on three DVDs. It contains the original ‘The River’ double album; the first official release of ‘The River: Single Album’; a CD of 1979/80 studio outtakes; a brand-new documentary about ‘The River’; and a coffee-table book of 200 rare or previously unseen photos and memorabilia, with a new essay by Mikal Gilmore. The set also includes a two-DVD film of never-released, newly edited multi-camera footage from a Nov. 1980 show in Tempe, AZ, described by NPR as a “holy grail.”
‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ is available at Amazon (4CD/3DVD or 4CD/2Blu-ray) and iTunes.
The E Street Band’s members are: Roy Bittan – piano, synthesizer; Nils Lofgren – guitar, vocals; Patti Scialfa – guitar, vocals; Garry Tallent – bass guitar; Stevie Van Zandt – guitar, vocals; and Max Weinberg – drums; with Soozie Tyrell – violin, guitar, vocals; Jake Clemons – saxophone; and Charlie Giordano – keyboards.
Tickets to The River Tour go on sale Dec. 11.
Tour Dates:
January 16 — Pittsburgh, PA — Consol Energy Center
January 19 — Chicago, IL — United Center
January 24 — New York, NY — Madison Square Garden
January 27 — New York, NY — Madison Square Garden
January 29 — Washington, DC — Verizon Center
January 31 — Newark, NJ — Prudential Center
February 2 — Toronto, ON — Air Canada Centre
February 4 — Boston, MA — TD Garden
February 8 — Albany, NY — Times Union Center
February 10 — Hartford, CT — XL Center
February 12 — Philadelphia, PA — Wells Fargo Center
February 16 — Sunrise, FL — BB&T Center
February 18 — Atlanta, GA — Philips Arena
February 21 — Louisville, KY — KFC Yum! Center
February 23 — Cleveland, OH — Quicken Loans Arena
February 25 — Buffalo, NY — First Niagara Center
February 27 — Rochester, NY — Blue Cross Arena
February 29 — St Paul, MN — Xcel Energy Center
March 3 — Milwaukee, WI — BMO Harris Bradley Center
March 6 — St Louis, MO — Chaifetz Arena
March 10 — Phoenix, AZ — Talking Stick Resort Arena
March 13 — Oakland, CA — Oracle Arena
March 15 — Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
March 17 — Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
PiercingMetal Thoughts: Historically speaking I have only ever seen Bruce Springsteen in concert once but that was on one of I think eleven nights at the now closed down Izod Center. They called it The Meadowlands back then even though its proper name was The Brendan Byrne Arena. I have to laugh when I think back and recall that none of my circle of concert going friends knew or cared who that was. Anyway, I digress. I remember that show vividly as my friend who was tasked to get the tickets waited too long and we would end up behind the stage. I was furious and so were the others but when we arrived we saw no back curtain blocking and instead parts where Bruce could walk up and play to this side of the arena. He played over here numerous times across the night and I don’t think I need to tell you just how popular his “Born In The U.S.A.” album was. In 1984 this was radio Rock at its finest and almost everywhere around the dial you would hear one of the tracks from this release. The chance to indulge in an album like “The River” is going to be an amazing experience for new and legacy Springsteen fans as many of those songs have remained in his set list for decades since its release and they always go over well. With almost four weeks of touring to enjoy across the board I am pretty stoked to see that my greater metro area is getting three chances to rock out with The Boss. Twice in NYC at The Garden and once out in NJ at The Rock. Two of my very favorite arenas ever. So tell me rockers what do you think of this tour and its focused structure on “The River”. Is it something you will attend or will you hope for an eventual comprehensive DVD/Blu-Ray release? Let me know in the comments section below. I am always interested in hearing from you and especially in this case since there are likely many of our readers who have not tried to attend a Springsteen tour yet.
Official Website: http://www.brucespringsteen.com