Springsteen tour relaunches in Phoenix. Fans staying on 'ride as long as it's going'
Let's do it again.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are set to relaunch their tour Tuesday, March 19, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix after shows were postponed due to Springsteen's bout with peptic ulcer disease.
“People are thrilled,” said Audrey Hunn, administrator of the Calling All Bruce Springsteen Fans! Facebook group. “When it first happened, a lot people weren't really sure that he was going to come back. Bruce is going to want to make it up to people, especially the cities he had to cancel twice."
The Phoenix show will be the first for Springsteen and the E Street Band since Sept. 3, 2023, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. After that show, Springsteen said he was postponing the rest of the band's September concerts.
On Sept. 27, shows for the rest of the year were postponed.
More: Bruce Springsteen and E Street relaunch tour in Phoenix: 'Pure joy watching Bruce'
“I got to tell you the truth, we had no idea how much pain (Springsteen) was in,” said Steven Van Zandt to USA Today at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November. “It was remarkable when we found out that he had been in pain for five shows at least. He is just a tough guy.”
Problems on tour
Peptic ulcer disease is characterized by discontinuation in the inner lining of the gastrointestinal tract because of gastric acid secretion or pepsin, according to the National Library of Medicine. Those with it suffer pain after meals in a span 15 minutes to two or three hours after eating.
Springsteen, 74, said he had “a bitch of a bellyache” that was “unfortunately rocking my internal world” on the Oct. 9 edition of his SiriusXM “From My Home to Yours” deejay show.
The Springsteen and E Street Band tour last year was marked by several postponements and cancellations. Two shows at Citizens Bank Ballpark last August were postponed due to the Boss “having been taken ill,” according to Springsteen's social media handles.
Three other 2023 shows — March 9 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio; March 12 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut; and March 14 at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York — were also postponed due to an undisclosed illness.
More: Bruce Springsteen joins John Mellencamp on stage for 'Pink Houses' at NJPAC: WATCH
More: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to headline 2024 Sea Hear Now in Asbury Park
Multiple band members missed shows on the 2023 tour's U.S. arena leg due to COVID, including Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Jake Clemons and Soozie Tyrell.
So the upcoming tour, which heads to Europe this summer after arena shows in the U.S. is being viewed as a second chance by fans. Recordings of the upcoming shows are available for pre-order as CDs or hi-res downloads via Nugs.net. The entire tour, along with the Live Archive Series, can be streamed on demand with a Nugs.net subscription.
“Seeing Bruce and the greatest band in the land take the stage again in Phoenix is going to be special and definitely should have new meaning not just for all Springsteen fans, but for Bruce and the band as well,” said Howie Chaz, founder of the Spring-Nuts Springsteen Facebook group, via email from Phoenix. “Once again it’s an important reminder how nothing is guaranteed and how we can take things for granted. So happy to see Bruce happy and healthy and doing what he does better than anyone. Objectively speaking, of course (smiley face emoji).”
Return to the stage in late 2023
Springsteen made his return to the concert stage when he sang backup Oct. 29 with the unlikely grouping of Tony Orlando, Patti Scialfa and Van Zandt for Freedom Bremner and Mark Rivera's version of “With a Little Help from My Friends” at the New Jersey Hall of Fame Class of 2023 induction ceremony.
The next week he surprised the audience on Nov. 6 at the Stand Up for Heroes veterans' fundraiser for the Bob Woodruff Foundation at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall in New York City. Springsteen joined John Mellencamp for the song “Wasted Days” from Mellencamp's 2022 album, “Strictly a One-Eyed Jack,” then stuck around to perform four solo acoustic songs, and tell off-color jokes.
Springsteen joined Mellencamp on stage March 10, 2024, for “Pink Houses” at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
As for the upcoming tour, there's a new wrinkle to pre-show hype: filmed messages from the Boss.
“Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire – viva, viva Las Vegas!” said Springsteen in his white cowboy hat on an Instagram reel dropped Monday, March 18. “Las Vegas, this is Bruce Springsteen and I'm coming to see you on Friday night and I want you to be prepared to be ready and to be very afraid because we are going to rock you into the ground. I'll see you there, you've been warned!”
Springsteen delivered a similar delivered a video message to fans on March 17 to fans attending the Footprint Center show in Phoenix.
“I will stay on this ride as long as it's still going,” Hunn said.
2024 World Tour
March 19: Phoenix, Footprint Center (rescheduled from Nov. 30, 2023)
March 22: Las Vegas, T-Mobile Arena
March 25: San Diego, Pechanga Arena (rescheduled from Dec. 2, 2023)
March 28 : San Francisco, Chase Center (rescheduled from Dec. 10, 2023)
March 31: San Francisco, Chase Center (rescheduled from Dec. 12, 2023)
April 4: Inglewood, California, Kia Forum (rescheduled from Dec. 4, 2023)
April 7: Inglewood, California, Kia Forum (rescheduled from Dec. 6, 2023)
April 12: Uncasville, Connecticut, Mohegan Sun Arena (rescheduled from Sept. 16, 2023)
April 15: Albany, New York, MVP Arena (rescheduled from Sept. 19, 2023)
April 18 : Syracuse, New York, JMA Wireless Dome (rescheduled from Sept. 7, 2023)
April 21: Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Arena (rescheduled from Sept. 21, 2023)
May 5: Cardiff, Wales, Principality Stadium
May 9: Belfast, Northern Ireland, Boucher Road
May 12: Kilkenny, Ireland, Nowlan Park
May 16: Cork, Ireland Páirc Uí Chaoimh
May 19: Dublin, Ireland, Croke Park
May 22: Sunderland, England, Stadium of Light
May 25: Marseille, France, Orange Vélodrome
May 28: Prague, Airport Letnany
June 1: Milan, San Siro Stadium
June 3: Milan, San Siro Stadium
June 12: Madrid, Cívitas Metropolitano
June 14: Madrid, Cívitas Metropolitano
June 20: Barcelona, Spain, Estadi Olímpic
June 27: Nijmegen, Netherlands, Goffertpark
July 2: Werchter, Belgium, Werchter Park
July 5: Hannover, Germany, Heinz von Heiden Arena
July 9: Odense, Denmark, Dyrskuepladsen
July 12: Helsinki, Olympic Stadium
July 15: Stockholm, Friends Arena
July 18: Stockholm, Friends Arena
July 21: Bergen, Norway, Dokken
July 25: London, Wembley Stadium connected by EE
Aug. 15 : Pittsburgh, PPG Paints Arena (rescheduled from Sept. 12, 2023)
Aug. 18: Pittsburgh, PPG Paints Arena (rescheduled from Sept. 14, 2023)
Aug. 21: Philadelphia, Citizens Bank Park (rescheduled from Aug. 16, 2023)
Aug. 23 : Philadelphia, Citizens Bank Park (rescheduled from Aug. 18, 2023)
Sept. 7: Washington, D.C., Nationals Park (rescheduled from Sept. 29, 2023)
Sept. 13: Baltimore, Oriole Park at Camden Yards (rescheduled from Sept. 9, 2023)
Sept. 15: Sea Hear Now in Asbury Park
Oct. 31: Montreal, Centre Bell (rescheduled from Nov. 20, 2023)
Nov. 3: Toronto, Scotiabank Arena (rescheduled from Nov. 14, 2023)
Nov. 6: Toronto, Scotiabank Arena (rescheduled from Nov. 16, 2023)
Nov. 9: Ottawa, Ontario, Canadian Tire Centre (rescheduled from Nov. 18, 2023)
Nov. 13: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Life Centre (rescheduled from Nov. 10, 2023)
Nov. 16: Calgary, Alberta, Scotiabank Saddledome (rescheduled from Nov. 8, 2023)
Nov. 19: Edmonton, Alberta, Rogers Place (rescheduled from Nov. 6, 2023)
Nov. 22: Vancouver, British Columbia, Rogers Arena (rescheduled from Nov. 3, 2023)
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen concert tour relaunches in Phoenix
