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Wrecking Ball World Tour

The Wrecking Ball World Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, Wrecking Ball, which was released on March 5, 2012.[3] It was the first tour for the E Street Band without founding member Clarence Clemons, who died on June 18, 2011. The worldwide tour in support of the album, which ended in September 2013, reached 26 countries, the most ever for one of Springsteen's tours. The tour resumed in January 2014 to promote Springsteen's new album, High Hopes, and went under that album's name.[4]

In an attempt to fill the void left by Clemons, Springsteen added a full horn section, which included Jake Clemons, Clarence's nephew. Three background singers and a percussionist were also added, giving the E Street Band its largest lineup ever at seventeen members.[5][6] As with previous tours, Springsteen's wife and band member, Patti Scialfa, did not appear at all the shows due to family commitments. Guitarist Steven Van Zandt was also unable to perform on the band's Australian leg due to the filming of his television show, Lilyhammer. Van Zandt was replaced by Tom Morello for those dates.

The tour featured over 215 different songs[7] performed, including some songs either making their live debuts or returning after an extended absence.

The tour was named the second highest-grossing tour of 2012 and was the most attended tour of the year,[8] winning the Billboard Touring Award for Top Draw.[9] For the first half of 2013, the tour was named one of the top three grossing tours for the year.[10]

At the end of 2012, the tour placed second on Pollstar's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $210.2 million from 81 shows in Europe.[11] At the end of 2013, the tour placed fifth on Pollstar's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $145.4 million from 46 shows in Europe.[12] Overall, the tour grossed $340.6 million from 124 shows.

Itinerary

Planning and rehearsals

Private rehearsals started in late January 2012 at the Expo Theater in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, the same site where rehearsals were held for the Tunnel of Love Express Tour and the Rising Tour. Some rehearsals were held at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton to allow the band and crew to try a new stage design.[13]

It was announced on February 9, 2012, that Eddie Manion and Clarence Clemons's nephew, Jake Clemons, would share saxophone duties with Clemons handling most of the lead solos. Additional horns were provided by Clark Gayton, Curt Ramm, and Barry Danielian. Everett Bradly provided percussion and backing vocals while Curtis King Jr. and Cindy Mizelle returned as background singers.[14] Michelle Moore joined the tour as a background singer featuring on Rocky Ground for the rap (as on the album).

In advance of the album's release on March 5, 2012, the band kicked off a string of warm-up performances prior to the tour, including a performance of the album's first single, "We Take Care of Our Own", at the 54th Grammy Awards. During the final week of February, talk show host Jimmy Fallon dedicated an entire week of his show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, to Springsteen's music. Different artists covered Springsteen's songs each night of that week.[citation needed]

The new touring lineup performed their first full show together on March 9, 2012, at the Apollo Theater.[15] Springsteen then gave a keynote speech at the SXSW convention in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2012, and was joined later in the evening by the E Street Band for a 2+1⁄2-hour set before a crowd of a few thousand.[16]

Ticket sales

On January 26, 2012, dates for the first U.S. leg of the Wrecking Ball world tour were announced to the public, with many going on sale during the first weekend of February.

Much like with the previous tour, many U.S. fans encountered problems, thought to be due to ticket scalpers, through Ticketmaster as the first dates of the tour went on sale. Shows were selling out within minutes and many tickets appeared, at much higher prices, on resale websites such as StubHub less than an hour after the onsale time. Ticketmaster said web traffic was 2.5 times the highest level of the past year during the online sales. U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, who introduced the BOSS ACT in 2009 to increase transparency in the ticket industry, said he would reintroduce the bill in Congress.

The show

The world tour began on March 18, 2012, in Atlanta.[17] The early shows established a routine of using "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", performed as the show closer, as a tribute song to Clarence Clemons. Following the lyric the Big Man joined the band, Springsteen paused the song so the band and audience could pay tribute to Clemons, following which the band resumed the remainder of the song. "My City of Ruins" was used as the band introduction song and frequently included a Springsteen rap about "ghosts", referring to Clemons and Danny Federici, the long-time E Street Band organist who died during the Magic Tour in April 2008. For cities that had more than one consecutive show, American Land was used as the show closer, with the entire band on the front line and finishing the show on the main center platform.

Per Springsteen's standard practice, the set list varied from night to night, sometimes significantly. The tour saw the revival of a number of long-absent aspects of Springsteen's concerts, such as the return (during some shows) of a lengthy instrumental introduction to "Prove It All Night" that fans had unsuccessfully requested during the "sign request" (also sometimes known as "Stump the Band") segments during the Magic and Working on a Dream Tours. The instrumental introduction had been a noted point of 1978's Darkness Tour show but had not been played since. Shows were longer than on recent tours, culminating in Helsinki on July 31, 2012, with the longest performance of Springsteen's career at 4 hours and 6 minutes.[18] Earlier the same night, prior to the show proper, Springsteen had performed a five-song acoustic set for early arrivals.[19]

Springsteen playing at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, UK, June 21, 2012

During the encore of Springsteen's show in London at the Hard Rock Calling festival, the city council pulled the plug on his performance because he ran a few minutes past the show's 10:30 pm curfew. Springsteen was performing "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout" with Paul McCartney when their microphones and instruments were shut off. Springsteen ended the set with a brief a cappella, unamplified version of "Goodnight Irene."[20] The incident resulted in the show being the lone concert on the tour at which "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", with its Clarence Clemons tribute, was not performed. Following the performance, Steve Van Zandt took to Twitter and said, "English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn't want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney!" and followed that up with "There's no grudges to be held. Just feel bad for our great fans. Hard Rock is cool. Live Nation is cool. It's some City Council stupid rule."[21][22] When Springsteen next performed three nights later in Ireland, he poked fun at the London incident. During "Dancing in the Dark" the big screens by the stage displayed only a battery switched "On." A fake policeman came out to the stage to stop them playing "Twist and Shout" but Springsteen refused. While playing American Land, the fake policeman pulled the plug, but Van Zandt plugged it back in.[23]

The tour returned to the United States in August 2012 and focused on baseball and football stadiums. The tour's third (and final) show at MetLife Stadium on September 22, 2012, was delayed for two hours due to a strong thunderstorm. The show finally got underway around 10:30 pm, prompting fans to sing "Happy Birthday" to Springsteen at midnight to celebrate his 63rd birthday.[24] At the end of the show, Springsteen was presented with a guitar-shaped birthday cake onstage.[25]

On October 29, 2012, the New Jersey area was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Springsteen's show in Rochester, New York, the following day was forced to be postponed until October 31, 2012. That night, Springsteen dedicated his performance to those affected by the storm and those helping to recover. Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "Land of Hope and Dreams" during a one-hour televised telethon called Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together on November 2, 2012. Springsteen also joined Billy Joel, Steven Tyler and Jimmy Fallon for a performance of "Under the Boardwalk". He later participated in the 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden, a benefit concert for Sandy victims.[26]

Due to filming of his television show, Lilyhammer, Steven Van Zandt was forced to miss the Australian leg of the tour in 2013. Tom Morello replaced Van Zandt for those dates.[27] Van Zandt made his return in late April 2013 when he opened the first of the band's two shows in Oslo, Norway, by singing Frank Sinatra's "My Kind of Town" in character as Frank "the fixer" Tagliano from Lilyhammer. As with 2009's Working on a Dream Tour, some shows featured full-album performances of Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and Born in the U.S.A. The European leg ended in late July 2013.

The final leg of the tour took place in September 2013 with Springsteen's first-ever show in Santiago, Chile, on September 12. The tour subsequently featured dates in Argentina and Brazil, with the final show at the Rock in Rio festival on September 21. The show, which was held at Cidade do Rock, was broadcast live on cable in Brazil and over the Internet via YouTube. In the concerts in Brazil, Springsteen performed a cover of "Sociedade Alternativa" by Raul Seixas in addition to his usual setlist.

Critical and commercial reception

The tour was a commercial success and was named the second highest-grossing tour of 2012, finishing behind Madonna,[8] and was the most attended tour of the year, winning the Billboard Touring Award for Top Draw.[9] It was also named the 21st highest-grossing tour worldwide as of December 2012. In July 2013, the tour was named one of the top three grossing tours for the first half of 2013, along with tours by Bon Jovi, who had grossed the highest so far, and the Rolling Stones.[10]

Springsteen was named the #1 musical act by Rolling Stone magazine in their August 2013 issue.[28]

Aftermath and Springsteen's response

During the tour, Springsteen felt inspired to start working on his eighteenth studio album, which eventually became High Hopes. The album was recorded in 2013 during breaks in the Wrecking Ball Tour and was released in January 2014. Springsteen cited Morello, who helped re-introduce some previously recorded songs and cover songs to the recording sessions and live shows, as a huge inspiration on the album.

Broadcasts and recordings

A number of the festival dates performed on the tour had excerpts from the performance broadcast on television. Additionally, 45 minutes of the 2012 Hyde Park show in London was released as a bonus feature on the Springsteen & I DVD release.

Coinciding with the Born in the U.S.A. album's 30th anniversary, Born in the U.S.A. Live: London 2013, a live DVD of the full performance of the album recorded at the 2013 Hard Rock Calling festival, was released through Amazon.com as part of a deluxe edition of the High Hopes album.

Several shows were released as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archives:

Set list

  1. "We Take Care of Our Own"
  2. "Wrecking Ball"
  3. "Death to My Hometown"
  4. "My City of Ruins"
  5. "Spirit in the Night"
  6. "Out in the Street"
  7. "Hungry Heart"
  8. "Prove It All Night"
  9. "Jack of All Trades"
  10. "The Promised Land"
  11. "Badlands"
  12. "She's the One"
  13. "Working on the Highway"
  14. "Because the Night"
  15. "Darlington County"
  16. "The River"
  17. "Shackled and Drawn"
  18. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day"
  19. "The Rising"
  20. "Land of Hope and Dreams"
  21. "Thunder Road"
Encore
  2. "We Are Alive"
  3. "Rocky Ground"
  4. "Born in the U.S.A."
  5. "Born to Run"
  6. "Dancing in the Dark"
  7. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"
  8. "Twist and Shout" (The Top Notes cover)

Tour dates

Supporting acts

Personnel

The E Street Band

and

with

The E Street Horns:[5][6]

The E Street Choir:

Guest musicians/appearances

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The April 29, 2012, concert in New Orleans at the Fair Grounds Race course was a part of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
  2. ^ The May 28, 2012, concert in Landgraaf at the Megaland Landgraaf was a part of the Pinkpop Festival.
  3. ^ The June 3, 2012, concert in Lisbon, Portugal, at the Parque Bela Vista was a part of the Rock in Rio Festival.
  4. ^ The June 24, 2012, concert in Isle of Wight at the Seaclose Park was a part of the Isle of Wight Festival.
  5. ^ The July 7, 2012, concert in Roskilde, Denmark at the Dyrskuepladen was a part of the Roskilde Festival.
  6. ^ The July 14, 2012, concert in London at Hyde Park was a part of Hard Rock Calling.
  7. ^ The October 31, 2012, concert in Rochester, New York, at the Blue Cross Arena was originally planned to take place on October 30 but was rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy.[33]
  8. ^ The December 12, 2012, concert in New York at Madison Square Garden was a part of the nl:12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief.
  9. ^ a b The score data is representative of the three shows at the Friends Arena on May 3, 4, and 11 respectively.
  10. ^ The June 30, 2013, concert in London at the Olympic Park was a part of Hard Rock Calling.
  11. ^ The July 13, 2013, concert in Werchter at the Werchter Grounds was a part of the TW Classic Festival.
  12. ^ The September 21, 2013, concert in Rio de Janeiro at the Parque dos Atletas was a part of the Rock in Rio Festival.

References

  1. ^ New show added in Buenos Aires » Bruce Springsteen
  2. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "WRECKING BALL". www.brucespringsteen.com (Official Site). Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  4. ^ Backstreets.com: Springsteen News
  5. ^ a b Bruce Springsteen Announces Additional Musicians for 2012 'Wrecking Ball' World Tour, retrieved February 9, 2012
  6. ^ a b "HOW TO "REPLACE" CLARENCE CLEMONS? WITH AN ARMY". backstreets.com. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  7. ^ Brucebase - List of songs performed on the Wrecking Ball Tour
  8. ^ a b Top 25 Tours of 2012 | Billboard
  9. ^ a b "Roger Waters and Bruce Springsteen win big at Billboard Touring Awards". Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  10. ^ a b Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones Among Top 2013 Concert Earners List
  11. ^ "Pollstar Top 100 Worldwide Tours 2012" (PDF). Pollstar. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Pollstar Top 100 Worldwide Tours 2013" (PDF). Pollstar. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  13. ^ Bruce Springsteen's 'Wrecking Ball' tour crew builds practice stage at Trenton's arena | NJ.com
  14. ^ "Curtis King Jr. Sings The Changes : The Backstreets Interview by Erik Remec". erikremec.com. Backstreets Magazine Reprint. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  15. ^ "The Boss cuts loose in the heart of Harlem". Time Out NY. March 12, 2012. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08.
  16. ^ "SXSW 2012: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at ACL-Live". Los Angeles Times. March 16, 2012.
  17. ^ "BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND ANNOUNCE FIRST US LEG OF 2012 'WRECKING BALL' WORLD TOUR". www.brucespringsteen.com (Official Site). Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  18. ^ From the road: Helsinki » Bruce Springsteen
  19. ^ Pre-show report from Helsinki » Bruce Springsteen
  20. ^ "Springsteen storms through London marathon - Yahoo! News". news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-18.
  21. ^ Stevie Van Zandt (@StevieVanZandt) | Twitter
  22. ^ Brucebase - 2012
  23. ^ Brucebase - 2012-07-17 - RDS ARENA, DUBLIN, IRELAND
  24. ^ "Long Island lost a husband, father, hero and friend on Monday... | Joe Rock's Blog | www.wbab.com". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
  25. ^ Brucebase - 2012
  26. ^ Bruce & E Street Band to perform at Sandy Relief Concert » Bruce Springsteen
  27. ^ Tom Morello to Join Bruce Springsteen on Australian Tour - Rolling Stone
  28. ^ 50 Best Live Bands; Best Live Musicians - Rolling Stone
  29. ^ North American box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 18. New York. April 21, 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 19. New York. April 28, 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 19. New York. May 12, 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  30. ^ a b "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 23. New York. 9 June 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  31. ^ Europe box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 24. New York. June 23, 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 26. New York. 7 July 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 30. New York. 11 August 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 31. New York. 18 August 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  32. ^ North American box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 33. New York. 1 September 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 34. New York. 15 September 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 34. New York. 6 October 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 41. New York. 3 November 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 42. New York. 10 November 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 43. New York. 17 November 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 45. New York. 1 December 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 46. New York. 8 December 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 47. New York. 15 December 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 124, no. 48. New York. 22 December 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  33. ^ "Rochester show postponed to October 31 due to Hurricane Sandy". BruceSpringsteen.net. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  34. ^ Oceania box score:
    • "Billboard Biz: Current Boxscore". Billboard. April 3, 2013. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  35. ^ Europe box score:
    • "Billboard Biz: Current Boxscore". Billboard. May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on May 22, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
    • "Billboard Biz: Current Boxscore". Billboard. June 8, 2013. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 125, no. 24. New York. June 22, 2013. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 125, no. 26. New York. July 6, 2013. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
    • "Billboard Biz: Current Boxscore". Billboard. July 10, 2013. Archived from the original on July 12, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
    • "Billboard Biz: Current Boxscore". Billboard. August 10, 2013. Archived from the original on August 10, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  36. ^ a b "Billboard Biz: Current Boxscore". Billboard. October 5, 2013. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  37. ^ Backstreets.com: Springsteen News

External links