Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band capped the opening leg of their 2024 world tour last night; a cross-country run that brought setlist rarities, surprise guests and blistering three-hour shows.
Adding tour debuts ‘Youngstown’, ‘Streets of Fire’ and ‘I’m Goin’ Down’ last night in Columbus, Ohio – Springsteen and The E Street Band grew the number of songs they’ve played live in 2024 to 60 after just eleven shows; including fan-favourite regulars ‘Born to Run,’ ‘Dancing In The Dark,’ ‘Badlands’ and ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,’ with ruminations on loss, mortality and living for each day like ‘Backstreets,’ ‘Nightshift,’ ‘Last Man Standing’ and ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams.’ The 2024 shows have earned widespread praise as among the best of the band’s career:
“Springsteen continues to set the standard…six dates into their return to the road, they sounded like they had never been interrupted.” – Rolling Stone
“Springsteen can’t help but give his fans his all…he manages to make a room full of nearly 20,000 fans feel just as intimate as a showing of Springsteen on Broadway.” Billboard
“Bruce Springsteen’s tour resumption is its own kind of Promised Land.” Variety
“He kept the crowd on their collective feet…hauling ass on stage…rocking with the prowess of a man half his age.” SPIN
“Transcendence through abandon…a luscious and muscular ‘Thunder Road’; ‘Born to Run,’ delirious as always…he stood with an ease that looked like purpose.” LA Times
“Years from now this should be viewed as one of the best tours ever…as good as live music gets.” Forbes
“I Think We Can Officially Say Bruce Springsteen is Back” Consequence
“He’s better than ever…you can’t look away from the charisma of Springsteen when he’s onstage and, more importantly, you don’t want to miss a note.” San Francisco Chronicle
“It was fantastic. The show was a blast, start to finish.” USA Today
“More than enough purpose, passion and precision to reaffirm the power of their music…a winning combination.” San Diego Union-Tribune
Before returning to Europe next month for a 26-show stadium run, Springsteen will serve as a presenter at the second annual American Music Honours this Wednesday 24th April in Long Branch, NJ – organised by The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. Kicking off on 5th May in Cardiff, Springsteen and The E Street Band will bring their 2024 world tour to Northern Ireland, Ireland, England, France, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway before bookending in the U.K. with two shows at London’s Wembley Stadium on 25th & 27th July. Sony Music released ‘Best Of Bruce Springsteen‘ on 19th April to coincide with the tour. The collection spans his storied 50-year recording career, from 1973’s ‘Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ’ to 2020’s ‘Letter To You’ and will come as an 18-track set across 2 LPs or 1 CD and digitally as an expanded 31-song package.
Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023 European tour sold over 1.6 million tickets and earned widespread praise as some of the best shows of the band’s career. The 2023 European run received praise as “one of the greatest shows ever” (Daily Telegraph) as well as five-star reviews from The Times, The Independent, NME and many others across the continent. Highlights included a two-night kick-off in Barcelona which “unleashed euphoria” (El Correo) as well as performances to over 130,000 fans across two dates in London’s Hyde Park and a final night to over 70,000 in Monza, Italy.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND – 2024 TOUR DATES:
May 5 – Cardiff @ Principality Stadium
May 9 – Belfast @ Boucher Road
May 12 – Kilkenny @ Nowlan Park
May 16 – Cork @ Páirc Uí Chaoimh
May 19 – Dublin @ Croke Park
May 22 – Sunderland @ Stadium of Light
May 25 – Marseille @ 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 17 – Madrid @ Cívitas Metropolitano
June 20 – Barcelona @ Estadi Olímpic
June 22 – Barcelona @ Estadi Olímpic
June 27 – Nijmegen @ Goffertpark
June 29 – Nijmegen @ Goffertpark
July 2 – Werchter @ Werchter Park
July 5 – Hannover @ Heinz von Heiden Arena
July 9 – Odense @ Dyrskuepladsen
July 12 – Helsinki @ Olympic Stadium
July 15 – Stockholm @ Friends Arena
July 18 – Stockholm @ Friends Arena
July 21 – Bergen @ Dokken
July 25 – London @ Wembley Stadium connected by EE
July 27 – London @ Wembley Stadium connected by EE