New Years Eve 2007: The Good, The Bad & The Future

I'm not sure exactly why, but every year on New Years Eve I put up my year-end post, closing out one year and looking forward to starting another one.

Earlier today, I was looking at the hits on the site and I noticed a lot of people were accessing my New Years Eve 2006 post (probably for the Space Needle picture). 2006 was a pretty crappy year, so I found myself a little embarrased to see so many people reading what I wrote that year.

Fortunately, this year was far better.

It wasn't perfect by any means, but a vast improvement over 2006 to be sure. These were some of the things I liked about 2007:

*My Cat Smokey

*Springsteen released a great new album with the E Street Band

*I discovered a great new band in Porcupine Tree

*I got a new job

*I reunited with my junior high school chum Huey, and we got the band back together

*I reunited with my high school journalism teacher and was finally able to thank her for the impact she had on me as a writer

*I won Jimi Hendrix's Guitar

*I Paid off my car

*I reunited with my old DJ potna' Nasty Nes and for one night, KCMU Rap Attack lived again (okay, lotsa reunions this year)

*Blogcritics named me a roving editor, and then just a few weeks later, a music editor

*Speaking of Blogcritics, I was finally able to meet up with that motley crew face to face in Vegas

*I got to act like a bigshot on a music critics panel in Vegas (unfortunately nobody showed up to the panel)

So this, was all good stuff. Of course, there was also the not so good stuff:

*On my new job, I learned that it isn't easy for an one-eyed guy to drive a huge van all over the place.

*The book still isn't done.

*Springsteen didn't play here (but will next spring)

*Porcupine Tree did, about a week before I discovered they were my favorite new band. Yep, I missed em'.

*In spite of all the exposure I've gotten through Blogcritics, I've yet to find a gig that pays as a writer

*I spent far too many Friday and Saturday nights huddled in front of this damn computer.

*Friends continued to drift, even as those damned invitations to join AARP showed up in my mailbox with increasing frequency.

*Even though I'm still convinced that I'm the smartest person I know, I remain the poorest as well.

Still. overall not a bad year. Not a great one by any stretch, by definitely an improvement over the last several. So tonight is looking about the same as the past several New Years Eve's have looked.

I'll probably go grab a few beers at my local bar, The Rocksport. Then at midnight, I'll walk down the street to watch the annual ritual where they blow up the Space Needle. Then I'll probably screw around on the computer for awhile, and then watch a movie and crash.

Shit could definitely be worse. Of course, it could also be better.

So here's what I look forward to in 2008:

*Seeing Springsteen in March.

*Writing more articles both here and for Blogcritics.

*Doing the Blogworld convention in Vegas again next fall.

*A Democrat winning this fall.

*Porcupine Tree playing here, and me actually seeing them.

*Finishing the damn book.

*Getting it published

*Making a million, and retiring

*Drinking lots of beer.

*Marrying Alicia Keys

*Interviewing Little Steven (this one might actually happen)

*Recording a million selling album with Aruguis G

Now, that's not to much to ask for, is it? (well, a Democrat actually winning might be a long shot...)

Next Year baby.

Yeah thats the ticket.

Glen Boyd
12/31/07

Blackfield Is Steven Wilson's "Other Band": Just Buy It Okay?

Music DVD Review: Blackfield - Blackfield NYC: Blackfield Live In New York City

I've made no secret of the fact that the greatest, and most unexpected musical discovery I made in 2007 was the band Porcupine Tree.

Although I was a bit of a late bloomer to this band, once I "got it," I pretty much dove straight into the deep end of the pool -- devouring everything I could get my hands on. Which proved to be a considerable task, since this band has apparently been the best kept secret on this side of the pond since at least the mid-nineties.

So, in the way of a quick introduction for the uninitiated, Porcupine Tree began as a prog-rock band heavily influenced by people like Pink Floyd in the nineties on albums like The Sky Moves Sideways and Signify.

They have long since developed a harder, more distinctive sound uniquely their own on albums like Deadwing and this year's great Fear Of A Blank Planet, which I named my #2 Album Of The Year, right behind Springsteen's Magic.

In the #3 slot on that same list was Blackfield II, the second album from the side project of Porcupine Tree's resident creative genius, Steven Wilson.

So heres the thing.
Back in the seventies when I did my time behind the counter at a record store, I used to live to turn my customers on to guys like this.

Steven Wilson is an absolutely major songwriting talent lying in wait to be discovered. With Porcupine Tree, he creates these incredible soundscapes that veer from quiet nuance, to bludgeoning metallic knockouts that quite literally split your skull in two.

Blackfield is Wilson's side project with Israeli singer/songwriter Aviv Geffen, that allows this amazingly prolific songwriter to explore lusher, more romantic pop terrain. Except for the fact that there is a dark edge to so many of these songs, masked as they are by the denser arrangements of Blackfield's two albums.

What we have here is a live DVD recorded earlier this year at New York City's Bowery Ballroom.

My review is simple. It's great. Buy it. There's nothing really fancy here. It's a great, if very straight forward -- there are no special effects or tricky camera angles -- document of the event. Well okay, I'm a little bit mystified as to why Aviv Geffen has all of that glitter all over his face.

But no matter...

The performance captured here features nearly all of the songs from Blackfield's two albums, as well an oddly chosen Alannis Morisette cover. The songs take on somewhat of a harder edge in the concert setting, as oppsed to the more nuanced versions found on the original albums. Still, they lose none of their emotional power here.

But rather than get into the specifics, I'm just going to go back to that guy I used to be behind the counter, and let these great songs speak for themselves.

"Christenings" is one of the best songs from Blackfield II, and details the chance meeting with a former fallen rock star in a record store.

"What happened to your guitar?/ What happened to the prettiest star?/Can you still play the songs that got you so far?"

"Black Dog sitting in the park/Odd looks from the mothers of the devil's own/shoplifting, getting your essentials/gatecrashing christenings and funerals"



On "1000 People," the subject appears to confront his own alienation, even as the lights of fame are shown upon him:

A thousand people yell/ they're shouting my name/but I wanna die in this moment/I wanna die"



On "End Of The World," the singer laments that "its a prison for dreams and for hopes/but still we believe there is God."



The song "Epidemic" speaks of an "epidemic of my heart..." that "takes hold and slowly poisons me"...



Besides being an excellent live performance, this DVD is a great introduction to an even greater songwriter -- who I have a feeling we are going to be hearing much more from --- in Steven Wilson.

Just get it.

How Creem Magazine Ruined Me For Life

Book Review: CREEM - Americas Only Rock and Roll Magazine

CREEM Magazine -- more than any of the other numerous bad influences I was exposed to during my wreckless youth -- probably was the one that finally ruined me for life.

In fairness, rock and roll itself had already dug its own hooks pretty deep in my heart, mind, and soul by the time I discovered America's Only Rock And Roll Magazine in 1972 -- right around the same time as my sophomore year in high school.

So the damage was at least partially already done.

But by that time, I had pretty much already figured out that I wasn't gonna' make it as a rock star. All of the long hair, velvet blazers, and platform heels in the world weren't going to change the fact that I basically had no musical talent. However, within the pages of CREEM, I discovered a new rock and roll dream, and indeed an entire new brand of rock star. For you see, in the pages of CREEM, it was not only the musicians who were the rock stars, but the writers who wrote about them.

Yep. CREEM pretty much ruined me all right.

CREEM in fact became such an obsession with me throughout my high school years in the seventies, that I knew the exact day each new issue would arrive at my corner drug store in the West Seattle Junction. It was always the first Tuesday of the month. After school I would rush there to grab my copy -- often before the clerk even put it out on the rack -- and rush home to devour it cover to cover in a matter of hours.

Oh sure, there were other rock magazines at the time, and I bought them all too. Circus could always be counted on for the coolest pictures on the glossiest color paper. Rolling Stone usually had the most newsworthy stories before anyone else. But CREEM was hands down the magazine that best celebrated the rock and roll attitude and lifestyle, with it's irreverent -- and often hilarious -- no holds barred style of rock journalism.

CREEM also had the best writers bar none. By this time, I was writing my own music column for my high school newspaper (called "Rock Talk"), and my greatest influences were CREEM writers like Dave Marsh, Lisa Robinson, Dave DiMartino, Robot A. Hull, Jaan Uhelszki, and of course the late, great Lester Bangs.

My high school journalism teacher -- who I actually had a wonderful reunion with earlier this year -- has thankfully long since forgiven me. But back then, my articles for the West Seattle High Chinook -- inspired by the "rock star" writers of CREEM -- probably gave her more than a few premature gray hairs (as did some of my antics while trying to emulate the lifestyles of said writers like Bangs, but that's another story).

God Bless you "Miss Moo".



CREEM was also the first magazine to champion bands that nobody else wanted anything to do with at the time. Most of the time they got it right too. They certainly were ahead of everyone else on bands like the Stooges, New York Dolls, MC5, and the Ramones. Occasionally they missed as well -- but at least when they did, it was in spectacular fashion, such as when they gave Stones or Zeppelin worthy coverage to New York oddities like drag queen Wayne/Jayne County.

It was CREEM that first introduced me to bands like the Dead Boys, Blondie, and Televison among others. CREEM was also where I first read the profanely beautiful prose of a brilliant young poet who looked like a female version of Keith Richards, years before she ever released her debut album. Her name was Patti Smith.

So what you get with CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine, is a gorgeous 270 page coffee table style book, that reproduces much of the best of this trailblazing magazine's original run from 1969 to 1988.

I knew I was getting this for Christmas weeks ago, and once I unwrapped it tonight I spent hours pooring through it, and the memories just came flooding back. This magazine literally is the written version of a soundtrack for my high school experience as a teenaged wanna-be rock journalist, just as I am sure it was/is for countless other middle-aged rock geeks out there.

You see with CREEM, it was never just about the great articles and the pictures. It was also about all of the goofy little sidebars and photo captions, many of which are recreated in loving detail here. Back then, rock stars lined up by the truckload to have their pictures featured with a nice ride for "Stars Cars," or as the subject of a chessecake pose for the "Creem Dreem" (the ones reproduced here range from a sexy young Bebe Buell -- pregnant with Liv Tyler at the time of the shoot, and a flabby-assed Martin Mull).

But there may have been no higher rock and roll honor back then than to shamelessly shill for CREEM's "Boy Howdy! Beer," as the subject of one of CREEM's Profiles (based on the similiar liquor ads for Dewars). The Ramones, Todd Rundgren, Rod Stewart, Cheap Trick, Keith Richards, and Blondie are among the CREEM's Profiles reproduced here.

CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine also has many of the best articles that originally ran back then. I particularly enjoyed revisiting such gems as the "Androgyny Hall of Fame" (where everyone from Dylan to the Beatles to David Bowie and Marc Bolan are fair game), and "Alice Cooper's Alcohol Cookbook." I was also pleased to see the great Lester Bangs represented here with his original review of the Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street, and an excerpt from his classic piece, "Psychotic Reactions And Carburetor Dung."

Still, I can't mask my disapointment with the curious exclusion of any of Bangs' original, highly confrontational interviews with Lou Reed -- which for my money, represent Bangs at his absolute best.

Of course, there is no way an undertaking as ambitious as this was going to hit on everything. For that you would need things like Lisa Robinson's wonderful rock and roll fashion column "Eleganza" (mysteriously missing here), as well as the best of the letters section and even the ads.

I mean what original CREEM reader could ever forget those odd advertisements for someone named Jay Gatsby who was touted as "the most wasted boy alive"?

Still, CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine comes as close as you could expect, and at least for this aging fan was the most inviting, if somewhat bittersweet, trip down memory lane since my last high school reunion.

And yes, the fact that are reading this review some thirty five years after the fact is proof that CREEM did indeed ruin me for life.

The Rockologist: Digging Through "The Pile" Before Christmas

So here we are at the end of another year. I've fulfilled all of my last writing obligations to Blogcritics for 2007 -- the year-end list is done, the final new album releases column for the year is in the can, and I've picked my choice for album of the year.

Unfortunately, I'm also stuck at home this weekend convalescing with the mega-bitch of a cold I managed to catch earlier this week. Few things in this life approach the suckitude of getting sick two days before the annual dog and pony show that is the Christmas get-together with the family.

So I'm homebound because I have no choice. I have to be "well" in 48 hours.

The obvious solution to this dilemma of course would be to write about something. But since I'm all caught up for the year and everything, that leaves me no choice but that last resort you turn to only when all other avenues have been exhausted. I am referring of course to that final refuge for critics of both the blog and professional varieties alike:

Time to dig through "the pile."

For the uninitiated, "the pile" is both the friend and the scourge of music writers everywhere, just as I imagine it is for those who write about books, movies, or anything else where a professional opinion is sought. You see, one of the coolest things about writing is all of the free stuff you get. Basically the way the deal works is labels, publicists, and such send you free stuff in the hopes that you will write about it -- and preferably write something positive.

The upside is of course, that you get this free stuff. The downside is that it is inevitable that some of it -- for whatever reason -- is going to fall through the cracks. The biggest reason for this would be the surprising amount of said free stuff that comes completely unsolicited.

If I want to write something about the new album from Springsteen or Arcade Fire for example, most often I have to ask somebody for it (and even more often than that I just end up buying it). On the other hand, if an indie label with a hot new band or artist wants to get their CD reviewed, they will often just send a copy, accompanied by a press bio (and these days a link to a website with downloadable music), sight unseen.

If you get a lot of this stuff, there is simply no way humanly possible that all of it is going to get written about -- as nice a guy, who is willing to help out most developing (read: struggling) artists, as I like to think of myself as being.

Hence, "the pile."

There is also the none too insignificant "suck factor." The law of averages simply dictates that if you get sent a fair amount of new music over the course of a year, a certain percentage of it is going to suck. In these type of cases, writing a bad review runs you the risk of pissing off an important contact. They may be feeding you the Dogshit Blues Band or Farting Satan's Cavity this week -- but next week it could be the next Dylan or Radiohead. And don't think they won't remember that diss you wrote when they reached out in good faith.

Right about now, I should also point out that none of this is as bad as I'm making it sound here. Although it seems like about one hundred years ago now, your ever-jaded sounding Rockologist still has very vivid memories of my initial reaction when I first learned I could get free music by writing about it.

I was writing music reviews for my high school newspaper when someone first suggested this to me, and I simply couldn't believe it. I was so singularly obsessed with music at the time (and probably still am to a greater degree than I'd like to admit), that the thought of someone giving it to me for free struck me as the single most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. As for the thought of actually getting paid to do it? Simply impossible (unfortunately, I found out later on in my adult life that I was actually more or less right about that part).

Which brings me back to "the pile." I haven't actually gone through the roughly three foot high stack of CDs that sits atop my CD storage area -- just above the hip-hop section, and slightly to the left of the boxed sets and the jazz -- in about six months.

The thing that is always the most fun about the semi-annual ritual of going through "the pile" is finding the surprises. It might be something you looked at when it first arrived, and just kind of shrugged off. Or it might be one of those albums that ended up there completely by mistake, and that you had every intention of checking out.

My personal favorites are the ones where you go "how the f--k did that end up here?" or "I've been wondering where that CD went."

Son of Skip James, the new album from Dion DiMucci (or just plain ol' Dion as he is more commonly known) is a perfect case in point. Few artists today can claim the rock and roll pedigree of Dion, that are also going anywhere near as strong. As such, I've always respected him as being one of the greats, from classics like "The Wanderer" up about through "Abraham, Martin, and John."

But like so many artists from his original era (fifties and sixties mainly), I'd kind of lost track. The last I had heard of Dion, he was supposedly doing the Christian music thing, for which I just kind of figured amen brother, and more power to him. To my utter surprise, what I found is that on Son Of Skip James, Dion has actually re-embraced his roots in the blues, paying homage in an album of sparsely arranged covers by everyone from Dylan to Elmore James to Robert Johnson to -- of course -- Skip James. There are also a pair of fine originals here in the title track and "The Thunderer."





One of the more promising new writers over at Blogcritics actually wrote a wonderful piece on this album a few weeks back that I really don't have a lot to add to. But don't take my word for it. You can read that great piece by the Blues Blogger for yourself.

Moving onward through the pile, we next arrive at The Returning Sun, the new album by Cy Curnin. For those of you old enough to think that name sounds a bit familiar, you would be absolutely correct. Curnin is the former singer/songwriter for the Fixx, a band that was briefly so hot in the eighties that not only did they score an impressive string of hits, but Curnin was also sought out as a producer for the likes of Tina Turner. So the thing that first struck me about this album was the way that songs like "We Might Find It" and "Remember Me When I'm Gone" have that same pop bounce (and signature guitar sound) of those old Fixx records like "Saved By Zero." Which in this case is definitely a good thing, as Curnin clearly still understands the importance of a great pop hook. Far from being a mere "whatever happened to that guy" story, the songs on this record sound as fresh now as the Fixx did way back then.





In addition to continuing to play shows with the Fixx, Cy Curnin is also one of the few people on the planet who can claim to have climbed Mt. Everest. This one was an unexpected, but very welcome surprise.

Any album with lines like "Pass me the lampshade, I'm drunk again," and "If I'm a bad drunk, it's not for lack for practice," is going to instantly score a few points with the Rockologist. And on How To Make A Bad Experience Worse, singer/songwriter Mishka Shubaly does exactly that.

On this album, Shubaly steers the listener through a series of similar hard luck stories, many of which seem to take place either during a spectacular bender, or in the hazy afterglow of the next day's hangover. Which on the surface would make Shubaly a prime candidate for the latest drunken novelty act, if only the songs themselves weren't so damned good. Shubaly veers here from the Link Wray-like bluesy vibrato of "The Only One Drinking Tonight" to the fuzzed out garage-rock of "Ghost Of The Girl" to the Ryan Adams-like twang of "Took You In My Arms" with ease. There is also an authenticity about these lyrics that suggests he really has lived it -- although the songs sound too good to simply dismiss Shubaly as just another drunk with a guitar. Definitely the best new discovery of this particular dig through "the pile."

Oh, but wait a minute. 'Cause here comes Kasey Anderson, and right off the bat this is some really dark sounding shit. On the title track of The Reckoning, Anderson comes storming right out of the gate with a spoken word, stream of consciousness poetic sort of thing that finds his gruff voice -- think of a cross between Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits -- standing way out front of a fuzzed out, borderline metallic guitar driven backing track.

So far, so good. Like with the Shubaly disc, there is some first rate songwriting here (where have they been hiding these guys anyway?), while musically this veers from folky Americana, to bluesy twang, to borderline beat poet stuff. While The Reckoning often mines the seedier underbelly of America, on songs like "Don't Look Back" and "Long Way Home," Casey Anderson shows us that there is some real beauty underlying that particular darkness. Great, great stuff here.





So on tonight's dig through "the pile," we've scored a rather unprecedented four out of four, with the two new guys actually being the most pleasant surprises of all. Most amazingly here, nothing sucked.

I may just have to start digging through this damn pile a little more often.

The Ultimate Gift For The Music Geek In Your Life: Rolling Stone's 40th
Book Review: Rolling Stone Cover To Cover - The First 40 Years

First off, let me state right up front that this is an absolutely amazing boxed set.

But before I get to how incredibly cool this thing actually is -- and how it is absolutely the perfect holiday gift for that special music geek, or "rockologist" in your own life -- there is one thing you absolutely need to know:

Make sure you have enough memory to actually run the software that is what really makes this boxed set so special.

You see, it takes a lot of RAM to grant the user instant access to some 1026 issues, and over 98,000 scanned pages of the last 40 years of Rolling Stone magazine.

In geek terms, that means you had better have at least 512 MB of RAM on your machine -- and in all honesty, a gig is probably really more like it. Because as many of those computers that are still out there that seemed positively "tricked out" with anything less a few years back -- I can tell you that 256 MB of RAM just isn't gonna cut it here. As I found out the hard way on my initial test run, that won't get you past the first install disk.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I can happily report that Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years, represents the most complete historical account of the rock and roll era that I have ever come across. It is also every bit worth going the extra mile to boost the memory necessary to run on your PC if need be.

Because for even the most casual student of rock and roll history, you could literally lose yourself for hours -- if not days -- in this massive, and easily searchable archive of data. Imagine having the entire history of rock and roll -- and for that matter modern culture as a whole -- at your fingertips with the click of a mouse. For the music freak in your life, Rolling Stone Cover to Cover represents that wet dream come to life.

Love them or hate them, Rolling Stone is the magazine which most consistently and accurately has documented the most significant musical and cultural events of what is closing in on the past half century -- from the rise of the sixties counter culture, through disco, punk-rock, MTV, grunge, and right on up to what some argue is the currently ongoing death of rock and roll music itself.

You wanna talk about "what a long, strange trip it's been"?

Well, it's all here as originally chronicled in Rolling Stone. You can even search out the ads -- which is something I got a particular kick out of when I came across those old Warner Bros. double disc samplers you could order for two bucks in Rolling Stone back in the sixties.

Now that was some great marketing -- cleverly disguised as the sixties' hippie "free music" sort of deal it was.

So what you get here, is a beautifully packaged boxed set that retails for about $125. The most obvious draw for the rock and roll historian -- armchair or otherwise -- is the easily searchable archive of every single page (even the ads), of every single issue of Rolling Stone from 1967 to the present, on 4 CD-Rom disks. The menus are also very user-friendly, allowing the user multiple options ranging from simply clicking on a year or a magazine cover, to more specific searches by say, a favorite artist or even an individual author or writer.

At $125 retail, having the sheer volume of that kind of history and information at the touch of a mouse has to be considered an absolutely amazing bargain.

Beyond that however, you also get a beautiful coffee table-style 200 plus page book which breaks down those same 40 years of Rolling Stone with highlights of each year. You get key features, reviews, and pictures from every pivotal point in history, as well as new, previously unpublished material. To top all of this off, the set also comes with a coupon for a free one year subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.

Can't beat that with a stick.

In this holiday season, there are some other very worthwhile documents of the so-called sixties and seventies "golden age of rock and roll" out there -- most notably the Creem Magazine coffee table book (which will be the subject of a future review here once I unwrap that expected present).

But nothing covers the whole enchilada -- from then right up to now -- quite like Rolling Stone Cover to Cover does. Like I said, love them or hate them, Rolling Stone has been an eyewitness to the cultural revolution in a way few, if anyone, else can claim.

Together with Bondi Digital Publishing, (who also have a similarly complete boxed set with searchable CD-Rom archive for Playboy), Rolling Stone has created the ultimate historical record of the past 40 years of rock and roll.

Just make sure your PC can handle it.

The Rockologist Picks His Top Ten Albums Of 2007

Okay, so maybe this is a little premature (well by like a week anyway).

But it seems nothing says it's Christmas time in the world of music criticism quite like the critics jackoff that is the yearend top ten list. Anyway, I figured it was probably as good a time as any to get a jump on the competition.

So the criteria for my own list is just a bit different this year. You see, when I am not slaving away at my computer by night writing and editing articles for the mighty Blogcritics Magazine, I drive a van all over the states of Washington and Oregon in my day job as a sales guy for a music distributor here.

As you can imagine -- since many of these trips involve eight to even twelve hour days on the road -- the music on my CD player is absolutely essential to my survival. So this year, I have decided to base my choices on the CDs released in 2007 that were most often playing at full blast in the van while driving through God-forsaken towns like Boring, Oregon.

So, on that note let's get to the list:

1. Bruce Springsteen - Magic

It should surprise no one who reads the Rockologist on a regular basis that Springsteen's first album with the E Street Band since The Rising tops my list for 2007. The thing is, Magic just feels so much more like the real rock album Springsteen fans like me have waited patiently for since the eighties, than The Rising (good as it was) ever did. Songs like "Radio Nowhere" and "Livin' In The Future" harken back to the E Street heyday of albums like Born To Run, and they would be all over the radio if there was any room on the airwaves for actual rock and roll these days. At the same time, the songs on this album address some of the weightier concerns that recent Springsteen albums like The Rising and Devils & Dust do. They just do so in such a less -- and how exactly do you say this? -- "weightier" way. On a side note, I scored my tickets for Bruce's shows in Seattle and Portland earlier this weekend. I can't wait.

2. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet

PT was the single greatest -- and unexpected -- musical discovery I made this year. As connected to the music scene as I like to think myself as still being, I can't believe I never heard of this band until this year (they've been around since the nineties, and their catalog is huge). Once I heard this album, recommended to me by fellow Blogcritics music scribes Pico and Tom Johnson (thanks guys!), I immediately went out and bought every album I could find by this group. FOABP is a lot heavier than some of this band's earlier (and proggier) nineties output on albums like Signify and Deadwing -- especially on the album's centerpiece, the seventeen plus minute opus "Anesthetize" -- but is nonetheless a great record that combines amazing musicianship (especially by drummer Gavin Harrison), with the great songs of this band's resident genius, Steven Wilson. Not only are these guys really that good, they are also incredibly prolific. Speaking of which...

3. Blackfield - Blackfield II

Blackfield is just one of the many side projects of PT main man Steven Wilson, where he partners with Israeli songwriter Aviv Geffen. The songs here are much more in a pop vein (at least compared to Porcupine Tree), and are distinguished on this album mainly by their romantic lyrics and lush arrangements. Steven Wilson is an absolutely major talent that I cannot believe remains largely undiscovered on this side of the pond. Here, on songs like the album's standout track "Christenings," Wilson imagines meeting a washed up former rock star (who bears a striking resemblance to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page) as "the Black Dog sitting in the park," and asking "can you still play the songs that got you so far?" This is just great, great stuff.

4. Radiohead - In Rainbows

This is a weird one, simply because it could very well end up being on a top ten list for next year as well, since it is scheduled for a physical CD release on January 1. Although some of the songs included here like "Nude" and "Reckoner" will be familiar to fans who have seen Radiohead in concert over the years, here they are rearranged to the point of becoming completely new. This is an absolutely gorgeous album that successfully weds the ambience of Radiohead albums like Kid A, with the harder edges of the band's earlier work. Most significantly, with its initial release as a download only, pay whatever you wish method of delivery, In Rainbows may have changed the rules of music marketing forever.

5. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

This was the year I finally "got" Ryan Adams, and this album is the reason why. The songs here are not only for the most part absolutely gorgeous, they also provide a window into the soul of this apparently somewhat tortured artist -- particularly on this album's most rocking track, "Halloween Head." Here Adams seems to be laying his addictions bare. Elsewhere, on songs like "Two," "The Sun Also Sets," and "Ripoff," Adams self-revelatory lyrics contrast boldly with the ever so sweet country twang that is so prevalent on this album. In a year where Springsteen didn't release an album as great as Magic, or I didn't discover a band as great as Porcupine Tree, this would have been a definite contender for album of the year.

6. Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II

Many have called this album -- which is largely a collection of leftovers from one of those great, lost unreleased albums only recently rediscovered in the vaults -- Neil Young's best in years. Although I'm not ready to go quite that far, the great moments here far outweigh the filler. For starters, you've got two great opus tracks in "Ordinary People" and "No Hidden Path" that are driven by that great fuzzed out, feedback heavy guitar that Neil Young does like nobody else. Beyond that, you've got tracks like "Spirit Road," and "Dirty Old Man" that I'd rank as high as any of Neil's so-called secondary tracks. It's not Rust Never Sleeps or Harvest Moon, but at this stage in Neil Young's career, it'll do.

7. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

After the sonic experimentalism of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born, Jeff Tweedy brought things back to a more song oriented approach with this album, which ultimately seemed to divide Wilco fans right down the middle. Still, what this album ultimately came down to was the songs, and there are several great ones here. The band's live shows this summer with new guitarist Nels Kline also proved that this band can still rock as hard as ever.

8. Joni Mitchell - Shine

So here is what I don't get. How is it that in a year when Joni Mitchell releases her first new album of original material in a decade, that it gets overlooked by the Grammy nominations in favor of a tribute to Joni by Herbie Hancock? For that matter, how did Springsteen's Magic get passed over for a Foo Fighters album -- but I guess that's another subject. Shine isn't Hejira or The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, but it is a damn fine album from one of our most treasured songwriters. Welcome back Joni!

9. John Mellencamp - Freedoms Road

This one came out so early this year that it really didn't stand much of a chance of making it into the upper tier. Which is really too bad, since this is easily Mellencamp's best record since the heyday of albums like Scarecrow. The biggest problem with Freedoms Road -- at least in my opinion -- was the way it was marketed. As much as I understand the need these days for artists like Mellencamp to take whatever they can get in the way of exposure, the Ford Truck ads featuring Mellencamp singing about how "this is our country" really missed the point of what the other songs on this album like "Ghost Towns Along the Highway" and the great, shoulda been a single "Someday," are trying to say. Associating Mellencamp's song "Our Country" with the Toby Keith image of George Bush's America is probably the single biggest marketing mistake since Springsteen wrapped himself up in a flag on Born In The USA.

10. John Fogerty - Revival

Fogerty overstated his politics a bit here, no doubt. Still, this is his most solid collection of great songs since at least Centerfield. Personally, I think that its great when guys like Fogerty wear their feelings about Bush and what not as obviously on their sleeves as Fogerty does on this album. In my own opinion, it is just a lot more effective when those feelings are expressed in the more subtle metaphors like those found on Creedence songs like "Who'll Stop The Rain?," than those expressed more directly on this album. Regardless, there is simply no getting around the way Fogerty finally has come to terms with his considerable legacy in songs like "Summer Of Love," and the absolutely wonderful "Creedence Song."

Why Wasn't Nils Lofgren A Bigger Star Before The E Street Band?

Music Review: Nils Lofgren - Nils Lofgren (Reissue)

I could never understand why Nils Lofgren didn't make it as a much bigger star than he did back in the seventies, when he was mainly a solo artist.

Oh sure, he was (and is) respected as all get-out by his fellow musicians. He has regularly appeared on other peoples records like Neil Young. And he eventually landed what has to be regarded as a dream gig playing guitar side by side with Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven in the E Street Band.

Speaking of that guitar playing, you certainly can't fault him there either. On the current E Street Band tour for Springsteen's Magic album, one of the highlights of the shows is said to be Lofgren's brilliant playing -- especially on the nights that the band pulls "Tunnel Of Love" out of the hat in the setlists. You can also find ample evidence of Lofgren's guitar slinging skills on last year's Live Acoustic DVD, where he basically puts on a clinic.

But as a solo artist, his numbers have always fallen into that dreaded "respectable" category -- which is basically label-speak for he doesn't sell all that many albums. Too bad. Because most of that solo work is fine stuff. I'd particularly recommend the live Back It Up, the very underated eighties album Flip, and especially -- if you can find it anyway -- the mid-seventies release Cry Tough.

Hip-O-Select Records has just reissued Lofgren's self-titled debut album (it was originally released by Herb Alpert's A&M), and it is a perfect case in point. I'd actually forgotten how good this damn thing is. It has also got a number of songs on it you may even recognize, since some of these got a fair amount of airplay back in the days when there was room for actual rock and roll on the airwaves.

Probably the best known of these are the slide guitar driven rock of "Back It Up," and the Keith Richards tribute, "Keith Don't Go," which was written as a plea for Richards not to leave the Stones (there were rumors at the time). Another song that even got some airplay on AM stations (though not many) back then, is the reflective sounding "The Sun Hasn't Set On This Boy Yet."

But there are also some forgotten gems on this album. Though less celebrated than a song like say, "Keith Don't Go," the song "Rock & Roll Crook" should've been an FM rock smash with its guitar driven, made for radio hookiness. I mean its at least as memorable as stuff like Foghat's "Slow Ride" or Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" -- two songs that to this day haunt my classic rock dial like something right out of the undead.

Another great, but largely unheralded track on this album is the lovely sounding "Two By Two." This song, while not quite what I would call a straight-out ballad, is one of those nice, relaxed mid-tempo numbers that sounds like something straight out of Beatles territory, right around the time of Rubber Soul.

In addition to Lofgren's great sounding guitar (and keyboards) here, the other two guys sharing instrumental duty on this album aren't too bad either. Wornell Jones lays down some juicy bass runs, while monster drummer Aynsley Dunbar is the more famous name. At the time this record was made, he was splitting time between Lofgren and other projects like Frank Zappa's Mothers. Eventually, Dunbar would hit the big time playing big arena rock drums for Journey.

So there's nothing really earth shattering here. Just some great sounding, radio friendly rock and roll. With songs that seemed tailor made for the FM rock format of the time, it really is amazing that Lofgren didn't become a bigger star than he did.

At least these days, he has the E Street Band.

Clapton Reunites With Winwood On "Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007"

When Eric Clapton first adopted the Robert Johnson song "Crossroads" as his own, he probably had no idea that he would soon be standing at his own personal crossroads, as he eventually was forced to confront his own demons of addiction.

That story is far too long and complicated to recount here. But to his credit, Clapton was finally able to conquer those personal demons -- which is probably why we are still able to enjoy the music of the man who was once called "God" (as scrawled graffiti style on buildings in England in the sixties), today.

Which is what this marvelous two-DVD set is really all about.

You see, not only did Clapton overcome his addictions -- in 1998 he founded the Crossroads Centre (for treatment to such addictions), located on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. The location was picked by Clapton himself, because of its serene surroundings where "one can begin the process of healing."

He also overcame them.

What is captured on these two DVDs is the second of two (and hopefully more) amazing concerts put together by Clapton to benefit the Crossroads Centre. Here, some of the world's greatest musicians -- "the cream of the crop" as described on this DVD by Albert Lee (a guy who would definitely know) -- have come together to support that great work. Profits from the sale of this DVD will also support that same cause.

So as far as the performances captured here go?

There are so many great ones, the only real question is where to begin. Recorded earlier this year in Chicago, the emphasis here is clearly on the blues. And with the clout of a guy like Clapton, the names involved truly do read like a "who's who." You've literally got everyone here from the masters like B.B. King and Buddy Guy, right on up through the likes of truly underated modern players like Doyle Bramhall II and Robert Randolph (who turns in an absolutely smoking performance of "NobodySoul").

But what you also get here is everything from the modern "adult-pop" of people like Sheryl Crow and John Mayer, to the fusion jazz of John McLaughlin (emcee Bill Murray references McLaughlin's stint in the "Mahi Mahi Orchestra" in a particularly humorous moment).

Even country guys like Willie Nelson and Vince Gill get into the act here.

Throughout the proceedings, Clapton himself often joins the musicians onstage, and can also be seen taking it all in from the sidelines as a fan. For one thing, you can see "God" snapping away at the camera during both B.B. King and Sheryl Crow's sets. Speaking of the camera, much of this DVD is displayed in split screen images -- giving it a decidedly down home, Woodstock sort of feel.

As to the musical highlights?

Again, far too numerous to mention -- although both Robert Randolph and Jeff Beck are standouts here. Johnny Winter also turns in a blazing version of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited," despite the fact that it is somewhat apparent from his appearance that he is not in the best of health these days. He sounds as good as he ever has though.

But ultimately what makes this DVD a real keeper is the surprise reunion -- well, almost anyway -- of sixties supergroup Blind Faith. Although drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Rick Grech are missing, Clapton's amazing band more than makes up for the absense. Clapton's reunion with his one-time Blind Faith partner Stevie Winwood is the undisputed highlight of this DVD.

I should mention at this point that Blind Faith was one of the earliest concerts I ever saw. It was at the then H.I.C. Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. I was all of thirteen years old, and by this point the band had already pretty much broken up and were simply playing out the last dates of what turned out to be a disastrous first tour. Despite a great first album, Blind Faith never really jelled as a live band -- which certainly shows on their one official live document, the horrible Live At Hyde Park DVD, released last year.

Here however, Clapton and Winwood sound absolutely magnificent on songs like "Can't Find My Way Home," and "Presense Of The Lord". Check out the video below for "Had To Cry Today," from this DVD:




Just amazing.

Although Winwood is primarily known for his vocal and keyboard prowess, he is also not a half bad guitar player. You can see that for yourself in the video below for his performance at the Crossroads Festival of his classic Traffic song, "Dear Mr. Fantasy":




From what I understand, Clapton and Winwood are going to extend the reunion for some dates together early next year. I also understand that at least one fellow Blogcritic will be making it out to one of those shows.

Lucky guy.

In the meantime, for those unable to catch Clapton and Winwood on the road together, you can see them here -- along with several other amazing performances.

Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007 is an amazing DVD, that captures some of the greatest musicians in the world, doing what they do best on a truly inspired night for a great cause.

So what are you waiting for?

The B-Sides Concept Album On BlogTalk Radio And The Rest Of My Weird Week
So it's been an interesting week.
One of the more interesting developments of my trip to Vegas earlier this month on behalf of Blogcritics came to fruition tonight in the form of my first appearance on something called Blog Talk Radio.

Here I joined two of my fellow Blogcritics, Mark Saleski, and Josh Hathaway for the inaugural run of Hathaway's Blogcritics sponsored radio show The B-Sides Concept Album.

In this initial show, basically what you get is three Springsteen geeks -- that would be Mark, Josh, and myself -- joyously discussing Mr. Bruce on internet radio.

Nothing that my friends (and even a few of my fellow Blogcritics) haven't of course long since tired of, but a lot of fun nonetheless. I also learned tonight that my fellow Bruce blogging pals refer to me with the rather curious name of "Iguana Glen," which is something I definitely am going to have to further inquire with Mr. Hathaway about.


Anyway, as you can no doubt imagine, sixty minutes of unbridled mirth, merriment, and of course plenty of Springsteen geekiness ensued.

Among other things, Sir Mark talks about seeing Springsteen on opening night of the Magic tour in Hartford, while Josh eagerly counts down the days to his first Bruce show this April in Atlanta (time to break this virgin in). As for me, I talk about the different setlists and just why I'll be attending the shows here next March in both Seattle and Portland (it has everything to do with getting both those A and B setlists).

Anyway, you can listen for yourself by clicking on the button below:



The other interesting thing that happened to me this week was I won Jimi Hendrix's guitar.

One of the stops I make every month as part of my day job is at a Bartell's store in Marysville to deliver DVDs and CDs, and I often eat at the pizza joint located inside a Thriftway store nearby. At this same store, they also serve something called Jimi Hendrix Coffee.

Don't ask.

Anyway, so one day last month I was in there having lunch and noticed a box to win an Fender Strat autographed by Hendrix himself, along with an amp, some of that coffee and some Hendrix CDs. So I filled it out and dropped my name inside. Well, damned if they didn't call me Tuesday night to tell me I'd won.


Whoo-Hoo!

I Mean, Aint America Great?

By the way, to Josh and Mark, sorry I forgot to mention that tonight on the radio show. Pretty freaking cool though, huh?

So yeah, it's been an interesting week. Not bad for a guy they call "Iguana Glen" eh?

For You: The Bruce Tramps Tell Their Own Stories

Book Review: - For You: Original Stories And Photographs By Bruce Springsteen's Legendary Fans by Lawrence Kirsch

Outside of perhaps Bob Dylan, few rock and roll artists have been written about, and studied from as many different angles as Bruce Springsteen. He has been the subject of several books, from official and semi-official biographies by the likes of writers like Dave Marsh, Robert Santelli, and Backstreets Magazine founder Charles R. Cross, to the more weightier fare examining his impact on culture like Robert Coles' Bruce Springsteen's America.

Yet, of the many words, and numerous books written about this American icon over the years, none of them are quite like this one.

In For You: Original Stories And Photographs By Bruce Springsteen's Legendary Fans, editor Lawrence Kirsch has assembled hundreds of amazing photographs taken by the fans themselves, and covering every phase of Springsteen's extraordinary career, into a beautiful coffee table book. Accompanying the photographs, are personal stories told by the fans -- usually recalling memories of a favorite tour or show.

Springsteen fans -- the so-called nation of "Bruce Tramps" that have been known to follow the man on tour from coast to coast -- are of course legendary for their devotion which often borders on obsession. They, and by that I mean "we", are like no group of fans outside of maybe the Deadheads.

Which needless to say, makes for some great storytelling in this book. The stories told here are heartfelt, poignant, and occasionally even humorous -- much like the songs of the man they honor here themselves.



At this point I should also include something of a disclaimer on this review since one of the stories told in this book is by yours truly. It appears on page 33 of the book, and talks about my very first Springsteen concert, which I was basically dragged out to see by a friend back in 1975. Next spring, I'll be attending my 33rd and 34th Springsteen concerts in Seattle and Portland.

In that story, I also touch upon a few other memorable Bruce shows I've seen, such as the time in 1980 I saw Bruce in Portland on the same day Mount St. Helens had one of its many eruptions that year. To commemorate the event, Bruce included what I am pretty sure is the only time he has ever performed the American folk standard "On Top Of Old Smokey," in his set, changing a key line to "I know that she's smoking, I hope she don't blow."

In the interest of giving equal time to my fellow Blogcritics, I should also mention that my BC brothers Mark Saleski and Alessandro Nicolo tell their own Bruce stories in the book as well. Saleski's appears on page 142, while Alessandro's is on page 170.

So now that we've cleared that particular hurdle, and since I can also report that none of us received any payment whatsoever for our contributions, I can also give this book my highest recommendation.

For anyone who has ever wondered just what it is about Bruce Springsteen that produces such rabid devotion amongst his hardcore fans, all I can say is that short of getting out and seeing a show yourself, this book comes as close to explaining it as any I have read.

And the hundreds of pictures here are really nothing short of amazing.



The way I've tried to explain that special sort of sense of community among Springsteen fans, boils down to two things really. One, is that the songs heard on Springsteen's records tell stories that really connect with everyday Joes like us. And the other is that going to a Springsteen show is really like no other live concert experience I can think of.

With the way, you look all around you and see nothing but those shit-eating ear to ear grins, and the way his audience is known to break into impromptu sing alongs at any given moment, a Springsteen concert is really like being in a room with about 20,000 of the best friends you ever met. As far as an interactive experience between a performer and his audience, there really is nothing quite like it.

As to those who still just don't get it, as another wise old songwriter once observed, "its like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll."

Lawrence Kirsch's For You: Original Stories And Photographs By Bruce Springsteen's Legendary Fans, is currently available in a limited run of 2000 copies which can be ordered exclusively by going to ForYouBruce.com.

Music DVD Review: On The McCartney Years, The Payoff Comes With The Third Disc

The McCartney Years is a new anthology set that attempts to sum up four decades of Sir Paul's post-Beatles career on three DVDs.

So what you get here -- at least on the first two discs -- is all of the short films (many made before they were actually called videos) McCartney made for his solo work, from the McCartney album, through Wings, right on up to 2005's Chaos And Creation In The Backyard.

As such, sitting down to actually watch the first two discs becomes something of a daunting task, simply because so much ground is covered here. When watching the earliest of these short films, for songs like "Maybe I'm Amazed," "Band On The Run," and "Silly Love Songs," it also becomes apparent just how limited the technology was back then.

Although these films are often charming (particularly with the use of the Beatles images for "Band On The Run"), and there is likewise little doubt that Paul was clearly on to the possibilities of the promotional film long before MTV, there is no getting around the simple fact of how dated they look today. However, that is also a big part of their charm.

By the time McCartney was actually making videos specifically with MTV in mind during the eighties, he already had a leg up on the competition in the experience department. Even though these latter promo films look equally dated now, McCartney still comes across as ever the charmer.


The video for "Coming Up" is particularly clever, as Paul plays every member of the fictional "Plastic Band" (so named in tribute to his former partner John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band). His take on the Hitler mustached keyboard player for Sparks is particularly hilarious for those old enough to remember that band. Corny as it may seem today, McCartney's duet with Stevie Wonder for "Ebony And Ivory," where they run across the keys of a piano is also a lot of fun to watch.

The most notable of the extras included on the first two DVDs of this set is probably the documentary "Creating Chaos At Abbey Road." Although it is billed mainly as the story of the making of McCartney's 2005 album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, you also get to see Sir Paul talk about the songwriting process he used when writing with Lennon. He also plays acoustic versions of Beatles tunes like "I've Got A Feeling" and "Lady Madonna."

So you've probably noticed I've held back talking about the third disc here -- and that is because I've saved the best part of this set for last. Disc three is what takes The McCartney Years from being a self-congratulatory retrospective, into something that any McCartney fan must own. It includes large chunks of three McCartney concerts, from three different eras. There's the 1976 performance with Wings that became the long since hard to find film Rockshow, as well as McCartney's 1991 MTV Unplugged performance, and the 2004 tour closer at Glastonbury.

Of these three concerts, the 1976 performance with Wings holds the most personal significance for me, given the fact that it is from a show at Seattle's gargantuan Kingdome that I actually attended as a then twenty-year-old fan. Although the quality of the film is grainy, I am absolutely amazed at how good it sounds, as the Kingdome was this huge stadium built out of cement for NFL football that was an acoustical nightmare.

When Jeff Beck played there that same summer in 1976 opening for Aerosmith, he even referred to it onstage as the "Kingdome echo chamber." When it eventually became obvious that the cement building wasn't even any good for the Seattle Seahawks football games, they finally just blew the damn thing up.

The 2004 Glastonbury performance included here is also a great one. When McCartney released his Space Between US DVD documenting his 2005 tour last year -- as good, and visually dazzling as it was -- I was frustrated with the way they totally chopped up the song "Hey Jude." Here, we get the song uncut in a performance that actually brought a tear to my eye watching all those Brits sing along. Although McCartney's band is on the last night of their tour, they seem particularly energized by the huge crowd.

Mainly because of this third disc, The McCartney Years gets a mild thumbs up here.

As nostalgic a trip down memory lane as some of these videos were, I still found that it was a lot to sit through in one viewing (I actually had to spend two nights watching it). But with the concert footage comes the real payoff.

Springsteen/E Street Band Tour Returns In 2008 Amidst Federici Health Concerns



It's official. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band will be back to play a string of new American concert dates in March and April of 2008.

As the curtain went down on the first American leg of Springsteen's Magic tour in Boston this past Monday night, it was already common knowledge that they would be back, with tickets already on sale in a few cities (Hartford, Rochester, Buffalo, Anaheim, Atlanta). But on Tuesday, the entire schedule became official, as dates covering the Northwest (Seattle, Portland), the South (Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Greensboro, Charlotte), and Canada (Vancouver BC, Montreal QC), lasting through the end of April were announced.

While this is great news for fans, it comes amidst what could prove to be a troubling development. Rumors are circulating on the internet that longtime E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici will not be part of the upcoming dates, due to unspecified health reasons.

Monday night's first-leg closing performance in Boston seemed to lend some credence to these rumors. In one of the wildest setlists of the tour, Federici was heavily featured on rarely played songs like "This Hard Land," as well as "4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)" and "The E Street Shuffle" (both from Springsteen's second album The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle).

In a review of the Boston show published yesterday by Backstreets Magazine, it was clear that the night was an emotional one, and that those moments of emotion were centered on Federici. As the concert drew to a close, Bruce and the rest of the band embraced the keyboardist at center stage as the crowd chanted "Danny! Danny!"

The closing moments from that show -- and the emotional scene -- can be viewed in the video below:



While the rumors of Federici's health problems and his leave of absense from the remaining tour dates are at this point, just that -- rumors -- there has already also been idle chatter of a potential replacement for Federici on the soon-to-start European leg, Seeger Sessions Band keyboardist Charles Giordano.

Here are the 2008 American tour dates -- along with ticket on sale times for each city -- for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, as reported by Backstreets Magazine:

February 2008
28 - Hartford, CT - HCC Arena (on sale now)

March 2008
2 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre (on sale 11/24)
3 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum (on sale 11/23)
6 - Rochester, NY - Blue Cross Arena (on sale now)
7 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena (on sale now)
10 - Hempstead, NY - Nassau Coliseum (on sale 1/19)
14 - Omaha, NE - Quest Center (on sale 12/8)
16 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center (on sale now)
17 - Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center (on sale 11/26)
20 - Indianapolis, IN - Canseco Center (on sale 12/8)
22 - Cincinnati, OH - U.S. Bank Arena (on sale 12/1)
24 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center (on sale 12/1)
28 - Portland, OR - The Rose Garden (on sale 12/8)
29 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena (on sale 12/8)
31 - Vancouver, BC - GM Place (on sale 11/30)

April 2008
4 - Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena (on sale 1/19)
5 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavillion (on sale 1/21)
7 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center (on sale now)
8 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center (on sale now)
13 - Dallas, TX - TBA (on sale TBA)
14 - Houston, TX - TBA (on sale TBA)
18 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Bank Atlantic Center (on sale 12/1)
19 - Orlando, FL - Amway Arena (on sale 12/1)
21 - Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum (on sale 12/1)
25 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena (on sale now)
27 - Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Bobcat Arena (on sale 12/7)
28 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum (on sale 12/7)
30 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena (on sale TBA)

Update: The status of Danny Federici's health and his leave of absense from the tour was confirmed earlier today in an official statement, which reads as follows:

Danny Federici, an original member of the E Street Band, is taking a leave of absence from the current Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour to pursue treatment for melanoma. Charles Giordano, who played with Bruce as a member of the Sessions Band, will temporarily fill in for Danny until he is able to return. Federici has been playing keyboards with Springsteen since the late Sixties. Said Springsteen, "Danny is one of the pillars of our sound and has played beside me as a great friend for more than 40 years. We all eagerly await his healthy and speedy return." Federici has been actively supporting the Melanoma Research Foundation and its Wings of Hope Gala, honoring Dr. Paul Chapman.

Our best wishes go out to Danny Federici and his family.