Australian fans of Bruce Springsteen have long awaited the return of The Boss for another Southern Cross tour, and now, according to a few tweets and some corroborating reports, the decade-long wait for one of American music’s most enduring icons may be over as soon as next year.
As FasterLouder reports, the unlikely source comes from Painters and Dockers singer Paul Stewart, who believes that Springsteen is set to play two concerts at Hanging Rock in Victoria for Easter 2013, followed by dates in Brisbane, Melbourne, and a Sydney show reportedly “locked in” for March, 2013.
The news came via Stewart’s own Twitter feed which yesterday, with the singer replying that it’s “what I have heard from an excellent source;” and stating that Mushroom mogul and Frontier Touring boss Michael Gudinski would be presenting the shows.
You heard it here first. Michael Gudinski will present Bruce Springsteen in two concerts at Hanging Rock Victoria this Easter.
— Paulie Stewart (@PaulieStewart) November 26, 2012
Someone better tell Wayne Swan... Holding a concert at the stunning geographical location, situated near the Macedon Ranges in Central Victoria, would echo that of another performance from a music legend that Frontier Touring hosted in 2010, that of Leonard Cohen.
The performance won a Helpmann Award for ‘Best International Contemporary Concert’, inspiring another turn of the picturesque setting as a venue when old crooner Rod Stewart performed, with support from Diesel, in February 2011.
A Hanging Rock performance from Springsteen would certainly seem like the kind of grand gesture befitting of an artist that hasn’t visited Australian shores since his world tour for 2003’s The Rising.
Rumours of an Australian return have been persistent almost evers since that visit in March, 2003. Last month, ex-rugby player and current Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter FitzSimons wrote that “the great Bruce Springsteen, is likely to tour Australia in March next year,” teasingly adding: “Don’t ask me how I know, I just do.”
Meanwhile, Triple M’s music scuttlebutt Nue Te Koha has been offering rumours of ‘leaked dates’ for nearly a year, including a solid tip-off last July that’s now proven to be a bit more concrete. Saying at the time, “one major promoter has been in talks with The Boss, but he backed out saying the deal was unworkable,” Te Koha said; “but we have it on good authority that those March dates are still on the table.”
Given that there’s been five albums, a change in the White House, and a proper return to the marathon shows he helped forge with the E Street Band – there’s plenty of reason to get excited for a return form Bruce Springsteen – and while no confirmation has come from the Frontier Touring camp, there’s enough an excuse to start saving your pennies for some potentially expensive, but epic, live shows.
In related Springsteen news, fans have been encouraged to contribute footage and material to a new crowd-sourced documentary called Springsteen & I from the production company of famed filmmaker Ridley Scot, designed to “celebrate one of the greatest lyrical storytellers of our generation.”
