Business remains good for "The Boss" as Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band raked in nearly $40 million for their recent Down Under tour. Billboard reported that the grosses for the January and February concerts "totaled $38 million from 12 performances in seven Australian venues followed by concerts at two stadiums in New Zealand. Attendance reached 261,184 at all events during the five-week run titled the 'Summer '17 Tour.'"
This time around, Springsteen and the band played sell out stops in Australia: Perth -- three shows, double-show stops in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, and single stops in Adelaide, Macedon, and Hunter Valley. Springsteen's New Zealand shows consisted of one night each in Christchurch and Auckland.
- Bruce Springsteen explained that each and every concert has its own indelible fingerprint: ["The inner-dynamics of it are very unusual, if done with a certain state of mind, y'know? It's like, it's new every night. It's hard to explain, but it really comes to life uniquely on a nightly basis. There's no two nights that were ever the same."]
- Steve Van Zandt told us that the E Street Band is built on spontaneity and is able to keep their shows so flexible because they don't fall into the same traps as other touring groups: ["Y'know, I know a lot of bands, they just play the same sets, 'cause they have that (laughs) expensive production that has to be coordinated -- which we don't have. Y'know, we're like the light man, the sound man, (laughs) they'll catch up -- they'll figure it out by the second verse. We don't care. It's all about the music, it's all about the relationship with the audience and we kind of just go for it. I'm very proud that we're able to turn arenas, and even stadiums, into clubs."
READ: Full Springsteen story: http://bit.ly/2m69LvN
SIDE NOTES
- Recently released is HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY - 11/22/09 featuring the final live performance of Clarence Clemons.
- The show, which marked the final stop on the 2009 Working On Dream tour, features the E Street Band performing Bruce Springsteen's 1973 debut, Greeting From Asbury Park, NJ, in its entirety. All told, the live set runs for three and a half hours and includes 35 songs.
- "The Big Man" Clarence Clemons died on June 18th, 2011 due to complications caused by a stroke at age 69.
CHECK IT OUT: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- with a teenage fan Nathan Testa -- on February 16th, 2017 live in Brisbane: