They seem to pop up every single year. The rumors. The rumors that Bruce will perform at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK. They were strong last year, but weren't based on reality. This year they are even stronger, and according to at least one British TV channel it's just a matter of days before it will be officially announced that Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will headline the 2009 version of one of the largest music festivals in the world.
Several things speak for it this time. 1) Bruce performed at a similar type of event when he closed the Magic Tour with a show at the Harley Davidson festival. He may have enjoyed it. 2) He and the E Street Band never played the big European festivals like just about every other major acts have done. Bruce may feel that if it's ever going to happen and if he's ever going to be able to say that he and the band "did it all", it has to be now. 3) In recent years Bruce seems to have loosened up about a lot of things. Just a few years ago it would have been unthinkable to see him play at the Superbowl. It would have been unthinkable to see him endorse a presidential candidate. It would have been unthinkable to see him play with a 16-piece folk orchestra. So maybe the unthinkability about him playing festivals will also soon be just a distant memory.
If it happens, one of the big questions is who will be in the E Street Band lineup. The speculations about Max Weinberg's future are running wild. What is certain is that in February Conan O'Brien's talkshow will move to Los Angeles and become the new Tonight Show replacing Jay Leno. It also seems certain that Max Weinberg will be part of the new Tonight Show. But whereas Max Weinberg has always been able to take long stretches of time off from the Late Night with Conan O'Brien to tour with Bruce, the question is if the same thing will be possible when he's part of the much more prominent Tonight Show. Especially during its first few months with a new host. Will Bruce instead only schedule shows on Max's nights off? Or will another unthinkable thing happen? Bruce will hire a new drummer.
Whatever happens, it looks like the new tour won't start until sometime in March. The European tour that was supposed to begin in early February has been postponed till later in the year and the tour will instead most likely open in the US.
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