The Fat Angel Sings

It’s called The River Tour and it’s coming to Newark.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play Sunday, January 31st 2016 at the city’s Prudential Center, according to the venue’s Web site,www.prucenter.com.

Tickets are $73 to $155 and they go on sale Friday, December. 11th  through Ticketmaster, according to the posting. Calls requesting  additional details to spokespersons for the Prudential Center and Springsteen were not returned. The post was taken down after about an hour but an official announcement is expected on Friday, Dec. 4.

Springsteen is releasing a box set treatment for his 1980 double album “The River” called “The Ties That Bind: The River Collection” on Friday, Dec. 4th. If the Newark show is part of a tour, that would call into question Springsteen’s participation in the annual Light of Day festival, scheduled for Friday, January. 8th through Monday January. 18th at multiple venues in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Philadelphia  and New York City.

While Springsteen began performing full album sequences in 2008, The River has been performed in its entirety exactly once: November 8th, 2009, at Madison Square Garden. While no specific setlist plans have been discussed, we have high hopes for that 20-track feat to be repeated, along with live airings of 1979-’80 outtakes.

Perhaps an indication that Bruce will be downsizing the “E Street Orchestra” of recent tours for this 2016 outting, today’s press release lists the E Street Band’s members as Roy Bittan, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Garry Tallent, Stevie Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg, with Soozie Tyrell, Jake Clemons, and Charlie Giordano.

The announcement also notes: “Each night of the tour will be mixed for release on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net as high-quality downloads and CDs. Recordings will be available within days of each performance.”

The highlight is the Light of Day Main Event, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, where the birthday of Light of Day founder Bob Benjamin is celebrated and Springsteen often performs unannounced.

While still awaiting an official announcement, these US dates are circulating from reliable sources on the day of the box set release, and appear to fit the expected time frame for the New Year 2016 tour. Newark is already listed on the Prudential Center website, with an on sale date of December 11. Not clear if this is a ‘final’ list or if more dates may be added. Amy Lofgren confirmed on Twitter that Nils is touring with the band for what’s being called ‘The River Tour’...

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band launch The River Tour 2016, a nine-week US trek, on January. 16th in Pittsburgh. The announcement of the tour coincides with today’s release of “The Ties That Bind: The River Collection,” a comprehensive look at the era of the 1980 “The River” album that “Rolling Stone” calls “Springsteen’s best archival release yet.”

Each night of the tour will be mixed for release on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net as high-quality downloads and CDs. Recordings will be available within days of each performance.

The original The River Tour began Oct. 3, 1980, two weeks before the release of Springsteen’s fifth album, and continued through Sept. 4, 1981. With sets that regularly approached the four-hour range, the 140-date international tour firmly established a reputation for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as marathon performers.

Tickets to The River Tour go on sale December. 11th.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2016 US Tour Dates:

UPDATE: Backstreets is reporting the band’s lineup as as Roy Bittan, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Garry Tallent, Stevie Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg, with Soozie Tyrell, Jake Clemons, and Charlie Giordano.