2023 was sort of disastrous for Bruce and the E Street Band as “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour” became affected by COVID-19.
After members of the touring team missed certain shows due to illnesses, Bruce had to postpone all other remaining shows from 2023 to this year, 2024 while announcing more dates in addition to the postponed dates.
Fast forward to today, the countdown to the 19th of March 2024, when the “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour” is scheduled to continue in Phoenix, US, has already begun. The first “Springsteen and E Street Band” Europe show is scheduled to take place in Cardiff, Wales on the 5th of May 2024.
January seems to be in a haste to give way for February, innit? After February, comes March. We know a lot of people who are happy with the speed the year 2024 is going – speaking about the heavy anticipation of the “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour”, by the fans in Wales.
Speaking of tickets, we heard the fans in the US had it tough getting tickets to the shows. This made us go on the lookout for a preventive measure, pending when the show reaches Cardiff. Luckily, we found one. An alternative ticket marketplace where you can easily get Bruce Springsteen Cardiff tickets.
Unlike some artists who tour the world in support of 1 studio album, the E Street Band and Bruce are touring in support of 2 studio albums, “Letter to You,” and “Only the Strong Survive. “Letter to You,” was released by Bruce and E Street Band in October 2020, making it their first album to be released in 6 years.
“Only the Strong Survive” was released on the 11th of September, 2022 by Bruce Springsteen making it his 21st studio album. “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour” is based upon these albums. The two albums also sum up the tour’s set list which contains a total of 20 songs, and 6 encores spread within 3 hours every night.
The solid anticipation by Cardiffians was expected after “Letter to You” became the 45th best- album in a list of 75 by Mojo, a popular music magazine with monthly publications in the UK. “Only The Strong Survive,” also became Silver certified in the UK after the album sold more than 60k units. That is aside from other accolades and charts that the album topped in Europe.
Setlist Complaints
The internet holds records of certain times that fans complained about the arrangement of the Springsteen and E Street Band Tour setlist. Most of the complaints were about the fact that some songs were repeated in different performances.
You know how you just can’t satisfy people, this is just it. As with any tour, there’s going to be a dedicated setlist. The same songs are repeated by the same performer, on different nights, and at different locations. That is the standard.
But, some fans seemed to have a problem with that during the first leg of the Springsteen and E Street Band Tour. They voiced their dissatisfaction with the fact that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band repeated songs on different nights, and also reduced the number of songs they performed from 28 to 26.
After the complaints hit the net, it became the talk of the town, and Bruce alongside the E Street band and the entire touring team started being dragged online because of the matter. It didn’t take long for Vini Lopez, an ex-drummer of E Street Band, to address the issue.
Vini said, “The thing that bugs me the most about the tour is the people who go to 20 shows and then they complain about hearing the same songs.”
Thinking about this, you’ll realize that attending 10 different Springsteen shows means you’ll have to hear the same songs in those concerts. A lot of fans have expressed some form of anger toward the criticism of the setlist.
Attending 20 Springsteen concerts is not a bad thing, but pure love. However, wanting them to change the set list because of you is selfish.
Steven Van Zandt also had his fill, and he couldn’t hide his feelings when he was asked about the complaints coming in from fans about the set list while giving an interview.
Steven said, “I had to let that guy have it the other day. He’s like, ‘(whining) Jeez, you started out playing 28 songs and now you’re playing 26. I want my money back.’”
In the same interview, Steven said that anybody measuring the show by the number of songs performed on stage, or the time spent there is not serious. He added that the “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour” isn’t about numbers, but based on an emotional experience. In the sense that everyone connects on a special level with the songs being performed at the time.
Even though the responses from Steven and Vini didn’t change some fan’s perspective of the “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour,” it did create a fresh perspective for some others to enjoy the show more than they had expected as long as they share a high level of intimacy, especially with certain songs on the set list of the “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour.”
Springsteen and E Street Band Tour Tickets
Bruce Springsteen used Ticketmaster’s verified Fan Services to sell their tickets. Although the platform is commendable, and considered one of the biggest ticket-selling and Distribution Companies, the process by which they distributed tickets made it hard for all fans in need to get tickets to certain shows, especially in the US where the tour started.
Fans are required to register first, then a code will be sent to them after verification, which happens on the night before the tickets are made available for purchase, concerning the show they intend to attend. However, not all fans were guaranteed to receive the purchase code as tickets were not available for everyone.
Ticketmasters had to restrict how fans accessed the tickets. The restriction was to prevent bots and scalpers from getting tickets and reselling them to fans for higher prices. However, the process was too rigid to the extent that some fans who were placed on the waiting list ended up not receiving tickets to the show as well.
The demand for tickets by fans also contributed to the disappointment. Bruce must have undermined his popularity. Ticketmaster on the one hand wasn’t let off easily by the angry fans who couldn’t get tickets to the shows despite following due process.
Some complained that the prices of tickets sold by Ticketmaster were unbelievably high. In defense, Ticketmaster said that prices of “Springsteen and E Street Band Tour” tickets were uncontrollable, and would rise depending on demand by fans. This tactic was called the “Dynamic Pricing Program.”
Even with the confusion, some lucky fans were able to get the tickets at considerable prices. That was when the tickets initially went on sale.
Generally, fans traveling inter-continent to attend the Springsteen and E Street Band Tour also contribute to the scarcity of tickets. But we can’t complain, can we? After all, it’s all pure love, innit?
