Springsteen 2024 Tour
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND 2024 EUROPEAN SHOWS ANNOUNCED
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band delivered “the greatest show on earth” (Billboard) across Europe this summer and they’ll make a triumphant return in 2024 with a 22-show stadium run. Kicking off on 5th May in Cardiff, Springsteen and The E Street Band will bring their 2024 world tour to Northern Ireland, Ireland, England, France, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway before bookending in the U.K. with a date at London’s Wembley Stadium on 25th July. Tickets will go on sale starting with Odense, Denmark on 2nd November. Full list of performance dates and on-sale times below.
Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023 European tour sold over 1.6 million tickets and earned widespread praise as some of the best shows of the band’s career. The 2023 European run received praise as “one of the greatest shows ever” (Daily Telegraph) as well as five-star reviews from The Times, The Independent, NME and many others across the continent. Highlights included a two-night kick-off in Barcelona which “unleashed euphoria” (El Correo) as well as performances to over 130,000 fans across two dates in London’s Hyde Park and a final night to over 70,000 in Monza, Italy.
Returning to North America at the tail end of summer, Springsteen and The E Street Band’s first U.S. stadium show in seven years - at Chicago’s Wrigley Field - was lauded as “something without equal” (Chicago Tribune) and one of “Wrigley Field’s brightest moments” (Chicago Sun-Times). A three-night New Jersey homecoming at MetLife Stadium over Labor Day weekend was praised as “blistering and time-eclipsing” (Salon) and “a joyous affair where nobody felt like saying goodbye” (Rolling Stone).
NEW EUROPEAN DATES ANNOUNCED (2024)
5 May - Cardiff, Wales @ Principality Stadium (On-sale: Friday, Nov. 3 at 10am*)
9 May - Belfast, Northern Ireland @ Boucher Road (On-sale: Monday, Nov. 6 at 8am*)
12 May - Kilkenny, Ireland @ Nowlan Park (On-sale: Monday, Nov. 6 at 8am*)
16 May - Cork, Ireland @ Páirc Uí Chaoimh (On-sale: Monday, Nov. 6 at 8am*)
19 May - Dublin, Ireland @ Croke Park (On-sale: Monday, Nov. 6 at 8am*)
22 May - Sunderland, England @ Stadium of Light (On-sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 10am*)
25 May - Marseille, France @ Orange Vélodrome (On-sale Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 10am*)
28 May - Prague, Czech Republic @ Airport Letnany (On-sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 10am*)
1 June - Milan, Italy @ San Siro Stadium (On-sale Monday, Nov. 6 at 12pm*)
3 June - Milan, Italy @ San Siro Stadium (On-sale Monday, Nov. 6 at 12pm*)
12 June - Madrid, Spain @ Cívitas Metropolitano (On-sale Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 10am*)
14 June - Madrid, Spain @ Cívitas Metropolitano (On-sale Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 10am*)
20 June - Barcelona, Spain @ Estadi Olímpic (On-sale Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 10am*)
27 June - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Goffertpark (On-sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 9am*)
2 July - Werchter, Belgium @ Werchter Park (On-sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 10am*)
5 July - Hannover, Germany @ Heinz von Heiden Arena (On-sale Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 10am*)
9 July - Odense, Denmark @ Dyrskuepladsen (On-sale Thursday, Nov. 2 at 10am*)
12 July - Helsinki, Finland @ Olympic Stadium (On-sale Monday, Nov. 6 at 11am*)
15 July - Stockholm, Sweden @ Friends Arena (On-sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 10am*)
18 July - Stockholm, Sweden @ Friends Arena (On-sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 10am*)
21 July - Bergen, Norway @ Dokken (On-sale Monday, Nov. 6 at 10am*)
25 July - London, England @ Wembley Stadium connected by EE (On-sale Friday, Nov. 3 at 10am*)
*All on-sale times are local time
https://brucespringsteen.net/
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https://music.amazon.com/artists/B001E38CQQ/bruce-springsteen
Grian Chatten Solo LP
Grian Chatten CHAOS FOR THE FLY. Partisan Records
CHAOS FOR THE FLY is the debut solo album from Grian Chatten, vocalist of Dublin’s critically-acclaimed band Fontaines D.C. Rare moments of respite from a relentless touring schedule afforded Chatten the opportunity to start work on something for himself, occupying a completely different headspace from his hugely successful work within Fontaines D.C. Co-produced by the band’s longstanding producer Dan Carey, the album is arguably the most poetic we’ve heard from Chatten. Each song here has a sweep of colour and textures that breathe life into his lucid tales. Over its nine tracks, CHAOS FOR THE FLY is a record that takes in all of life’s rich and diverse emotions.
Grian explains: “All of the people is the stiff collar tight-fisted hand to the grindstone written where all is blue and everyone is a liar. It is a line of chalk scratched around the world.”
“I was walking along Stoney Beach at night and it came to me on the waves,” recalls Chatten. “I just stood there and looked at them and I heard the whole fucking thing. Every part of it, from the chord progressions to the string arrangements.”
The resulting songs could have been taken, shaped and reimagined with his bandmates in Fontaines D.C., but Chatten decided to treat these differently.
“I just thought: I want to do this myself. I know where we as a band are going next and that’s not where I want to go with this. I’ve got a couple of exaggerated aspects of my soul that I wanted to express,” he says.
“The rest of the band are all creative and songwriters in their own right, too. I didn’t want to go to them and be like, ‘No, every single thing has to be like this.’ I didn’t want to compromise with these songs in that way.”
“A lot of the album was written with just me and a guitar and I really like the idea of it being boiled down to those elements. That feeling of having the song in the palm of your hand, that control of having it with just you and a guitar,” he says. “There’s an intensity as a result of that.”
Review
Chatten has created an enigmatic album with strong melodies and good lyrics which reveal much more of the character and thoughts of the Fontaines D.C. band leadman. His vocals are matter-of-fact, conversational and honest. Much of the music here is downbeat and slow-paced with sparse instrumentations including several lazy snare drum moments. ‘The Score’ opens proceedings with some distant digital sounds before the Simon & Garfunkel style vocal enters quietly and with great contemplation backed by gently plucked guitar. It’s lovely with instrumentation and backing vocals that are beautifully judged. ‘Last Time Every Time Forever’ ups the pace with a vocal that seems like it’s coming from a deep tunnel. Lyrically it’s up with the best here: “All my words fail me now/And I have seen it all/And I have no doubt that an alonely thing you surely are could be the fixture made in a face down bar.”
‘Bob’s Casino’ sounds like something out of a 50s musical while ‘All The People’ with its subtle piano backing, solemn vibe, angelic backing vocals, beautiful string moments and strong melody wins my award for the best here (and probably one of the most moving tracks of the year so far). Fans will love this album and for a first solo effort I rate it highly and especially because it’s so distinctive.
4/5
Album Track List
The Score
Last Time Every Time Forever
Fairlies
Bob’s Casino
All Of The People
East Coast Bed
Salt Throwers Off A Truck
I Am So Far
Season For Pain
GRIAN CHATTEN - NEW SINGLE: ‘ALL OF THE PEOPLE’
STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE: https://grianchatten.lnk.to/AOTP
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ72bb51ebE
PRE-ORDER/SAVE HERE: https://grianchatten.lnk.to/chaos
Kramies By Kramies
Kramies KRAMIES
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to say this before, because I can’t really understand completely how I process things without relying heavily on the emotions I use to create everything, but “Owl and the Crow” is one of the songs on the LP that means the most to me.”
“For one of the first times in my life I recognise instantly where the story and emotion from this song comes from. I rarely remember anything that isn’t emotionally heightened, if something doesn’t carry bits of historic emotional imagery then I don’t really care about it or remember it. This song has stayed with me. There are a few unspoken landmarks on this LP for me and ‘Owl and the Crow’is one of them.”
Originally written while travelling through Ireland, the first single ‘Owl and the Crow’ arrives as another dreamy glimpse into Kramies’ new self-titled LP.
See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7xs_EmuA0U
The new KRAMIES LP showcases a wide spectrum of creativity and sound in its brief 32 minutes. Produced by and featuring a whole host of special guests including Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Tyler Ramsey of Band of Horses and Jerry Becker of Train, the record also includes an appearance from Jim Bogis who has played with Counting Crows and Stevie Nicks.
Containing the old-world dreamy, lyrical landscapes which he has become known for, Kramies now crosses boundaries between ghostly scenarios and fairy-tale laden myths. With songs touching on death, struggles with addiction and the echoes of nostalgia, he demonstrates with a much more powerful musical maturity and strength.
Once again weaving together a touching tapestry of songs into an emotional new story, the artistic atmosphere of Kramies’ new LP conjures the organic journey and display of Kramies’ growth as an artist.
With a career spanning almost fifteen years and a long string of releases that have earned him the title of “the dream-pop troubadour”, Kramies’ knack for eerie and ethereal songwriting has gained the attention of Billboard, Clash, NPR amongst others, with his most recent single ‘Hotel in LA’ being praised for its “ethereal quality of a waking dreamscape” by Under The Radar. Much of his success has come from his ability to be himself and stick to his clear artistic vision, and this new LP sees Kramies grow even more comfortable with his own unique way of working.
4/5
Track List
Days Of
Horses to Maine
Hotel in LA
Ohio I’ll Be Fine
You’d Be the Fall
Flowers from the Orphan
Owl and the Crow
4:44am
William The Conqueror? New LP
William The Conqueror EXCUSE ME WHILE I VANISH. Chrysalis Records
“My wife was insomniac for the first six months of lockdown, which made it impossible for me to moan or grieve the fact that everything I’d been working on for the last five years had come to a standstill. It was a much-needed perspective and made me realise what a selfish undertaking William had been - navel-gazing with my head in the clouds when what people needed was boots firmly on the ground, preferably on the feet of someone like Mandy.”
“My favourite kind of songwriting is when you have no control over what’s happening” explains frontman Ruarri. “The song just arrives, finding its way through your fingers onto the fret board, as the pen wanders the page and somehow says everything you didn’t realise you needed to say. “The Bruises” was like that. It wasn’t and then all of a sudden, it was.” Bassist Naomi adds, “”The Bruises” will stay with you all day. And with a verse that catchy, you don’t really need a chorus. Which is lucky.
William The Conqueror‘s fourth album finds the indie-rock trio confronting the thin line between creativity and madness, inspired by compassion for the real-life angels of the world. Ruarri’s compelling semi-spoken vocals and swamp-blues-Seattle-scuzz guitars are propelled by the rhythm section of Naomi Holmes (bass) and Harry Harding (drums) as EXCUSE ME WHILE I VANISH delivers a blend of melody and ensemble dynamics, the most accomplished and undeniable William The Conqueror album to-date.
Review
As a reviewer, I’m always looking for something a little original, a little distinctive. The reason is that so much music released today feels like it has been birthed from the same computer programme - it’s formulaic - and I cannot ascertain its true meaning or emotion because basically it’s not there… So my introduction to William The Conqueror and Ruarr Joseph in this desolate music landscape is something of a large dose of Red Bull.
Take the epic opener ‘The Puppet And The Puppeteer’. The vocal starts at walking/talking pace in a fairly conventional indie rock instrumental style but as the song travels along it gathers momentum and passion with several grungy guitar riffs which raise the temperature and the darkness. There’s a strong melody and rather opaque lyrics which I think point to the way we are autocratically (and badly) governed. The final quarter boasts crashing drums and contemplative vocal with guitars reaching for the sky. Brilliant!
Next comes ‘The Bruises’ which takes on a more contemplative and downbeat vibe. This introspective song about a relationship hits the mark with its strong melody and more transparent lyrics: “Even in the desert sun where you met her/Who could forget her/Dancing like a mirage on the horizon/It’s not surprising that you fell in love with her/Let’s hope she’s still in love with you.” ‘Sheepskin Sleeve’ offers a more jagged and gloomier musical landscape with guitars and drums playing key roles. The conversational vocal is perfectly matched to the song’s more serious vibe.
‘L.W.Y.’ slows the pace even further this time with the vocal dominating proceedings and with the excellent arrangement one is forced to listen to the words: “I’m lost within you/And I’m lost without you.” It’s a highly emotive song that shouts truth and regret. Beautiful!
Ultimately this record represents a welcome breath of fresh air in a rather homogeneous market. It’s superbly written, performed and produced. Listen to the thunderous and hugely melodic ‘Somebody Else’ and you’ll understand my enthusiasm for this superb record. Essential.
5/5
Israel Nash New LP
Israel Nash OZARKER. Loose Music
“I think the reason so much of that classic heartland rock and roll endures is because it touches on themes we all feel so deeply: desire, struggle, commitment, escape. As an artist, I’m always aspiring to touch as many people as possible, and that’s what this music has always represented for me. I was born and raised in small-town Missouri. All the people and the stories and the music that shaped me come from that part of the country, and I could feel it calling back to me on this album.”
“I think the reason so much of that classic heartland rock and roll endures is because it touches on themes we all feel so deeply: desire, struggle, commitment, escape. As an artist, I’m always aspiring to touch as many people as possible, and that’s what this music has always represented for me.”
Review
“Hailed as a “master of sonic textures” by Rolling Stone and “folk-rock visionary” by Uncut, Israel Nash first rose to fame in Europe, where he built a loyal following with a series of critically acclaimed albums that landed him a deal with the renowned Loose Music label. As American audiences began to catch on, the Missouri native relocated to Dripping Springs, Texas, where he built his own recording studio on a ranch and embraced a more spacious, psychedelic sound that landed somewhere between Neil Young and Pink Floyd. Produced by Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne), Nash’s newest record, OZARKER, finds him returning to his Midwestern roots, embracing the heartland rock he grew up on with larger-than-life guitars, anthemic melodies, and rich character studies.”
Opener ‘Can’t Stop’ sets the stage, with percolating synthesisers bubbling up beneath reverb-drenched guitars that build into an explosive crescendo. Like much of the album, it’s a song about motion and growth and liberation, but there’s also doubt lurking beneath the surface. The fiery ‘Roman Candle’ chases confidence and inner-strength, while the melancholy ‘Pieces’ searches for a sense of normalcy in the wake of loss, and the dreamy ‘Firedance’ refuses to surrender to the weight of the world.
Elsewhere, the rapturous title track tells the story of Nash’s great-grandfather, a migrant worker who fell in love with an orchard owner’s daughter and kept his promise to return in a year to marry her; the searing ‘Lost In America’ - inspired by a family friend - follows a shell-shocked Vietnam vet who can’t find peace in his own skin; and the ominous ‘Shadowland’ explores the vicious cycles of drug abuse and poverty that continue to haunt struggling families in rural Missouri.
There are fabulous winding guitar riffs aplenty, great lyrics, strong melodies, nice diversity of pace and acres of passionate vocal deliveries. Having witnessed a live performance here in the UK last year I urge you to seek him out if he’s in your neck of the woods. Strongly recommended.
4.5/5
Track Listing
Can’t Stop
Roman Candle
Ozarker
Pieces
Going Back
Firedance
Lost In America
Midnight Hour
Travel On
Shadowland
https://israelnash.com/
https://www.facebook.com/israelnashmusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5skM4jc4QoEpHiWWl6OoW7
ISRAEL NASH ‘CAN’T STOP’ WATCH THE LYRIC VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLEcFqMj4m8
PRE-ORDER/SAVE: https://go.israelnash.com/OZRKa
Philip ‘Seth’ Campbell Live
Future Yard, Birkenhead, 18 October 2023
Back in the late 90s I was given a single called ‘Hope Faith And Me’ by a young singer/songwriter called Phil Campbell. It was one of the most moving songs I’ve ever heard and sung by one of the most beautiful, distinctive and expressive voices. Not long after this website was born and one of my first tasks was to track down the artist after having acquired his debut record (after which both artist and record were dropped by the EMI record company). It took a couple of years before I was able to locate and interview him. He revealed a story not untypical of an artist largely ignored by the broadcast and print media despite his major talent, and a record that I still count as one of my most loved of all time.
Campbell has travelled a rocky personal road but in the process has released many great records from several groups he has been associated with in addition to several solo releases. I first witnessed a performance by him with his brilliant 3-piece band White Buffalo at the Band On The Wall in Manchester and then again much later with his very successful band The Temperance Movement again in Manchester. One of Campbell’s problems has been that he shares the same name with another artist, a Welsh rock musician, best known as the guitarist in Motörhead from 1984 to 2015 (who always come first in Internet searches). Probably for that reason, as a solo artist, he now calls himself Philip ‘Seth’ Campbell.
Campbell’s latest (Scottish) group is called The Byson Family (a throwback to White Buffalo perhaps…) who have also recently released an excellent record. With so many great records and songs under his belt, in addition to his latest solo record CITY LIGHTS, he has an enormous cache of material to feature in shows.
But before he mounts the stage with his keyboardist and guitarist another Scottish singer/songwriter provides very able and sensitive support. Alice Faye possesses the most fragile voice that emits distinctive sounds that place her apart. Occasionally accompanied by a guitarist during her set, from behind her keyboard she enchanted an audience of strangers who rapidly became friends. Her songs, based mostly on personal romantic moments, possessed strong melodies and touching sentiments. She also conversed easily and humorously with her audience which added something special to her set.
I’ve waited too long to experience another evening with Campbell and I have to admit to some trepidation as to his personal state and performance ability. I should not have worried. Over many years I have witnessed hundreds of performance of which few live long in my memory in a very special way. In this bijou and excellent venue in a quiet backwater of Birkenhead was to provide another.
“Campbell is one of the most eminently gifted singers of his generation”
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