The Wrecking Ball World Tour was a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

and the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, ''

Wrecking Ball A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a Crane (machine), crane, that is used for Demolition, demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1940s and 1950s. Several wrecking companies claim to have inve ...

'', which was released on March 5, 2012. It was the first tour for the E Street Band without founding member

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American saxophonist. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Clemons rel ...

, who died on June 18, 2011. The worldwide tour in support of the album, which ended in September 2013, reached 26 countries, the most ever for one of Springsteen's tours. The tour resumed in January 2014 to promote Springsteen's new album, '' High Hopes'', and went under that album's name. In an attempt to fill the void left by Clemons, Springsteen added a full horn section, which included Jake Clemons, Clarence's nephew. Three background singers and a percussionist were also added, giving the E Street Band its largest lineup ever at seventeen members. As with previous tours, Springsteen's wife and band member,

Patti Scialfa Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into t ...

, did not appear at all the shows due to family commitments. Guitarist

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...

was also unable to perform on the band's

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n leg due to the filming of his television show, ''

Lilyhammer ''Lilyhammer'' is a crime comedy-drama television series starring Steven Van Zandt about a former New York–based gangster named Frank "The Fixer" Tagliano trying to start a new life in isolated Lillehammer, Norway. The first season premiered ...

''. Van Zandt was replaced by

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...

for those dates. The tour featured over 215 different songs performed, including some songs either making their live debuts or returning after an extended absence. The tour was named the second highest-grossing tour of 2012 and was the most attended tour of the year,Top 25 Tours of 2012 , Billboard
/ref> winning the Billboard Touring Award for Top Draw. For the first half of 2013, the tour was named one of the top three grossing tours for the year.Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones Among Top 2013 Concert Earners List
/ref> At the end of 2012, the tour placed second on

Pollstar ''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017. ''Pollstar'' holds an annual award ce ...

's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $210.2 million from 81 shows in Europe. At the end of 2013, the tour placed fifth on Pollstar's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $145.4 million from 46 shows in Europe. Overall, the tour grossed $340.6 million from 124 shows.

Itinerary

Planning and rehearsals

Private rehearsals started in late January 2012 at the Expo Theater in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, the same site where rehearsals were held for the '' Tunnel of Love Express Tour'' and the '' Rising Tour''. Some rehearsals were held at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton to allow the band and crew to try a new stage design. It was announced on February 9, 2012, that Eddie Manion and Clarence Clemons's nephew, Jake Clemons, would share saxophone duties with Clemons handling most of the lead solos. Additional horns were provided by Clark Gayton, Curt Ramm, and Barry Danielian. Everett Bradly provided percussion and backing vocals while Curtis King Jr. and Cindy Mizelle returned as background singers. Michelle Moore joined the tour as a background singer featuring on Rocky Ground for the rap (as on the album). In advance of the album's release on March 5, 2012, the band kicked off a string of warm-up performances prior to the tour, including a performance of the album's first single, " We Take Care of Our Own", at the

54th Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted t ...

. During the final week of February, talk show host

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

dedicated an entire week of his show, ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

'', to Springsteen's music. Different artists covered Springsteen's songs each night of that week. The new touring lineup performed their first full show together on March 9, 2012, at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

. Springsteen then gave a keynote speech at the

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

convention in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, on March 15, 2012, and was joined later in the evening by the E Street Band for a -hour set before a crowd of a few thousand.

Ticket sales

On January 26, 2012, dates for the first U.S. leg of the Wrecking Ball world tour were announced to the public, with many going on sale during the first weekend of February. Much like with the previous tour, many U.S. fans encountered problems, thought to be due to ticket scalpers, through

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Ente ...

as the first dates of the tour went on sale. Shows were selling out within minutes and many tickets appeared, at much higher prices, on resale websites such as StubHub less than an hour after the onsale time. Ticketmaster said web traffic was 2.5 times the highest level of the past year during the online sales. U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, who introduced the BOSS ACT in 2009 to increase transparency in the ticket industry, said he would reintroduce the bill in Congress.

The show

The world tour began on March 18, 2012, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The early shows established a routine of using " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", performed as the show closer, as a tribute song to Clarence Clemons. Following the lyric ''the Big Man joined the band'', Springsteen paused the song so the band and audience could pay tribute to Clemons, following which the band resumed the remainder of the song. " My City of Ruins" was used as the band introduction song and frequently included a Springsteen rap about "ghosts", referring to Clemons and

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, where he was its organist, accordionist and glockenspiel player. Federici appeared on ten ...

, the long-time E Street Band organist who died during the Magic Tour in April 2008. For cities that had more than one consecutive show, American Land was used as the show closer, with the entire band on the front line and finishing the show on the main center platform. Per Springsteen's standard practice, the set list varied from night to night, sometimes significantly. The tour saw the revival of a number of long-absent aspects of Springsteen's concerts, such as the return (during some shows) of a lengthy instrumental introduction to " Prove It All Night" that fans had unsuccessfully requested during the "sign request" (also sometimes known as "Stump the Band") segments during the Magic and Working on a Dream Tours. The instrumental introduction had been a noted point of 1978's

Darkness Tour Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Darkness Tour was a concert tour of North America that ran from May 1978 through the rest of the year, in conjunction with the release of Springsteen's album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town''. Like most Sp ...

show but had not been played since. Shows were longer than on recent tours, culminating in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

on July 31, 2012, with the longest performance of Springsteen's career at 4 hours and 6 minutes. Earlier the same night, prior to the show proper, Springsteen had performed a five-song acoustic set for early arrivals. During the encore of Springsteen's show in London at the Hard Rock Calling festival, the city council pulled the plug on his performance because he ran a few minutes past the show's 10:30 pm curfew. Springsteen was performing " I Saw Her Standing There" and "

Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by The Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Broth ...

" with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

when their microphones and instruments were shut off. Springsteen ended the set with a brief a cappella, unamplified version of "

Goodnight Irene "Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," ( Roud 11681) is a 20th-century American folk standard, written in time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1933. A version recorded by The Weavers was a #1 hit ...

." The incident resulted in the show being the lone concert on the tour at which "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", with its Clarence Clemons tribute, was not performed. Following the performance,

Steve Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared in ...

took to

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and said, "English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn't want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney!" and followed that up with "There's no grudges to be held. Just feel bad for our great fans. Hard Rock is cool. Live Nation is cool. It's some City Council stupid rule." When Springsteen next performed three nights later in Ireland, he poked fun at the London incident. During " Dancing in the Dark" the big screens by the stage displayed only a battery switched "On." A fake policeman came out to the stage to stop them playing "Twist and Shout" but Springsteen refused. While playing ''American Land'', the fake policeman pulled the plug, but Van Zandt plugged it back in. The tour returned to the United States in August 2012 and focused on baseball and football stadiums. The tour's third (and final) show at

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. It opened in 2010, replacing Giants Stadium, and serves as the home for the ...

on September 22, 2012, was delayed for two hours due to a strong thunderstorm. The show finally got underway around 10:30 pm, prompting fans to sing "Happy Birthday" to Springsteen at midnight to celebrate his 63rd birthday. At the end of the show, Springsteen was presented with a guitar-shaped birthday cake onstage. On October 29, 2012, the New Jersey area was hit hard by

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

. Springsteen's show in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, the following day was forced to be postponed until October 31, 2012. That night, Springsteen dedicated his performance to those affected by the storm and those helping to recover. Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "Land of Hope and Dreams" during a one-hour televised telethon called '' Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together'' on November 2, 2012. Springsteen also joined

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

and

for a performance of "

Under the Boardwalk "Under the Boardwalk" is a pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by The Drifters in 1964. It charted at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on August 22, 1964. The song has since been covered by many othe ...

". He later participated in the '' 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief'' at Madison Square Garden, a benefit concert for Sandy victims. Due to filming of his television show, ''

'',

was forced to miss the Australian leg of the tour in 2013.

replaced Van Zandt for those dates. Van Zandt made his return in late April 2013 when he opened the first of the band's two shows in

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( or ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of towns and cities in Norway, most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a Counties of Norway, county and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a populat ...

, by singing

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

's " My Kind of Town" in character as Frank "the fixer" Tagliano from ''Lilyhammer''. As with 2009's Working on a Dream Tour, some shows featured full-album performances of ''

Born to Run ''Born to Run'' is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records. Co- produced by Springsteen with his manager Mike Appel and the producer Jon Landau, its recordin ...

'', ''

Darkness on the Edge of Town ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded after a series of legal disputes between Springsteen and his ...

'', and '' Born in the U.S.A.'' The European leg ended in late July 2013. The final leg of the tour took place in September 2013 with Springsteen's first-ever show in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Chile, on September 12. The tour subsequently featured dates in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and Brazil, with the final show at the

Rock in Rio Rock in Rio is a biennial Brazilian multi-day music festival held at City of Rock in Rio de Janeiro. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Ten incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeir ...

festival on September 21. The show, which was held at Cidade do Rock, was broadcast live on cable in Brazil and over the Internet via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. In the concerts in Brazil, Springsteen performed a cover of "Sociedade Alternativa" by Raul Seixas in addition to his usual setlist.

Critical and commercial reception

The tour was a commercial success and was named the second highest-grossing tour of 2012, finishing behind

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, and was the most attended tour of the year, winning the Billboard Touring Award for Top Draw. It was also named the 21st highest-grossing tour worldwide as of December 2012. In July 2013, the tour was named one of the top three grossing tours for the first half of 2013, along with tours by

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

, who had grossed the highest so far, and the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. Springsteen was named the #1 musical act by

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

magazine in their August 2013 issue.50 Best Live Bands; Best Live Musicians - Rolling Stone
/ref>

Aftermath and Springsteen's response

During the tour, Springsteen felt inspired to start working on his eighteenth studio album, which eventually became '' High Hopes''. The album was recorded in 2013 during breaks in the Wrecking Ball Tour and was released in January 2014. Springsteen cited Morello, who helped re-introduce some previously recorded songs and cover songs to the recording sessions and live shows, as a huge inspiration on the album.

Broadcasts and recordings

A number of the festival dates performed on the tour had excerpts from the performance broadcast on television. Additionally, 45 minutes of the 2012 Hyde Park show in London was released as a bonus feature on the Springsteen & I DVD release. Coinciding with the '' Born in the U.S.A.'' album's 30th anniversary, '' Born in the U.S.A. Live: London 2013'', a live DVD of the full performance of the album recorded at the 2013 Hard Rock Calling festival, was released through

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

as part of a deluxe edition of the '' High Hopes'' album. Several shows were released as part of the

Bruce Springsteen Archives ''Bruce Springsteen Archives'' is an ongoing collection of officially released live albums by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Beginning in November 2014 with the release of the 2012 Apollo Theater concert, Springsteen sought out to rele ...

: * '' Apollo Theater 3/09/12'' released on November 17, 2014 * '' Ippodromo delle Capannelle, Rome 2013'' released on November 11, 2015 * '' Olympiastadion, Helsinki July 31, 2012'' released on May 23, 2017 * ''Leeds July 24, 2013'' released on November 9, 2018 * ''East Rutherford, NJ 09.22.12'' released on June 7, 2019 * ''Gothenburg July 28, 2012'' released on April 3, 2020 * ''St. Paul November 12, 2012'' released on January 8, 2021 * ''Fenway Park August 15, 2012'' released on August 6, 2021 * ''Paris July 4'' and ''Paris July 5, 2012'' released on July 1, 2022 * ''Cardiff, July 23, 2013'' released on January 12, 2024 * ''Omaha, NE Nov 15, 2012'' released on March 7, 2025

Set list

# " We Take Care of Our Own" # "Wrecking Ball" # " Death to My Hometown" # " My City of Ruins" # " Spirit in the Night" # "

Out in the Street Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese ...

" # " Hungry Heart" # " Prove It All Night" # "Jack of All Trades" # " The Promised Land" # "

Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...

" # " She's the One" # " Working on the Highway" # "

Because the Night "Because the Night" is a rock song from 1977 written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith which appears on the 1978 Patti Smith Group album ''Easter''. On March 2, 1978, the song was released as a single, and was commercially successful, reach ...

" # " Darlington County" # " The River" # "Shackled and Drawn" # " Waitin' on a Sunny Day" # " The Rising" # " Land of Hope and Dreams" # " Thunder Road" ;Encore #

"We Are Alive" # " Rocky Ground" # " Born in the U.S.A." # "

" # " Dancing in the Dark" # " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" # "

" (The Top Notes cover)

Tour dates

Supporting acts

Tom Cochrane Thomas William Cochrane ( ; born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider and for his work as a solo singer-songwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member ...

– August 26, 2012, Moncton *

The Trews The Trews are a Canadian rock music, rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Theo Mckibbon. The band is currently based in Hamilton, Ontari ...

– August 26, 2012, Moncton *

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes ten studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...

– June 22, 2013, Nijmegen *

Jamie N Commons James Nicholas Commons (born 22 October 1988) is a British singer and songwriter, based in New Cross, London. Early life and education Commons was born in Bristol, England, but was raised, in part, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. At age ...

– June 22, 2013, Nijmegen * The Cyborgs - July 11, 2013, Rome * Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band – July 27, 2013,

Nowlan Park Nowlan Park (; ), known for sponsorship reasons as UPMC Nowlan Park, is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland. Named after James Nowlan, the longest serving President of the GAA, the stadium hosts major hurling ...

Glen Hansard Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten o ...

– July 27, 2013, Nowlan Park *

Damien Dempsey Damien Dempsey (born 9 June 1975) is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk contemporary lyrics that deliver social and political commentaries on Irish society. Damien sings in his native, working-class accent in the Eng ...

– July 27, 2013, Nowlan Park *

Imelda May Imelda Mary Higham (; born 10 July 1974), professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish singer, songwriter, television presenter and multi-instrumentalist. She is known for her musical style of rockabilly revival and has also been compared to ...

– July 28, 2013, Nowlan Park *LAPD (

Liam O'Flynn Liam O'Flynn, Óg Flynn (, 15 September 1945 – 14 March 2018) was an Irish people, Irish Uilleann pipes, uilleann piper and Folk music of Ireland, Irish traditional musician. In addition to a solo career and as a member of Planxty, O'Flynn re ...

, Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin &

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozaik, LAPD ...

) – July 28, 2013, Nowlan Park *

Delorentos Delorentos are a Dublin-based Irish alternative rock band, formed in 2005. They consist of Rónan Yourell (vocals, guitar, piano), Kieran McGuinness (vocals, guitar), Níal Conlan (bass, backing vocals) and Ross McCormick (drums, backing vocals) ...

– July 28, 2013, Nowlan Park

Personnel

The E Street Band

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

–

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a memb ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

–

, some duet vocals,

, occasional

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

(did not appear at every show due to family commitments) *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being the bass player and a founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, rare

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

–

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, occasional featured

lead vocal The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' an ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, rare

and *

Soozie Tyrell Soozie Tyrell (born May 4, 1957), formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist, guitarist, and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band and formerly the Sessions Band. Early life and educatio ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Charles Giordano –

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, electronic glockenspiel, rare

, occasional

with *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

, co-lead vocals on "

The Ghost of Tom Joad ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on November 21, 1995, by Columbia Records. His second primarily acoustic album after ''Nebraska'' (1982), ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' r ...

" (Morello filled in for Van Zandt during the Australian leg of the tour) The E Street Horns: * Jake Clemons –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

* Eddie Manion –

*Curt Ramm –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

*Barry Danielian –

* Clark Gayton –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

The E Street Choir: *Curtis King –

*Cindy Mizelle –

*Michelle Moore –

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

on Rocky Ground *Everett Bradley –

Backstreets.com: Springsteen News
/ref>

Guest musicians/appearances

*Jarod Clemons (3/23/12, 12/6/12) *

Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of The J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946, in the Bronx ...

(3/26/12) *Adele Springsteen (3/29/12, 9/22/12, 9/30/13 – Bruce's mother danced with her son on "Dancing in the Dark", presented him onstage with a cake on his birthday) *

(4/26/12, 4/27/12, 7/14/12, 9/7/12, 9/8/12, 12/4/12, 2013 Australian leg) * Dr. John (4/29/12) *Kevin Buell (5/2/12 – Bruce's guitar tech performed guitar on "Waiting on a Sunny Day") *

Garland Jeffreys Garland Jeffreys (born June 29, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter in rock and roll, reggae, blues, and soul music. Career Jeffreys is from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, of African American and Puerto Rican heritage. He majored in art histo ...

(5/29/12, 12/6/12) *

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, double bass, bass guitar), and Ben Lovett (British musician), B ...

(5/29/12) * Elliott Murphy (6/11/12, 5/3/13, 6/29/13) *

Southside Johnny John Lyon (born December 4, 1948), known professionally as Southside Johnny, is an American retired singer-songwriter who fronted the band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Southside Johnny has long been considered the Grandfather of "t ...

(6/17/12) * Jessica Springsteen (7/5/12 – Bruce's daughter danced with her father during "Dancing in the Dark") *

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

(7/7/12) *

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was th ...

(7/14/12) *

(7/14/12) * Ken Casey (8/15/12) * Tom Cochrane & Red Rider (8/26/12) * Olivia Tallent (9/2/12 – Garry's daughter performed backing vocals on "Working on the Highway" with Michelle Moore's daughter) *

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

(9/7/12, 9/8/12) *Ali Weinberg (9/14/12, 7/28/13 – Max's daughter performed accordion on "American Land", backing vocals on "Twist and Shout" and "Shout") * Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez (9/19/12) * Gary U.S. Bonds (9/21/12, 9/22/12) *Virginia Springsteen Shave (9/22/12- Bruce's sister helped celebrate Springsteen's birthday onstage during show) *Vivienne Scialfa (9/22/12- Bruce's mother in law helped celebrate Springsteen's birthday onstage during show) *Mike Scialfa (9/22/12- Bruce's brother in law helped celebrate Springsteen's birthday onstage during show) * Maureen Van Zandt (9/22/12- Steve's wife helped celebrate Springsteen's birthday onstage during show) * Joe Grushecky and son Johnny (10/27/12) *

Mike Ness Michael James Ness (born April 3, 1962) is an American musician who is the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter for the punk rock band Social Distortion, which was formed in 1978. He has also released two solo albums, '' Cheating at Sol ...

(12/4/12) *

Sam Moore Samuel David Moore (October 12, 1935 – January 10, 2025) was an American singer who was best known as a member of the soul and R&B duo Sam & Dave from 1961 to 1981. He was a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (f ...

(12/6/12) *

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...

(3/30/13, 3/31/13) *

Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received that institution's Ahme ...

(5/14/13) *Gaspard Murphy (6/29/13) * Pamela Springsteen (6/30/13 – Bruce's sister was brought onstage and sang during "Dancing in the Dark") * Jay Weinberg (7/5/13) *

Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

(7/13/13) *

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

(7/23/13) *

(7/27/13) *

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and Lead vocalist, frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was fo ...

(12/12/12)

Notes

References

External links

Bruce Springsteen (Official Site)

Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball Tour Blog (Fan blog)
{{Authority control Bruce Springsteen concert tours 2012 concert tours 2013 concert tours