Wrecking Ball World Tour
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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 ...
by
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 to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, '' Wrecking Ball'', which was released on March 5, 2012. It was the first tour for the E Street Band without founding member Clarence Clemons, 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, did not appear at all the shows due to family commitments. Guitarist Steven Van Zandt 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''. Van Zandt was replaced by Tom Morello 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. During the final week of February, talk show host Jimmy Fallon dedicated an entire week of his show, '' Late Night with 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 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, 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 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" 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." 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 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 Jimmy Fallon for a performance of " Under the Boardwalk". 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, '' Lilyhammer'', Steven Van Zandt was forced to miss the Australian leg of the tour in 2013. Tom Morello 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, 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'', '' Darkness on the Edge of Town'', 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 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 as part of a deluxe edition of the '' High Hopes'' album. Several shows were released as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archives: * '' 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" # " Hungry Heart" # " Prove It All Night" # "Jack of All Trades" # " The Promised Land" # " Badlands" # " She's the One" # " Working on the Highway" # " Because the Night" # " 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." # " Born to Run" # " Dancing in the Dark" # " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" # " Twist and Shout" (The Top Notes cover)


    Tour dates


    Supporting acts

    * Tom CochraneAugust 26, 2012, Moncton * The TrewsAugust 26, 2012, Moncton * The Black CrowesJune 22, 2013, Nijmegen * Jamie N CommonsJune 22, 2013, Nijmegen * The Cyborgs - July 11, 2013, Rome * Josh Ritter & The Royal City BandJuly 27, 2013, Nowlan Park *
    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 DempseyJuly 27, 2013, Nowlan Park * Imelda MayJuly 28, 2013, Nowlan Park *LAPD ( Liam O'Flynn, Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin & Dónal Lunny) – July 28, 2013, Nowlan Park * DelorentosJuly 28, 2013, Nowlan Park


    Personnel


    The E Street Band

    *
    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 ...
    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
    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 ...
    ,
    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
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    , pedal steel guitar,
    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, ...
    ,
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    * Patti Scialfa
    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,
    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, ...
    , occasional tambourine (did not appear at every show due to family commitments) * Garry Tallent
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    , 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 ...
    * Steven Van Zandt
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    ,
    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, ...
    ,
    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 ...
    , occasional featured lead vocal * Max Weinberg
    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 tambourine and * Soozie Tyrell
    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 ...
    ,
    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, ...
    ,
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    * Charles Giordanoorgan,
    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 ...
    , electronic glockenspiel, rare
    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 ...
    , occasional
    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 ...
    with * Tom Morello
    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, 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 ...
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    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    * Eddie Manion
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    *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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    *Barry Danielian –
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    * 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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    The E Street Choir: *Curtis King –
    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 ...
    , tambourine *Cindy Mizelle –
    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 ...
    , tambourine *Michelle Moore –
    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 ...
    ,
    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 –
    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 ...
    ,
    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 ...
    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) * Tom Morello (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 (5/29/12, 12/6/12) * Mumford & Sons (5/29/12) * Elliott Murphy (6/11/12, 5/3/13, 6/29/13) * Southside Johnny (6/17/12) * Jessica Springsteen (7/5/12 – Bruce's daughter danced with her father during "Dancing in the Dark") * The Roots (7/7/12) * John Fogerty (7/14/12) *
    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 ...
    (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 (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 (12/4/12) * Sam Moore (12/6/12) * Jimmy Barnes (3/30/13, 3/31/13) * Jon Landau (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 (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) *
    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 ...
    (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)


    See also

    * List of highest-grossing concert tours


    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