E STREET BAND TO TAKE HIATUS

Most Bruce Springsteen fans probably guessed that The E Street Band would be taking a break after this tour wraps up, but now it's a bit more official: Little Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren and Roy Bittan held a conference call with journalists, and said that they'd probably be taking a year and a half or two years off after the Working On A Dream tour wraps in November. They've been working for over two years straight at this point: the classic Magic album came out just about two years ago (on October 2, 2007 - just weeks after No Expiration started), they toured a lot, recorded Working On A Dream during breaks in the tour, put that out, and have been touring since. I'm sure Bruce will take some time off, and probably do a solo acoustic thing, or maybe hook up with the folks he worked with in The Seeger Sessions Band again. I'd love to see them do an album of Hank Williams songs. I've also heard that the Darkness On The Edge Of Town box set (which will be similar in format to the Born To Run box set that came out a while back) is coming before the end of the year.

"I AIN'T GOT MY SHOES BUT I STILL GOT MY FEET": BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AT GIANTS STADIUM NIGHT 2

I went to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band for the second night in a row tonight. I wasn't planning on going; these concerts end up costing a ton of money when you put them all together. But I had some very, very good fortune and got a free ticket. Not just any ticket: a ticket for the much-coveted pit in front of the stage. A general admission section, center stage, that holds a few hundred people (someone said it was a thousand). It was more crowded than my last pit experience at "E Street boot camp" in October. But it was amazing. Like last night, they played over three hours, but they played about 16 different songs than they did last night (which is about half the show). 

The energy seemed pretty amazing tonight (although that may have been because of where I was located). I know I'm not writing eloquently here, so I'll keep this short: it's nearly 1 am ET, and I'm still experiencing that cool feeling after an awesome concert (and no I didn't drink or do drugs). 

What were my highlights? Something about "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" (a song I've written about already) followed by "Thunder Road" really moved me. I know some people think that the line from "Thunder Road," "So you're scared, and you're thinkin' that maybe we ain't that young anymore" is one of his best. I would agree. Somehow I loved hearing that next to "Girls," with one of my favorite lines, "I ain't got my shoes but I still got my feet." (I've taken that line to mean, "Well, I've grown past wearing show-offy clothes like fancy shoes, but I can still dance as good as I ever did!"). Another stragely moving part of the show was "Born To Run," which always resonates, but tonight Max Weinberg let his son play drums on it. The kid (who I heard is a Mastodon fan) plays more like Dave Grohl than his dad, but he was great. You could see how proud everyone in the band was. 

"Drive All Night," an audience request was incredible. So was the less than two minute "Held Up Without A Gun," a song Steven Van Zandt has always wanted to play (I think this may have been the second or third time the band ever did it). "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" was just great. And Nils Lofgren stole the show with his guitar solo during "Because The Night," which included a somersault, and I'm not joking. 

I also love the way they end with a Seeger Sessions-era song, "American Land," it's another of Bruce's classics, and I like it more than the kind of similar "Land Of Hope And Dreams." 

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see The Foo Fighters, and Wednesday is Aimee Mann. Thursday: back to Giants Stadium for another Bruce show! 

NILS SINGS NEIL

"The Most Overqualified Second Guitarist In Showbuisness," as Bruce Springsteen referred to him at his own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is Nils Lofgren. In the '70s, Nils led a band called Grin, and then had a pretty happening solo career. These days, he's most well known as one of the guitarist in The E Street Band (and he still records and tours oin his own as well - plus he hosts some cool guitar tutorials at his own web site). He actually got his first big break courtesy of Neil Young, though, and now he's recording an album of Neil covers. He mentions it at his web site, but I first heard of it from the great Neil Young fansite, Thrasher's Wheat.

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Nils a few times - he couldn't have been nicer. He is probably one of the most committed musicians out there. On his own, he headlines small clubs, and you know he's doing it for the love; these days, the E Street tours probably more than pay the bills. Anyway, I interviewed him backstage at one of his shows: he was playing the Bottom Line and told me about coming to New York as a kid, meeting Neil Young at (I think) the original Fillmore East. Neil was in the early days of his solo career, he bought Nils a cheeseburger and talked with him, eventually hiring Grin to open for Crazy Horse. As a teenager, Nils made his recording debut, playing on Neil's classic After The Gold Rush album. Years later, he played on Neil's very out-there album Trans and the subsuquent tour. After that, he joined The E Street Band. About another decade later, he guested on Neil's MTV Unplugged. I know he'd love to work with Neil again. But of course, he's got a pretty cool day job as a guitar teacher. And as the most overqualified second guitarist in show business.