Bruce Springsteen

With PBS stations around the country to air a cut of Live in Dublin in June — NJN Public Television got out of the gate early, premiering footage last week for viewers in Jersey — they’ll also be offering an exclusive five-track CD as an incentive to pledge. If you only care about the music, this’ll be one of the more expensive CDs you could add to your collection… but if you want to support Public Television, it’s a fine bonus. Five live tracks that didn’t make the cut for Live in Dublin will be found here: “Bobby Jean,” “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” “Johnny 99,” “For You,” and “My City of Ruins.” Check with your local PBS station for details on pledge drives and air dates.

As for that NJN airing, we’re reserving judgment until we see the DVD itself — and we’ll be looking for yours then, too, with a readers’ poll. But we can’t ignore reports we’re hearing bemoaning the quick cuts that have been in vogue for far too long. Bill Kenney tells us: “Maybe it’s not that bad, but the snippets I saw of Live in Dublin on the NJN fundraiser have the same claustrophobic feel the previous videos had on AOL (and right through the American Land DVD), and with that MTV-style choppy cutting to boot, that sucks the life out of what was a vibrant, buoyant, spacious stage show. Maybe it was hard to capture that feel, even with nine cameras, but I think the editing is repetitive, and the lighting seems really dark as well. But musically, there were some pretty cool versions of ‘Growin’ Up,’ ‘Further On (Up the Road),’ a great ‘This Little Light of Mine,’ and promising clips of a bunch of others like ‘Highway Patrolman,’ and ‘Atlantic City.’” Read more reports on BTX — and if you’ve seen it, feel free to chime in.

Come release day, June 5, there will be four different configurations of Live in Dublin to choose from: A 2-CD set, a standard DVD, a combination of those two as a 2-CD/DVD set, and a Blu-ray disc [a hi-res video format, click here for more info]. We’ll start taking pre-orders next week at Backstreet Records, and we always appreciate your support; if you’re a collector, though, you may want to jump on FYE’s pre-sale, as they’re throwing in an exclusive 11 x 17 poster.
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Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band Live In Dublin To Be Released On June 5

Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band Live in Dublin will be available on-line and in stores on June 5. The release will consist of: a concert DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and separate two-CD set. The songs and videos are drawn from the band’s performances in Dublin, Ireland at The Point in November of 2006.

Songs include fan favorites from ‘The Seeger Sessions,’ radical interpretations from the Springsteen songbook and rare songs appearing for the first time on any Springsteen release.

Pre-order details coming soon.

Beginning today, iTunes will be selling a second installment of the Bridge School Concert LP — commemorating the 20 year anniversiary of the benefit series.

The album is packed with legendary performances, including the often-bootlegged but previously unreleased Springsteen favorites– Born In The USA and Helpless (w/ Bridge Benefit founder Neil Young).

This release will only be available on iTunes, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to the Bridge School, an educational program dedicated to ensuring that children with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative and alternative means of communication.