Springsteen week kicks off tonight

Bruce Springsteen charges into Austin on Thursday. (Photo by Jo Lopez)

If you’re a Bruce Springsteen fan, life is very good right now. With the release of the excellent new album, Wrecking Ball, comes a bevy of appearances before the world tour begins.

Lets start with a biggie tonight. For the first time in Bruce’s 40 plus year history, he and the E Street Band will grace the stage at The Apollo Theater in Harlem. It’s part of Sirius/XM’s tenth anniversary celebration of satellite radio (once you get it, you will never go back. Trust me.).  This will be the band’s first full gig without the “Big Man” Clarence Clemons, but if the appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week are any indication, the horn section, featuring Clemons’ nephew Jake, can cover his parts nicely.

What they can’t do is replace Clemons’ massive presence, and his interaction with Bruce. That will be sorely missed. It will be interesting to see how Bruce handles the band introductions (if he does them at all) because Clarence was always “last but not least.” The show is set to start at 8 p.m EST with a pre-show featuring Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh at 6 p.m.

If you don’t have Sirius/XM, you can get a seven-day free subscription by going to their website. You can also win tickets to that last show of the U.S. leg in Newark,  by tweeting a photo of your “Springsteen Apollo Listening Party.” You can enter that contest here.

Update: Video from the Apollo show

Next Thursday, Bruce will be the keynote speaker at the SXSW Music Conference in Austin. The format of the presentation is kind of up in the air. My guess is that he will have someone interview him, then take a few questions from the audience, then pick up the acoustic guitar and play a few tunes. That scenario would be ideal, but it remains to be seen what will actually happen. We here at 30 Days Out will be there to provide complete coverage and if you want to experience it live, NPR will stream the keynote address. Check NPR’s website for the schedule.

Later that evening at a secret, intimate location in “Live Music Capital of the World,” Bruce and the band will do a private show for badge holders and media who are lucky enough to win a drawing to get in. Our guess is he will play Stubb’s BBQ, a venue that is no stranger to big acts during SXSW. Metallica played there three years ago and John Mayer and Train are set to play there on Saturday.

We are hoping for this location because if we can’t get in, we can at least listen to it “out in the street.” There is also a chance he will play the new ACL Live venue, but that seems unlikely unless they were going to tape for TV or DVD or do an Austin City Limits show, which would be great if that happens. However, if he wants to create a huge buzz, Stubb’s would be the best place to do that. Also, we bet Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine will hop on stage with the band at some point. He’ll be in town doing his own shows during the four-day weekend.

Other possible sightings around Austin might include an appearance with friend and manager-mate Alejandro Escovedo at the Austin Music Awards on Wednesday night or with his buddy, Garland Jeffries, at Antone’s on Thursday. Should we cross our fingers for a surprise acoustic set at Waterloo Records ? Not likely, but we’ve got nothing to lose.

Finally, the Wrecking Ball World Tour kicks of March 18 in Atlanta, then heads overseas and hopefully back to the states in the fall. Like I said at the top, it’s a good time to be a Springsteen fan.

Bruce Springsteen official website

Backstreets magazine

Bruce Springsteen News on Facebook

Iconic Houston DJ Mark Stevens, R.I.P.

 

Mark Stevens, left, and Jim Pruett

 

He had the greatest laugh I ever heard. The kind of laugh that caused you to laugh even if something wasn’t funny. Mark Stevens, half of the greatest morning show team in radio history, died today from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 76.

I used work overnight at KTRH Radio in Houston, right down the hall from 101 KLOL, where he along with one of the best straight men ever, Jim Pruett, did their morning show.  I would see Stevens and a bevy of naked ladies that used to roam the hallways just about every day. He was sometimes pompous, but most of the time cordial and even complimentary.  He once told me he liked a story I did on Joe Walsh, who said, I’m guessing in a drunken stupor, that he was running for vice-president. I remember feeling good all weekend.

Stevens and Pruett, aka the Radio Gawds, along with the great Brian Shannon, Martha Martinez, my good friend Laurie Kendrick, the late Kevin Dorsey, Lanny Griffith and a host of others were as good as it gets on radio from the mid-80s to 2000. You never wanted to miss a show. Skits like Uncle Waldo and classic lines like “Have you ever keister saluted the fudge sergeant?” and “Hi, my name is Abdul Kissmedick” have had me laughing for years.

I’m not sure Stevens ever got the credit he deserved. However, reading some of the comments from former colleagues and listeners today, you could feel his impact. He was a huge talent and I personally don’t think we’ll ever hear anything like Stevens and Pruett again. Howard Stern may have started the shock genre, but when I listen to his past shows on Sirius/XM Radio, Stevens and Pruett blow him away. Rest in peace, Mark. You are now in the land where there are no corporations to ruin radio and and no program directors who selfishly break up the greatest team in radio history for their amusement. Keep laughing, brother, and say hi to Big Bruno.

Stevens and Pruett Facebook page

“Thanksgiving Uncle Waldo” by Stevens and Pruett

The music of “One Tree Hill”

As season 5 ends, Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) is sitting in the airport, he picks up his phone, and says “I have two tickets to Vegas, do you want to get married?” Three girls; Lindsey (Michaela McManus), Brooke (Sophia Bush), and Peyton (Hilarie Burton) all say hello and then the screen fades to black. I figure I’ll find out what happens the next day. However, instead of going to season 6, SoapNet goes back to season 1, leaving me hanging.

I know you’re probably shaking your head, or thinking I’m a big fan of candelabras, but we all have our guilty pleasures, and One Tree Hill happens to be mine. Yes, I tape it every day and watch it every night. Not only is the show entertaining, but the producers and the music coordinators are really tuned into some good indie music. Like I said in a post earlier this year, if it wasn’t for shows like One Tree Hill, I never would have come across most, if not all, of these bands.