The Magic Tour
was
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 ...
's 2007–08
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 ...
of North America and Western Europe.
The tour began October 2, 2007, in Hartford, Connecticut, and concluded August 30, 2008, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This was his first tour with the E Street Band since 2004's
Vote for Change
The Vote for Change tour was a politically motivated American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. The tour was held in swing states and was designe ...
shows and the first prolonged outing with them since the 2002–2003
Rising Tour.
["Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Announce First Full Scale Tour Of US & Europe Since 2003"](_blank)
, Shore Fire Media, August 28, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2007.
After the conclusion of the tour's first leg on November 19, 2007, organist
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 ...
took a leave of absence from the tour to pursue treatment for
melanoma
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...
.
["Statement"](_blank)
, Shore Fire Media, November 21, 2007. He was replaced by
Charles Giordano, who had played with Springsteen on the 2006
Sessions Band Tour.
Federici made his only return to the stage on March 20, 2008, during the tour's third leg, when he appeared for portions of a show in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
. He died on April 17, 2008; the next two shows of the tour were postponed.
The Magic Tour was one of the biggest tours of the year and won the 2008
Billboard Touring Awards for Top Tour, Top Draw, and Top Manager (for
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 ...
). The Magic Tour had the second-highest gross worldwide for 2008 in Billboard's rankings, with $204.5 million and trailing only
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 ...
's
Lost Highway Tour.
In
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 calculus for
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, the Magic Tour had the sixth-highest gross for 2008 at $69.3 million. In any case, in total over its two years, the Magic Tour grossed more than $235 million.
Itinerary
On August 28, 2007, it was announced on
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 ...
's website that there would be a tour with 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 ...
immediately concurrent with the release of his album ''
Magic''.
["BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND ANNOUNCE FIRST FULL SCALE TOUR OF US & EUROPE SINCE 2003"](_blank)
, Brucespringsteen.com, August 28, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2007.
The two first-announced legs followed the practice established during the 2002–2003
Rising Tour, of quickly visiting cities in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
followed by the same in
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
. Possible lengthier engagements, or dates in areas outside the
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...
, where Springsteen's commercial appeal had dimmed, were viewed as additional legs in 2008.
In an interview at the time of the tour's announcement, Springsteen made clear that this outing would be a return to expectations after the substantial stylistic departures of the solo, multi-instrumental 2005
Devils & Dust Tour and the big folk 2006
Sessions Band Tour: "Yeah — I'll be playing the ''rock'' music this time."
["Dates are set; Bruce revs up E Street Machine for Fall"](_blank)
Backstreets.com, August 28, 2007. Accessed August 30, 2007. ''Magic'' selections would be likely heavily featured, as they were written for playing in concert.
And he shot down fan speculation that (with band members getting on in age and health and drummer
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 ...
likely heading to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
when
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is best known for having hosted Late-night talk show, late-night talk shows, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'B ...
would take over ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...
'' in 2009
) this might be a farewell tour – "I envision the band carrying on for many, many, many more years. There ain't gonna be any farewell tour.... I'll never do that, man — you're only gonna know that when you don't see me no more"
– as did band members the following year.
As per past Springsteen practice, the tour proper was preceded by a couple of weeks of the band holding closed rehearsals at
Asbury Park Convention Hall – but now with loudspeakers playing local radio stations positioned outside the hall to foil the Springsteen faithful who gathered outside the building to hear a glimpse of the
set list
A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance.
A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
s and arrangements to come. This was followed by two rehearsal shows (which doubled as charity benefits) at Convention Hall on September 24 and 25, an early morning appearance on ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...
s concert series on
Rockefeller Plaza
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...
on September 28,
["Rocking Rockefeller Plaza: Bruce & the E Street Band live on Today, Sept. 28"](_blank)
Backstreets.com, August 30, 2007. Accessed August 30, 2007. and another, small-audience rehearsal at
Continental Airlines Arena
Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, ...
that night.
The first, North American leg began at the
Hartford Civic Center
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 census. Hartford is the most populous city in the Capitol Planning Region and the core city of ...
on October 2, 2007, and played in
arena
An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
s through two shows at the
TD Banknorth Garden
TD Garden (named the FleetCenter from opening until 2005 and TD Banknorth Garden until 2009) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston. It is located directly above the MBTA's North Station, and it replaced the original Boston Garden upon opening i ...
in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, concluding on November 19. The second, European leg began on November 25 at the
Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid
Sports Palace of the Community of Madrid or simply Madrid Sports Palace (Spanish: Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid), officially Movistar Arena since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena, indoor sporting arena locat ...
and finished at
The O2
The O2 (formerly known as the Millennium Dome) is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, Town square, piazzas, ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
on December 19. As customary on some other Springsteen tours, a two-month winter holiday break was then taken.

The third, North American leg again started up at the Hartford Civic Center on February 28, 2008, playing both previously visited and unvisited markets, in arenas. It concluded on May 2, 2008, at
BankAtlantic Center
Amerant Bank Arena (previously known as the National Car Rental Center, Office Depot Center, BankAtlantic Center, BB&T Center, and FLA Live Arena) is an indoor arena in Sunrise, Florida, United States. It is the home venue for the Florida Panth ...
in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...
. (The leg's conclusion was followed by a special out-of-tour, very-high-priced benefit show May 7 for, and at, the
Count Basie Theatre in
Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...
, where Springsteen's classic 1970s albums ''
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 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 ...
'' were played in sequence in their entirety.) Meanwhile, both arenas and stadiums were scheduled for a fourth, European leg to take place in mid-May through mid-July 2008, beginning at the
RDS Arena in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
.
The fifth and final leg of the tour would return to North America for a few
stadium
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
and mostly arena or smaller outdoor venue shows,
starting at
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
and visiting such places as
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...
,
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
,
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, and the like.
The tour officially marked its end at the
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...
105th Anniversary Celebration in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
on August 30, 2008,
which ''
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 ...
'' viewed as "a very odd way to end an epic tour."
A more extensive final leg, running into the autumn, was "in the works" but scrapped in mid-June 2008. Fans, however, still hoped for something after the Harley show, and were rewarded when plans were announced for Springsteen and the E Street Band to play the halftime show at
Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
, with strong speculation extending to a new album in early 2009 and a tour run before
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 ...
went to California for ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fifth installment of ''The Tonight Show'', hosted by Conan O'Brien. It aired from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, succeeding ''The ...
''.
The show

When the tour opened at the
Hartford Civic Center
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 census. Hartford is the most populous city in the Capitol Planning Region and the core city of ...
, several things were immediately apparent. The show was clearly shorter than in years past,
beginning at around 8:30 and ending at around 10:45. However, more songs were played than could be extrapolated from this time, given past practice, due to the omission of elongated numbers with stage hijinks, and in particular no long monologues or band intros. As guitarist
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 ...
said of the tour's start, "Bruce tried to do an experiment with condensing everything, covering all the emotional territory he needed to."
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 ...
, while now clearly not an official member of the E Street Band by analysis of publicity material, tour T-shirts and the like, was nonetheless a full member on-stage, appearing on every song with some combination of
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, ...
, and
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 ...
. On the front line of the stage, age was taking its toll:
on one side
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 ...
was once again sitting in a chair when not playing his
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 ...
or
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 ...
parts
and needing a steadying hand for getting on and off stage,
while
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 ...
was also looking a little frail. On the other side, not only was Springsteen's
teleprompter
A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script.
Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually bel ...
(a fixture since the early 1990s) still in view, but sidekick
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 ...
had his own (for lyrics) as did 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 ...
(for guitar chords). In the latter respect, however, the show featured a breakthrough: the first Scialfa song played in its entirety, the mid-set "A Town Called Heartbreak", which would continue to be played intermittently on the first leg of the tour. Drummer
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 ...
also had a small teleprompter within his drum kit, showing lyrics, unusual in that Weinberg does not sing onstage.
The
set list
A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance.
A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
heavily leaned on ''Magic'' material, as might be expected, with ''
The Rising'' initially also well represented. The 1970s were also featured, with a number of songs off ''
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 ...
'' and ''
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 ...
''. Thematically, the show was organized in recent Springsteen fashion, with certain fixed sequences that appeared every night, interspersed with "wild card" sequences in which a variety of recent or old songs might appear. Shows usually began with a
calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses".
Mythology
Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...
playing "
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" as the band took the stage, followed by several calls out from the darkness by Springsteen — "Is there anybody ''alive'' out there!?" Then, as might be expected, ''Magic''
's first single "
Radio Nowhere" and its expression of social longing began the concert. This was followed by some older number, such as "
The Ties That Bind" or "
No Surrender", that supplied that social connection, and then by ''The Risings "
Lonesome Day" to balance the equation. The next part of the show brought out
''Magic'''s political undercurrents, first with a spoken introduction to "Magic" that made clear that song's understated lyric: "This is about living in times when the truth gets twisted into lies and lies get twisted into truth. So, it's not about magic. It's about tricks."
Thus set up to follow was just that, a trick: yet another at-first-puzzling rendition of the always challenging "Reason to Believe". The ''
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
'' closer was transformed from a low-key acoustic number to a heavy-hitting, harmonica-driven, boogie-woogie blues rock version,
with Springsteen pumping up the audience with phantom overhand throwing motions ... all for a song that represented, despite frequent misinterpretations, a void empty of hope; only a return of the
Devils & Dust Tour's ultra-distorting "bullet mic" at the end served to reveal a bit of the deceit. An explicit
public service announcement
A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...
rap during "Livin' in the Future" listed Springsteen's complaints about developments in American during the
George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...
, including
extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism, euphemistically-named policy of state-sponsored abduction in a foreign jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The best-known use of extraordinary rendition is in a United States-led program during th ...
,
illegal wiretapping,
voter suppression
Voter suppression is the discouragement or prevention of specific groups of people from voting or registering to vote. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the o ...
,
no habeas corpus,
New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the continuing
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. "The Promised Land" followed by wild card slots would then alleviate the mood.

Another fixed, socio-political sequence occurred at the end of the main set,
"Devil's Arcade" into "
The Rising" into "Last to Die" into "
Long Walk Home" into "
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, ...
". In an interview, Springsteen said of the transition out of "The Rising" and into "Last to Die", signalling the course of American society from the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
to the
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
,
"The whole night is going to turn on that segue. That's what we're up there for right now, that thirty seconds."
Encores started with the relaxed lament of the new "
Girls in Their Summer Clothes". This was followed by potluck back catalog choices, often involving one of his long epics, the inevitable "
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 ...
", a celebratory "
Dancing in the Dark", and as the show finalé, "American Land". This, the only holdover from the
Sessions Band Tour, featured Clemons on
pennywhistle, both Federici and Bittan on
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 ...
and joining Tyrell and the others on the front stage line, in an up-tempo
jig that sought to convey the whole tale of
immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and Culture of the United States, cultural change throughout much of history of the United States, its history. As of January 2025, the United States has the la ...
. As such it careened wildly in purpose between a rousing closer and a message summation; these dual roles were found in the start with Springsteen's exclamation over drums, “It's your country, don't let anyone take it from you!”
[Erik Remec]
"Bruce Springsteen - Magic"
''FREE! Magazine'' Reprint, Retrieved June 14, 2012. and was emphasized as the tour went on, when the large video screens above the stage began scrolling the lyrics as the song played, and then illustrated Springsteen's quick-paced band intro spiel with 1960s ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
''-styled cartoon bursts: E! Street! Band!
The European second leg featured very enthusiastic crowds and shows lengthening towards two and a half hours, but also largely static set lists, possibly due to stand-in organist Charlie Giordano needing time to learn the Springsteen oeuvre. By the North American third leg, set lists were slightly loosened, with "
Night
Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...
" or other choices often preceding "Radio Nowhere" as the show opener. Oddball selections showed up more as wild cards or audibles,
sometimes prompted by audience signs held up in the pit below the stage.
The signs practice became more frequent starting in March,
and eventually built up into a tradition that would carry over to
the band's next tour.
Clemons' chair was now comically upgraded to a gilded
throne
A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...
,
with a tambourine placed next to it so he could play along on songs where he was catching a breather. His role overall was not diminished, however, as "
Jungleland
"Jungleland" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen from his 1975 album '' Born to Run'' as its closing track. Over nine minutes in length, it contains one of the E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons' most recognizab ...
" and his longest and most famous saxophone solo began appearing more often in the encores. "Long Walk Home" gained more emphasis, with
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 ...
and especially
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 ...
adding their own vocal parts during the coda.
Once the tour resumed following Federici's death, the existing structure began to break down. For the first seven shows, a video montage about Federici, set to past-tour-finale-song "Blood Brothers", was shown preceding the start. Many old songs were performed, both well known, such as "
Growin' Up", and songs which had remained virtually unplayed for 20 years, such as "
Wild Billy's Circus Story". ''Magic'' slots were reduced and its songs put on rotation; the middle of the set became extremely varied, with "Livin' in the Future" and "
She's the One" the only constants. "The Promised Land", which had been a mid-set regular, was moved to various places in the set lists. Encore length varied, but again "Born to Run" and "American Land" remained the only constants. The band found that playing shows helped them to cope with the emotional effects of the loss of Federici.

On the European outdoor summer's leg, where unlike in the U.S. Springsteen was still a stadium-level attraction,
the shows became increasingly longer, a pattern that had been taking hold throughout the tour.
The
Helsinki Olympic Stadium
The Helsinki Olympic Stadium (; ), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer ...
show in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
ran past three hours, containing 31 songs (in that metric, the longest show of Springsteen's since 1993 on the
"Other Band" Tour and the longest with 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 ...
since 1988). As the tour left Helsinki, the group had played a total of 117 different songs over 87 shows, the list having been expanded in Europe with rarities like "
I'm on Fire", "
Held Up Without a Gun", "
For You", "Drive All Night", "Rendezvous", "
Summertime Blues", "
Cover Me", and "None but the Brave". Front pit audience signs and Springsteen audibles from same were now a constant feature of every show; never having been done by the band before,
the Springsteen official website said that "All of us have been enjoying the signs and banners with song requests," and requested that they be kept a reasonable size during the upcoming final American leg. In some cases, songs were audibled that the band had not rehearsed at all, and arrangements were made up on the spot.
Clemons, Lofgren, and Weinberg all indicated they enjoyed the new unexpectedness of the shows.
''Magic'' selections, in contrast, were sometimes down to four from their original usual eight. E Streeter
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 ...
described the state of the show in an interview after the end of this European leg: "The band, musically, is in the best shape we've ever been, I think. The whole show has become one long improv/audible now; sometimes
pringsteenchanges the first song on the way to the stage, and usually by the second song he's calling audibles, so the set list is useless. It's fun to be part of something ... where a band leader can do that much improv and get away with it and have a band that'll deliver and make it work. So, it's all really a pretty historic run, from my perspective."

The fifth and final U.S. leg began with three shows at
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...
, seen at the time as possibly Springsteen's last there.
The opening "
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" had the upper deck literally shaking,
while Lofgren's impromptu
somersault
A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatics, acrobatic exercise in which a person's body Rotation#Sports, rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the Human head, head. A somersau ...
during "
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 ...
" astounded everyone,
especially since Lofgren was headed to double
hip replacement surgery after the tour. The practice of longer shows and of songs played for sign requests continued.
The latter was now cued by an extended drumbeat for "
Summertime Blues" or "
Light of Day
''Light of Day'' is a 1987 American musical drama film starring Michael J. Fox, Gena Rowlands and Joan Jett in her film debut. It was written and directed by Paul Schrader. The original music score was composed by Thomas Newman and the cine ...
" while Springsteen collected and assessed the many signs. The fourth and fifth legs also featured a new "Build Me a House" stage rap from Springsteen, located in 15-minute renditions of "Mary's Place";
the rap would carry over onto the next tour, albeit in a different song.
Springsteen obscurities continued to be played, although the stadium audiences would be inattentive for quiet, intense numbers such as
"Drive All Night".
In other cases, the band would hash out onstage the key in which to play "
It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City".
The biggest surprise was "Crush on You", which had not been performed since
The River Tour in 1980;
Springsteen explained why by saying, "We firmly believe this is the worst song we ever put on a record."
Show lengths and energy were such that Lofgren sometimes wondered whether the audience was up to handling extra songs in the encores.
Beginning with the
Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States. The stadium is southwest of Downtown Boston and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and admi ...
show, one-off renditions of old 1960s songs that Springsteen had heard growing up, and that he and the band had played decades before, began showing up in set lists, sometimes taking up to as many five slots in a show. Such numbers included "
Pretty Flamingo", "
Little Latin Lupe Lu", "
You Can't Sit Down", "
Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)", "
Gloria", "
I Fought the Law
"I Fought the Law" is a song written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets and popularized by a cover by the Bobby Fuller Four, becoming a top-ten hit for the band in 1966. Their version of the song was ranked No. 175 on the ''Rolling Stone'' li ...
", "
Then She Kissed Me", "
Mountain of Love", "
It's All Over Now
"It's All Over Now" is a song written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos, featuring Bobby Womack, in 1964. The Rolling Stones heard it on its release and quickly recorded a cover ver ...
" (with
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 ...
taking her first lead vocal with the E Street Band), and "
Boys" (with
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 ...
surprisingly doing the same). In the final stretch of shows, Springsteen expressed the freedom to take on anything and everything. The tour's final performance at
Harleyfest featured Danny Federici's son Jason playing accordion on "
Sandy
Sandy may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
* Sandy (surname), a list of people
* Sandy (Iranian music band), Iranian singer, comp ...
", followed by venue-thematic selections such as "
Wooly Bully
"Wooly Bully" is a song originally recorded by rock and roll band Sam the Sham, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1964. Based on a standard 12-bar blues progression, it was written by the band's frontman, Domingo "Sam" Samudio. It was released as ...
", "Gypsy Biker", "
Racing in the Street", and a tour finale of "
Born to be Wild".
By the conclusion, some 144 to 148 different songs had been played, depending upon how snippets were counted.
At the conclusion of the Harley show, Springsteen told the audience, "We just had the greatest tour of our lives." Springsteen would later say that the Magic Tour constituted "some of the most exciting shows we've ever done."
And Springsteen echoed the sentiment he expressed before the tour's start, that it was not a swansong for the band, at the final show of it, saying "We'll be seein' ya ... we're only just getting started."
Critical and commercial reception

Reviews of the Magic Tour were generally favorable. The ''
New Haven Register
The ''New Haven Register'' is a daily newspaper published in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The Register's main office is located at 100 Gando Drive in New Haven. The ''Register'' was established about 1812 and i ...
'' found the band "ripping through a spirited set" on opening night and judged Weinberg, Van Zandt, and Clemons as the main stars of the performance besides Springsteen.
The paper also profiled fans who had come from nearby states to see the opener.
A
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles (born 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' of a
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
show two weeks later framed the performance thusly:
The ''
Syracuse New Times'' summed an
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, show late in the first leg as "a masterful presentation of Springsteen’s new album ''Magic'' and a few moments of his mumbling political cajoling, all wrapped up in a joyous rock’n’roll revival replete with his most famous hits going back to the 1970s."
North American ticket sales during the first leg were generally strong. Prime markets in the Northeast sold out in less than ten minutes. The faithful knew, as usual, that this was only the beginning of the ticket acquisition process, as the later
secondary market
The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of ...
— online ticket outlet drops of held-back allotments, later drops due to stage setup revelations, day of show drop lines, online forum exchanges, and
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
— all offered opportunities for success. The first, North American leg garnered $38.2 million in ticket revenues,
making it the 14th biggest grossing concert tour in North America for 2007.
Springsteen saw more younger fans appearing in America than in a decade, while in Europe younger fans were constantly replenishing his fan base.
Meanwhile, over in Europe, the
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
concert, which went on sale first on August 30, sold out in about ten minutes. The
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
concert sold out in eight minutes, setting a venue record for
The Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
;
thousands left standing outside the venue, other ticket outlets, or phone or online users, were left quite frustrated.
Most of the tickets were bought by major companies and sold on eBay or other websites for hundreds of pounds.
The Belgian concert was sold out in a few minutes, the booking site having experienced constant lag.
On the show's third leg, the ''
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle'' praised the show's concentration on newer material and detected implicit support for the
presidential campaign of Barack Obama.
In a ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' interview Springsteen professed admiration for both Obama's effort and rival
Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign,
although he seemed to have a greater affinity for the former: "I always look at my work as trying to measure the distance between American promise and American reality. And I think
bamas inspired a lot of people with that idea: How do you make that distance shorter? How do we create a more humane society? We've lived through such ugly times that people want to have a romance with the idea of America again, and I think they need to."
The ''
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...
'' saw the concert there as exemplifying Springsteen's ability to have "dark words ride along on a buoyant pop melody", terming the enterprise "an exercise in danceable agitation."
Commercially, though, the third leg was softer, with most of its shows not sold out. Moreover, when tickets went on sale in December 2007 for three hometown, summer 2008, fifth-leg
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...
shows, they did not come close to selling out right away,
and may never have.
This paled in comparison to the fast sales and many added dates for
The Rising Tour
The Rising Tour was a lengthy, worldwide, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place in arenas and stadiums over 2002 and 2003. It followed the release of their 2002 album '' The Rising''.
Itin ...
's Giants Stadium stand in 2003;
theories advanced included poor sales timing before the holiday season and way in advance of the shows, a worsening U.S. economy, stagnant European second leg set lists, and aftereffects of Springsteen's
Vote for Change
The Vote for Change tour was a politically motivated American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. The tour was held in swing states and was designe ...
explicit political stances and non-E Street Band tours. Nevertheless, the Giants Stadium stand grossed over $14 million, and was the fifth-highest concert stand gross for 2008.
For the first half of 2008, the Magic Tour third leg was the second-highest grossing tour in North America, garnering $40.8 million,
behind
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 ...
's
Lost Highway Tour for that period but ahead of the
Van Halen 2007–2008 Tour.
The European outdoor fourth leg was very strong commercially, selling out or nearly selling out its shows.
The ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' Boxscore Top Ten Concert Grosses report for the issue the week after the leg ended showed the first nine positions all held by Magic Tour shows; the highest grossing was the two nights at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
's
Camp Nou
Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...
, where 143,804 total attendees brought in over $14 million gross.
By the tour's finishing fifth leg, critical reaction was again strong. Of the penultimate show in
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
, ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' wrote that the band had "unleash
dan epic, loose show that wowed the unwowable and flapped the unflappable."
Ticketmaster Entertainment's TicketsNow portal reported that the average resale price of a 2008 Magic Tour ticket had been $235, sixth highest among touring acts for the year.
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 ...
, very occasional
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 ...
–
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 ...
*
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 ...
–
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...
,
baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...
,
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 ...
,
pennywhistle,
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 ...
*
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 ...
–
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,
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 ...
(first leg, one appearance on third leg)
*
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 ...
–
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
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 ...
,
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 ...
*
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 ...
-
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 featured
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
and
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, ...
*
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 ...
, 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 ...
*
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 ...
–
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 ...
,
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
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 ...
, one surprise
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 ...
with:
*
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
...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
(second and subsequent legs), very 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 ...
*
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 ...
,
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 ...
, some featured
duet vocals when Scialfa absent, one
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 ...
guest musicians:
*
The Arcade Fire
*
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 ...
*
Joe Ely
Joe Ely (; born February 9, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was "one of the main movers" of Austin, Texas' progressive country scene in the 1970s and '80s.
He has had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce ...
*
Alejandro Escovedo
Pedro Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, includin ...
*
Joe Grushecky
*
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn (; born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the band. As a so ...
The beginning line-up was unchanged from the 2002–2003
Rising Tour.
Scialfa missed a number of shows in the North American first leg, and all the shows in the European second leg, due to family duties. She missed all but one of the shows in the North American third leg as well,
with Springsteen giving different humorous explanations at each stop for her absence, all revolving around their teenage children misbehaving. Scialfa said she was staying home to enjoy the last year of all three children being together, and to be fully involved in their eldest child's college application and decision process.
Despite vowing to attend the European fourth leg,
she missed all of those shows as well, until the Spanish ones at the end of the leg. She was at the first four shows of the fifth leg, then missed the rest of those too.
Broadcasts and recordings
Early on the first leg, the starting three songs (one more than planned) of the October 10, 2007,
Continental Airlines Arena
Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, ...
show were broadcast live over
VH1 Classic
MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Smooth, VH1 Classic Rock, and VH1 Classic) is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. It was originally launched in 1998 as "VH1 Smooth", an adult contemporary and smooth jazz channel. It ...
. Throughout much of the tour, video clips of one performance from a show, usually cut down to a one- to two-minute excerpt, would be posted on Springsteen's official website.
On July 4, 2008, with much fanfare,
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM.
Li ...
's
E Street Radio channel broadcast selected songs from the show that day at the
Ullevi
Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...
in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, although in practice there was much more of host
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh (born ) is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of '' Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published num ...
talking with phone callers than there was of the concert.
On July 15, 2008, Springsteen released the live audio and video
EP ''
Magic Tour Highlights'', which collected guest appearances from the third leg, including Federici's only return.
Several shows were released as part of the
Bruce Springsteen Archives:
* ''
Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO, 8/23/08'' released on April 14, 2017
* ''TD Banknorth Garden, Boston 11/19/07'' released on April 6, 2018
* ''St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL April 22, 2008'' released on February 1, 2019
*''Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, NC'' ''April 28, 2008'' released on November 6, 2020
*''Indianapolis Consesco Fieldhouse March 20, 2008'' released on October 22, 2021
*''Nashville Sommett Center August 21, 2008'' released on December 2, 2022
*''Anyway Arena, Orlando, FL, April 23, 2008'' released on April 11, 2025
Tour dates
Songs performed
See also
*
List of highest grossing concert tours
References
External links
Bruce Springsteen (Official Site) Magic Tour News
{{Authority control
Bruce Springsteen concert tours
2007 concert tours
2008 concert tours