The Battle for Slane Castle - in cuttings

Some classic cuttings from the Slane Castle show in 1985.

This is a backgrounder, introducing Bruce to a new audience.

Next, a story about some of the shenanigans behind the scenes during the planning for the show. 
It was quite a rocky road and, as we detailed in 'Land of Hope and Dreams', the show almost never went ahead at all.

 A newspaper advert for the show.

 Local people were asked what they thought of plans for the show.

Finally, Slane is ready for Bruce Springsteen. And he rocks!

Dancing in the Rain: newspaper cuttings from Dublin 2009

As promised, here are a load more cuttings from our files. The shows in Dublin in 2009 saw Bruce playing to about 80,000 fans over two nights.

Even though it was the height of summer it poured down on night one, giving the street vendors of the "heavy duty ponchos" the opportunity to clean up!

Share your memories below!

Evening Herald, July 13, 2009

 Evening Herald, July 13, 2009

 Irish Independent, July 13, 2009

 Irish Daily Mirror, July 13, 2009

 Irish Sun, July 13, 2009

                                                         Irish Independent, July 13, 2009

BRUCE AND OUR BOOK - IN THE NEWS

Over the last few years we've been fortunate to have some great support - not only from fans but from journalists too.

Here are a few of the articles which have featured 'Land of Hope and Dreams'. Our thanks to Tom McCormack for his help compiling them.

Meath Chronicle

October 2010

Irish Sun

October 2009

Irish Times

October 2009

New York Irish Voice

April 2010

Sunday Life

April 2010

Irish Times

June 2010

Where's Springsteen? If I Were You, I Wouldn't Start From Here.

Some of the best fun we had writing our Springsteen book was researching the Slane Castle concert from 1985.

Everyone seemed to have such amazing memories of that gig.

Many Springsteen fans were seeing their first shows on that tour. Plenty were going through major exams at school that summer and they needed something to cheer them.

Dan French was already a veteran. He's probably Britain's foremost Springsteen expert and he was a great help when we were writing the book.

If it was all right with Dan, then we knew we were on the right road.

Dan sent his story "If I Were You, I Wouldn't Start From Here!". It was written by his friend Mike Saunders with the help of Dan himself and Linda Gilder.

We used most of it in the book, but the version linked to is complete and unedited.

It's an epic - on the scale of Michael Palin's "Biggles Goes To See Bruce Springsteen"!

It tells the tale of a group of English people in a foreign country, searchin', searchin' for the Promised Land.

Springsteen to play three shows in Ireland in 2013

Aiken Promotions has announced that Bruce Springsteen

& The E Street Band will play three shows in Ireland in 2013.

They will be at:

Limerick, Thomond Park, 16 July 2013.

Cork, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 18 July 2013.

Belfast, Kings Hall Arena, 20 July 2013.               

In a press release, Aiken Promotions stated: 

"Following their sell out Shows in Dublin this summer, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have confirmed they will return to these shores in July 2013 for 3 special nights around the country in Limerick, Cork and Belfast.  Tickets go on sale Thursday 6 December at 9am.

"The announcement that the Wrecking Ball Tour is extending into 2013 comes as the tour is awarded ‘Top Draw’  by Billboard Magazine for having the top attendance out of any other tour in 2012.

"The Album Wrecking Ball released earlier this year became Springsteen’s tenth No.1 Album in the US as well as topping the charts all across Europe including the UK and Ireland."

Tickets go on sale Thursday 6 December at 9.00am and will be available from:

All Ticketmaster Outlets Nationwide

24hr Credit Card Bookings:-

0818 719300 (ROI)

0844 277 4455 (NI)

Book on line www.ticketmaster.ie

Tickets for:

LIMERICK, Thomond Park  - 16 July 2013

CORK, Páirc Uí Chaoimh -  18 July 2013

€90 General Admission / €100 Seated

Springsteen's 'Perfect mastery of the beat'

While writing 'Land of Hope and Dreams' we collected dozens and dozens of press cuttings to add to our already bursting Springsteen collection.
Here are a few of them.


The Times, London July 3, 1985

A front page par and inside page lead from The Times, London June 10, 1985

And Steve Van Zandt's call for a "total blockade" on Apartheid South Africa.

The Times, London November 11, 1985

SPRINGSTEEN BOOK ON SALE!

Christmas is coming! And LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS is on special sale.

This fantastic book tells the story of 25 years of Springsteen live shows from the 'Born in the USA' tour to 'Working On A Dream'.

Here's FOUR reasons why this is the perfect Christmas present for the Springsteen fan in your life:

1) It features more than a hundred unpublished photographs of The Boss.

2) BRUCE HAS BOUGHT THE BOOK - WHY NOT GET YOURSELF ONE?

3) We make a donation to a children's hospice with every eBay sale.

4) This offer has 25% off the book's retail price of £15.99 or 20 euro in Ireland. 

Postage is FREE within the UK.

For the sale price buy the book now from here.