NEW JESREY (Reuters) -
Bruce Springsteen will once again host a series of holiday benefit shows at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, N.J. The five concerts, set for Dec. 3-4 and 6-8, will feature the Max Weinberg 7 from "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and will benefit local charities.
Tickets to the shows go on sale Tuesday (Nov. 27) at 9 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster phone sales only, priced at $50 and $100. There is a limit of two tickets per person, per phone call. Tickets will not be mailed, but will be available for pick-up at the venue on the night of each show.
Last year, Springsteen hosted a pair of holiday concerts at the same venue that found him principally backed by Weinberg's band, and joined at various points by every current member of the E Street Band. Along with E Street's Clarence Clemons, Roy Bittan, Little Steven Van Zandt, Danny Federici, Gary Tallent, Nils Lofgren, and Patti Scialfa, Springsteen welcomed violinist/vocalist Soozie Tyrell, vocalist Lisa Lowell, N.J. shore music scene staples Southside Johnny Lyon and Bobby Bandiera, and even his manager, Jon Landau, on stage to perform during the two shows.
Although not on tour, and with only a live CD and DVD from his 2000-2001 reunion tour with the E Street Band in stores, Springsteen has been active in the last several months. His performance of the song "My City of Ruins," which made its debut at last year's holiday concerts, opened the Sept. 21 "America: A Tribute to Heroes" live telethon that raised money for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. The song will be released on the CD and DVD versions of the show, due out Dec. 4.
Along with Bon Jovi, Phoebe Snow, Joan Jett, and others, the Boss also appeared at the Oct. 18-19 Alliance of Neighbors benefit concerts to assist Monmouth County, N.J., families of victims of the attack on the World Trade Center.
Springsteen also joined friend Joe Grushecky Nov. 3 at the second annual Light of Day Concert at the Tradewinds nightclub in Sea Bright, N.J. The shore club played host to the benefit for the Parkinson's Disease Foundation organized by Grushecky's manager Bob Benjamin, who was diagnosed with the disease in 1996.
It is unknown if the artist, who wrote a song for his son that he gave to Marc Anthony to record for his next pop album, has been working on material for a long-awaited new studio album with the E Street Band.
