Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band fans are ready for Tampa tour opener
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The streets of Tampa are alive — with fans of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
E Street Nation has come from near and far for the Wednesday, Feb, 1, tour-opening show at the city's Amalie Arena. Asa Formark of Norway was with a group of fans Tuesday evening at Hattricks Tavern, a few blocks away from the arena in downtown Tampa.
“For me, I feel (Springsteen) can do whatever tomorrow and I'm going to be excited just to have that kind of feeling of being in the crowd with all the friends and everything," Formark said. "It's that special kind of fan feeling, and that's the most important thing to me."
Formark's group discussed what the opening song will be, their favorite Springsteen concerts and more.
“All the fans are excited that we have another chance to do this,” said Stan Goldstein of Neptune, host of the Springsteen-themed Rock & Roll Tour of the Jersey Shore with Asbury Park Press staff writer Jean Mikle. “It's exciting to have the show on the road again and it's exciting to see friends I haven't seen in a long time and get together like this. It's not just the shows. It's getting together like this. Going out, having dinner, having drinks and celebrating Bruce.”
The upcoming tour is the band's first in the United States since 2016. Eddie Johanson, 31, of Sweden didn't lose faith that the band would tour again.
"I always believed as long as Bruce feels good he could keep going,” Johanson said. “Bruce wouldn’t stop if he didn't have to stop.”
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Over at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, a couple hundred Boss fans rocked the night away to the B Street Band Springsteen-tribute group.
“Tonight, everybody was pumped,” said Audrey Hunn of Philadelphia, administrator of the Calling All Bruce Springsteen Fans! Facebook group and co-organizer of the night with the Spring-Nuts group. “Glenn (Stuart), the lead singer, he really worked the crowd with the song choices. Really upbeat crowd pleasers.”
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Jarod Clemons, the youngest son of the late Clarence Clemons, joined the B Street Band on stage. There was no talk of high Springsteen ticket prices, inflated by dynamic pricing, at the Hard Rock.
“People are here for one reason and it's not to complain about ticket prices,” Hunn said.
The Calling All Bruce Springsteen Fans! and Spring-Nuts will host a pre-show tailgate at 1 p.m Wednesday at Sparkman Wharf, just a few minutes away from Amalie Arena.
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Fans flew out of Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday. The captain of a United Airlines flight welcomed Springsteen backers to cheers on a Tampa flight.
“Half the plane was Bruce fans,” said Goldstein, who was on the plane.
Band members are pumped for the show — literally. Drummer Max Weinberg shared a sleeveless pic of his concert preparation Tuesday on his social media. He was bending a resistance bar.
“My trainer (Giovanni Roselli) has a great saying: 'If you stay ready, you never have to get ready,' Weinberg said. “I’m ready. See you tomorrow night, Tampa!”
Area shows for the upcoming Springsteen and E Street Band tour include the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday, March 16; Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Saturday, April 1; the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Monday, April 3; two at the new USB Arena in Belmont Park, N.Y., on Sunday, April 9, and Tuesday, April 11; and the Prudential Center in Newark on Friday, April 14, to close the run.
The Boss then heads to Europe to play stadium shows. It's the E Street Band's first time out since The River Tour, which ended in New Zealand in 2017.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen tour 2023: Fans ready for Tampa opener
