Subject: E Street Band

• Boss Fans Take Note: Springsteen Announces First Local Date Since 2002

  November 20, 2007

• Whither Springsteen?

  November 20, 2007

• Q&A: Little Steven Van Zandt

  April 14, 2008

• Last Night: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Toyota Center

  April 15, 2008

• Alejandro Escovedo Spills the Beans on Houston Springsteen Duet

  July 16, 2008

• Gather Around for Storytime

  Tracy Chapman

  August 17, 2000

• The Art of Getting Broken

  Mary Cutrufello wanted to be a rock star. For a moment she was.

  May 17, 2001

• New Tape Of A Young Springsteen Remembering His First Houston Gigs

  Someone has put up on YouTube the long audio interview he did with a very young Bruce Springsteen in Phoenix on March 24th, 1974 (Way before the 1978 Phoenix show that included the legendarily filmed "Rosalita").In part two of the six-part interview, Springsteen talks about the reception he's been getting out West, which was much better than back on the East Coast. (He also mentions, incredibly enough to someone hearing it today, that the band won't be able to go to Callifornia from Phoenix beca

  December 12, 2008

• Classic Rock Corner: In Memoriam 2008

  You know, the Grim Reaper don't care if you're a multiplatinum music legend, a one-hit wonder or studio-only sideman - he's comin' for you someday! And in 2008, he seemed to like keyboardists and drummers most. A number of classic rockers left for "The Great Gig in the Sky," foremost of whom is the composer of that song... Rick Wright, keyboardist, Pink Floyd (1943-2008): While David Gilmour and Roger Waters were locked in an often ugly head-to-head in battle for creative control and band leade

  December 29, 2008

• Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 2

  Gram Rabbit, Super Happy Fun Land, January 31: "Gram Rabbit is the face of 21st century glam; denser than Scissor Sisters and more fun than Ladytron. If everyone who heard Roxy Music got these sorts of ideas, the world would be a vastly better place." (Chris Henderson) Over the Rhine, McGonigel's Mucky Duck, February 6: "Tempting the gods, [Karin] Bergquist segued into one of historic Cincinnati label King Records's most notable hits, 'Fever.' This could have easily become a cliché in less

  December 30, 2008

• U2 Lace Up Their Dirty "Boots"

  Among, you know, a few other things, the past 24 hours have been the start of a very, very big year for the band Rocks Off affectionately refers to as the Best Band Ever. U2 appeared alongside Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, "One" pal Mary J. Blige and many more as Barack Obama's opening acts at yesterday's massive "We are One" concert on the National Mall in Washington D.C. "Restraint" is not a word normally associated with Bono and the boys, but they showed it yesterday. Not so much in th

  January 19, 2009

• Rebel from the North

  December 14, 1995

• Bruce Springsteen Confirms Second Houston Show in a Year

  Alejandro Escovedo with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band,"Always a Friend," Toyota Center, April 14, 2008 After last year's sold-out show that ended with both Alejandro Escovedo and Joe Ely duetting with the Boss, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are headed back to Houston for their second show within a year April 8 at Toyota Center. See the Press' review of last April's show here. Springsteen's official Web site announced the tour, supporting

  January 27, 2009

• Super Bowl XLIII Recap

  So I suppose I should say a little something about the Super Bowl. But before I do, I'd like to make an appeal to all future Super Bowl organizers. Please, no more American Idol rejects (or winners) for the anthem. Please. When Jennifer Hudson hit the 10 minute mark on that song yesterday, I decided to take out the trash. I came back five minutes later and she was still singing the damn thing. The song shouldn't take more than a minute and a half. Tops. And the last original version of

  February 2, 2009

• Aftermath: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Super Bowl XLIII

  Part 1: "10th Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Born to Run" Score another one for the old folks. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's quarter-hour onstage at Super Bowl XLIII Sunday night may not have been the most contemporary booking the NFL could have landed - but, and we'll get to this in a minute, maybe it was - and yet it's hard to imagine Lil Wayne, the Jonas Brothers or Katy Perry putting on nearly as soul-stirring a performance, let alone one that wasn't upstaged by a fireworks

  February 2, 2009

• Aftermath: The Killers at Verizon Wireless Theater

  Photos by Torey Mundkowsky Next year this decade will be over, and very few new bands have distinguished themselves either at the turnstiles or the cash register. Even one of the main ones that has, the Killers, chose to hit the theater circuit this winter after releasing its third album, Day & Age, instead of risking arenas - in most places, that is; about two weeks ago, the Vegas quartet and friends acquitted themselves at Madison Square Garden quite nicely. In the pro

  February 3, 2009

• Austin's Fave

  May 1, 1997

• Rotation

  July 2, 1998

• Static

  August 20, 1998

• Breaking Through to the Mainstream

  December 3, 1998

• Springsteen Tickets for 20 Bucks

  Chris Gray The line for Springsteen tickets shortly after noon - Rocks Off would assume there are still tickets available (they're in the upper deck, btw). Bring a couple of canned goods please. It's always nice to find something out from the daily, but when it involves Bruce Springsteen, Rocks Off is more than happy to poach, poach away. According to this item on the Chronicle's new entertainment/lifestyle website, 29-95.com - which debuted last week to nary a mention from its print

  April 7, 2009

• Classic Rock Corner: Nils Lofgren, Sideman, Sideburns and Solo

  Guy AcetoIt's certainly an accomplishment for any rock musician to have a long and fruitful career either solo or with a band. Then it's icing on the cake to be further associated with a genuine icon. But to have two icons in your story? Just an embarrassment of riches. In the case with singer/songwriter/guitarist Nils Lofgren, all three roads are converging at once. He's celebrating 25 years since joining Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band as a lead guitarist (their tour in s

  April 8, 2009

• Super Bowl XLIII Recap

  So I suppose I should say a little something about the Super Bowl. But before I do, I'd like to make an appeal to all future Super Bowl organizers. Please, no more American Idol rejects (or winners) for the anthem. Please. When Jennifer Hudson hit the 10 minute mark on that song yesterday, I decided to take out the trash. I came back five minutes later and she was still singing the damn thing. The song shouldn't take more than a minute and a half. Tops. And the last original version of

  February 2, 2009

• Moments the Grammy Awards Would Rather Forget

  February 5, 2009

• Recent Super Bowl Halftime Highlights and Lowlights

  January 29, 2009

• Should Bruce Springsteen Be Forgiven?

  Arguments for reconsidering the missteps on the Boss's otherwise impeccable track record

  April 10, 2008

• Between the Cracks

  Profiling local bands

  February 2, 2006

• Game Four: A Bitter Sweep Ending

  The Astros’ attempt to win without scoring somehow fails

  October 13, 2005

• Bruce Springsteen

  The Rising (Columbia)

  August 15, 2002

• Back To Basics

  Steven Van Zandt is dedicated to garage rock

  April 11, 2002

• Union Joan

  England's Joan Armatrading comes to town with her fanciful folk music

  July 13, 2000

• Listen In

  Clandestine -- Dave Nevling and the Blues Kats -- Tommy Dardar and the Sheetrockers

  April 27, 2000

• St. Boss

  April 13, 2000

• Rocks Off Succumbs to That Evil Facebook "Bands I've Seen" List

  Chris GrayWilco's Jeff Tweedy at Verizon Wireless Theater, March 2008​If you're reading this at all, Rocks Off will just assume you're fairly familiar with the Internet, and therefore that you more than likely also have a Facebook page. Congratulations - don't you feel special? Rocks Off was recently "tagged" by several of our Facebook friends with one of those "notes" things, which usually ask you to come up with some list or another and share it with up to 25 of your fellow social-networking

  August 20, 2009

• "Kill Yourself" or "Don't Give Up"? Five Possible Theme Songs for the 2009 Houston Texans

  [Ed. note: Due to an editing mistake, this should have been up Friday afternoon. Apologies... we sure hope it didn't jinx the Texans or anything.] ​You may have missed it - what with there being almost no media coverage whatsoever - but football season started this week. Our own Texans are looking to improve on two consecutive .500 seasons and bring Houston one step closer to a championship in a sport that isn't basketball, soccer, or minor league hockey. Because apparently none of those count

  September 14, 2009

• Sorry Dave, We Had To: Top Ten Songs to Listen to While Having Sex With Co-Workers

  If The Late Show with David Letterman hasn't seemed very funny lately, it's probably because Dave has been spending more time apologizing for banging his subordinates than he has making fun of Paul Shaffer. Admittedly, it was a bold move: coming forward and confessing his past missteps in order to expose the extortion attempt against him. Then again, the guy blackmailing him tried to cash a $2 million check; obviously we're not dealing with Professor Moriarty. In the spirit of Letterman's most

  October 8, 2009

• Get Lit: Three More for That Already Groaning Springsteen Bookshelf

  Daniel KramerThe Big Man, the Boss and Mighty Max Weinberg at Toyota Center, April 2009​ Just as Bruce Springsteen winds down a frenzied period of back-to-back album and tour marathon - despite the death of Springsteen's cousin/assistant tour manager earlier this week in Kansas City, he and the E Street Band, as well as special guests Sam Moore (Sam & Dave) and Darlene Love, are scheduled to play a concert commemorating the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary at Madison Square Ga

  October 29, 2009

• Hiding on the Backstreets: Remembering Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band In Houston

  Daniel KramerThe Boss at Toyota Center, April 2009​This past weekend's show in Buffalo, N.Y., was the last date on a nearly two-year (and two-album-supporting) trek by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which found them criss-crossing the country and the globe several times to rapt audiences, with a stop at the Super Bowl and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts. But fans and Internet chat rooms alike have been ablaze pondering the musical question: Is this the last hurrah? Springstee

  November 23, 2009