Springsteen Could Offer Instant Live Recordings On Australian Tour

Ticketholders to Bruce Springsteen‘s upcoming Australian tour may be able to download a complete recording of the night’s concert online, with the Boss confirming they are exploring the idea of instant live concert recordings.

“I believe on this tour, we’re starting to do something like you can come in, you can buy a [wrist]band, you can get a copy of the night’s show,” said Springsteen in an interview with NPR today. “So hopefully we’re gonna do that at a really nice-quality level.”

Reports emerged of the plan last week, when Bruce Springsteen fan website Backstreets published a report claiming Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau let the publication in on the news whilst Bruce was busy doing a radio interview.

“We’re trying to keep the surprises coming,” said Landau. “I think we are.” The reports claims active discussions were ongoing with logistics being worked out. “There are even hopes to make something happen in time for the next leg,” it reads.

No official statement has been released from the Springsteen camp yet and it isn’t clear whether the concert recordings will be instantly available for download, or will become available some time after the show.

The plan is a move to both combat music piracy and attempt to dissuade people from uploading concert videos from their phones onto the web. Alt J tried something similar last year, with the Soundhalo app, which let you stream and instantly download their shows in real-time.

Springsteen told NPR he was excited about working with a “Grateful Dead touring idea” where evereything you do on stage is recorded. “We started out as being very, very controlling. Now it’s just a different playing field and so it’s exciting.”

“We caught a version of New York City Serenade from Rome that I was just so glad we had, you know?,” he continued. “It was one of those things like it was just a perfect night; we had a string section and the guys played it beautifully. And when I saw it, I said, ‘I’m so glad this exists.'”

That being said though, there’s just nothing like being at a Bruce Springsteen concert in the flesh. Said the Boss himself, “that’s something that’s not replicable. It’s recordable, but not replicable.”

Bruce Springsteen is heading back to Australia this February and will be showcasing songs from his new record High Hopes, out Friday, 17th January.

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