Bruce Springsteen to hold a farewell concert at Giants Stadium

Last musical show at the Giants Stadium
Springsteen and his "wrecking crew" will be playing three shows at the East Rutherford stadium this fall, he announced to fans at a May 21 concert on the Izod Theater in Rutherford, New Jersey.

The shows are tentatively scheduled for Sept. 30, Oct. 2 and Oct. 3. The sale of tickets will begin June 1, as per a flyer distributed after Thursday night’s show.

The performance by Springsteen and the E Street Band will mark the last musical act to be held at the venue, following which it will be brought down to ground.

Giants Stadium is a part of East Rutherford's Meadowlands Sports Complex, which comprises the stadium, the Izod Center and the Meadowlands Racetrack. It is scheduled to be brought down at the end of the 2009 NFL season in order to make room for the new $1.3 billion football home of New York Giants and Jets.

Springsteen’s star-power
Springsteen has been the most popular artist at the Meadowlands with a record 56 sold-out shows (with the E Street Band) to date. The farewell concert is probably the singer’s way of acknowledging all the appreciation he received on the turf.

Despite all that esteem, fans were a little disappointed this time as they complained that too few tickets of Garden State shows were made available for the general public, and that the bulk of the seats were reserved for promotions and people with connections.

Melodies from the yesteryears
Springsteen and his band have been pulling out some rare tracks from their catalog this tour, along with playing a selection of cover songs each night. On Thursday, the band played some of the old time favorites including ‘Rosalita’, ‘I'm Going Down’, ‘Growin' Up’ and ‘Jungleland’, and had the home-state crowd completely under their spell.

The Boss will wrap up his North American excursion on Saturday at the Izod Center; next week, he will kick off on a European tour.

Springsteen and the band members will land back in the U.S. in June to headline the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, which kicks off on June 11.

More U.S. dates are on the cards, but as of now the Giants Stadium gigs are the only ones to be confirmed. Within the next few weeks, Springsteen is expected to unveil the complete routing of his tour.