Springsteen To Help Close Spectrum

Philadelphia’s Wachovia Spectrum, the arena that has hosted almost every major touring act since its completion in 1967, will close its doors at the end of this year, but not before a few more bands and artists trod its boards.

The venue just began its final concert series last night with a Green Day performance, and will end with Pearl Jam playing the arena Oct. 28 and 30.

Coming up a little sooner than Vedder & co. are two Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concerts scheduled for Oct. 13-14.

Photo: AP Photo

As any Springsteen fan can tell you, the Spectrum and New Jersey’s favorite son have had a special relationship going back to June 6, 1973, when The Boss opened for Chicago.

“This is the house of rock,” Springsteen said when his current tour played the Spectrum on April 28. “This is the first arena we ever played. They don’t make arenas like this anymore. There is a democratic-ness to these old buildings. It’s a treat to really be here again and playing this lovely lady of a building.”

It was also the Spectrum that hosted Springsteen and the band on the night after John Lennon was shot. At first Springsteen considered postponing the date. Instead, he attacked the issue head on, telling the audience at the beginning of the concert, “It’s a hard world that asks you to live with a lot of things that are unlivable. And it’s hard to come out here and play tonight, but there’s nothing else to do.”

Springsteen and the Spectrum almost made it into the Guinness Book of World Records when the E Street reunion tour played five nights at the Wachovia Center, and moved the production 758 feet, nine and a half inches across the parking lot to the Spectrum for one night. Guinness eventually rejected the proposed world record – “The Shortest Distance Ever Traveled By A Rock Show.”

The two Springsteen gigs go on sale July 27 at 10 a.m. Comcast-Spectacor and Live Nation will continue to add shows to the Spectrum’s final concert schedule. For more information, please click here for the Comcast-Spectacor Web site.