Jimmy Barnes, The Rubens To Support Springsteen

While tour promoter Michael Gudinski eluded to it in an interview with theMusic.com.au yesterday, today it has been confirmed that Jimmy Barnes and The Rubens will be appearing in support of Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band at their Hanging Rock show outside of Melbourne next March.

The Springsteen tour, for which a pre-sale starts tomorrow, is one of the biggest announcements in recent memory, no mean fit given the crowded touring market for early next year that sees everyone from Metallica to Neil Young to Robert Plant and Paul Simon making their way over here, to name but a few.

There will be no support acts for the other shows on the tour, Springsteen's trademark three-hour-plus shows not allowing much time for support acts.

As one of Australia's truly iconic performing artists, both with his solo material and as frontman for the legendary Cold Chisel, Barnes seems a rather natural fit for the support, while The Rubens are one of the country's most celebrated up and coming bands, their debut LP reaching thenumber three spot on the ARIA charts following its release in September.

Springsteen dates are as follows:

Thursday 14 March – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Monday 18 March – Sydney Allphones Arena
Sunday 24 March – Melbourne - Rod Laver Arena
Saturday 30 March – Hanging Rock, Macedon (with Jimmy Barnes and The Rubens)