All roads lead to Bruce Springsteen and Giants Stadium shows (2003)

This brief, part of a special entertainment section on Bruce Springsteen, originally appeared in the Asbury Park Press on July 11, 2003.

New Jersey Turnpike, ridin’ on a wet night 

`Neath the refinery’s glow out where the 

great black rivers flow 

License, registration, I ain’t got none 

But I got a clear conscience ’bout the 

things that I done 

Mister state trooper, please don’t stop me 

– Bruce Springsteen, “State Trooper” 

Get ready for another Springsteen summer, dear reader.

On Tuesday, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band bring “The Rising” tour to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford for 10 record-breaking shows, with additional stops next month in Philadelphia.

To preview Bruce Springsteen’s 10 shows at Giants Stadium in 2003, the Asbury Park Press created a special section of Jersey Alive, the Friday entertainment tab.

Amazingly, these will be the first Giants Stadium performances by the Freehold native and entourage since the mid-1980s.

In recent years, Springsteen has performed at the smaller Continental Airlines Arena, usually in conjunction with shows held across the Hudson at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

No subway tokens this time, though. These are sprung-from-cages-on-Highway 9, chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, 100-percent New Jersey car-culture concerts.

And with a capacity of nearly 80,000 people per show — times 10 — that’s a lot of toll fare.

So buckle your seatbelt, blast your Bruce CDs, pack your tailgate picnic, hold on to your E-ZPass or keep some extra change handy.

It’s going to be one rockin’ ride.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen plays Giants Stadium, 2003