Bruce Springsteen

WASHINGTON - Addressing a sea of thousands who gathered for a concert yesterday that officially opened his inaugural festivities, President-elect Barack Obama kept it brief. He let the music do the talking. "Welcome to the celebration of American renewal," Obama said, succinctly summing up the energy behind the performances on the National Mall by some of the top names in pop music. The music was interspersed with historical passages read by Hollywood's brightest: Denzel Washington, Queen Latifah and Jamie Foxx among others.

Just announced Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Verizon Center in Washington on May 18. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Dropkick Murphys Rams Head Live on March 5. 410-244-1131 or ramsheadlive.com. Morrissey Warner Theatre in Washington on March 14. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Black Stone Cherry Recher Theatre in Towson on March 10. 410-337-7210, 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Still available Cowboy Junkies The Birchmere in Alexandria, Va., on Feb. 15. 703-549-7500 or birchmere.

TELEVISION 1.CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS 2.Dancing with the Stars, Monday, ABC 3.Grey's Anatomy, ABC 4.Desperate Housewives, ABC 5.House, Fox FILMS 1.Why Did I Get Married?, Lionsgate 2.The Game Plan, Disney 3.Michael Clayton, Warner Bros. 4.We Own the Night, Sony 5.The Heartbreak Kid, Paramount SINGLES 1.Crank That (Soulja Boy), Soulja Boy Tell 'Em 2.Stronger, Kanye West 3.Gimme More, Britney Spears 4.Apologize, Timbaland featuring OneRepublic 5.The Way I Are, Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson ALBUMS 1.Magic, Bruce Springsteen 2.Still Feels Good, Rascal Flatts 3.Exile on Mainstream, Matchbox Twenty 4.souljaboytellem.

Cubs: Mark Grace, who began the game one hit ahead of Rafael Palmeiro for the decade hits lead, finished 1-for-2 with three walks, two intentional. His eighth-inning double gave him 361 for the 1990s, tying him with the Astros' Craig Biggio for the decade lead.Marlins: Second baseman Luis Castillo was voted the team's MVP by the South Florida media. Castillo, out for the year with a dislocated shoulder, batted .302 with 50 stolen bases.Phillies: A crowd that included many Mets fans was late arriving because of a busy night in South Philadelphia.

When Bruce Springsteen and the E St. Band roll into Washington's MCI Arena on Tuesday for the first of three sold-out shows, I'm sure that fans will be expecting an electrifying evening. I'm equally sure that Springsteen and com-pany will meet those expectations, delivering the sort of energetic, uplifting, joyful performance that has made this tour the season's hottest ticket. And I'm sure everyone in attendance will feel they got their money's worth and then some.I'm just not sure how much any of that means.

Contrary to popular belief, you can go home again. What you can't do is expect things to be exactly as they were -- especially if it has been a dozen or more years since last you were there.Seeing Bruce Springsteen back together with the E Street Band for the first time since the late '80s was a lot like going home for many of the roughly 20,000 fans packed into Washington's MCI Center last night.They mainly played the old favorites, the songs that made Springsteen a rock and roll legend: "The River," "Jungleland," "Thunder Road" and "Born to Run."

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The screen door slammed Thursday night, and I was a Jersey girl again.Not the Jersey girl I once was, a four-eyed chub with the bathing-suit blues, but the one I once wished I could be, cruising down the boardwalk with my friends, a curfew just beyond the horizon, my mind spinning with top-10 lyrics and an awesome case of entitlement.That's the beauty of Bruce Springsteen. He doesn't sing for the kids who are already having a great time; he sings for the ones who lie in bed at night dreaming about what they think they're missing.

Paul Kovi, 74, a former owner and director of the Four Seasons restaurant, died Monday of a blood infection in New York. Mr. Kovi began working at the famed Manhattan restaurant in 1966, 16 years after he emigrated from Hungary.Wright Morris, 88, the American Gothic novelist and essayist who wrote about his native Nebraska, died April 25 in Mill Valley, Calif.Gregor von Rezzori, 83, an Austrian whose novels centered on life in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, died April 23 in Florence, Italy.

In pop music, the forecast for fall is superstars - particularly in the CD stores. Frankly, the recording industry could use a star-studded season. With sales sagging for two straight years, the business is in desperate need of hits. And if big names equal big sales, there should be lots of cheer in the corporate suites by Christmas.Things on the concert front won't be so exciting, however. Most of the big acts either have put off touring until next year, or - as is the case with R.E.M. - are forsaking the road altogether.

Art Alexakis, frontman of the hard-driving, alternative band Everclear, is a rock star who helps load kids on to the bus for his daughter's kindergarten field trip.He's also a rock star who's not afraid to reveal his sensitive side, especially when it comes to Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road.""I get chills every time I hear that song," he says from his home in Portland, Ore. "I know it's not very punk rock to say that."And the refreshing dichotomies that define Alexakis and Everclear don't stop there.

Organizers: Bruce Springsteen to play 1st Mariner Arena Rock legend Bruce Springsteen will perform at 1st Mariner Arena Nov. 20, organizers announced Tuesday. This appears to be Springsteen's first Baltimore show since he opened for Chicago at the Baltimore Civic Center in June 1973. Officials at 1st Mariner Arena had heard nothing about the show, which comes near the end of Springsteen's 31-date tour. Tickets for the show will go on sale Sept. 25, according to a news release sent out from Shore Fire Media, Springsteen's publicity company.

Other than that, Mr. Leopold, how was the mall? There's a perfectly innocent explanation for the Abe Lincoln-impersonating Anne Arundel County executive's activities in the Westfield Annapolis mall parking lot: John Leopold's stimulus check came early. Maybe he dropped the check and was groping for that sort of stimulation in the back seat of his county vehicle, so he could go inside the mall and do his patriotic duty. Perhaps the 911 caller who thought he'd spotted "naked people" in the county Chevrolet had merely glimpsed Leopold's balding head, mistaking it for flesh that's less socially acceptable to flash.

Just announced Fall Out Boy Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia on April 25. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Flight of the Conchords DAR Constitution Hall in Washington on April 13. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Ani DiFranco The 9:30 Club in Washington on March 6. 800-955-5566 or tickets.com. Still available Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Verizon Center in Washington on May 18. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Coheed and Cambria 1st Mariner Arena on Feb. 13. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.

The matchup might not thrill football lovers, especially here in Baltimore, where rooting against the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of our favorite pastimes. But the Super Bowl is one of our undeniable institutions, as much a holiday as the Fourth of July for many Americans. At least 90 million households are expected to watch the game tonight. Here are a few of the things we'll do and see: Music Jennifer Hudson (below, left) will throw her powerful pipes into the national anthem. Her performance could offer one of the evening's most poignant moments; Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were shot to death in October, and this will be her first public appearance since the tragedy.

Just announced Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Verizon Center in Washington on May 18. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Dropkick Murphys Rams Head Live on March 5. 410-244-1131 or ramsheadlive.com. Morrissey Warner Theatre in Washington on March 14. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Black Stone Cherry Recher Theatre in Towson on March 10. 410-337-7210, 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Still available Cowboy Junkies The Birchmere in Alexandria, Va., on Feb. 15. 703-549-7500 or birchmere.

For the past three years, Bruce Springsteen has been on a roll in the studio. The Boss has recorded three ambitious albums in that time, exploring his literary leanings (Devils & Dust, 2005), his admiration of folk music (We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, 2006) and his thoughts about the dark realities of American life under George W. Bush (Magic, 2007). Springsteen's new CD - Working on a Dream, out today - comes just 16 months after Magic hit the streets. In the halcyon days of his career, back in the mid-'70s and throughout the '80s, the New Jersey superstar was known to take at least two years between albums.

DVD 'Pride & Glory': Leave it to the discriminating Edward Norton to spice up what could have been just another cliched cop drama. The Maryland native stars as a New York detective investigating a shootout that killed four officers, but things get messy when his brother, a fellow cop, emerges as a key suspect. In stores Tuesday. CONCERT Scott Weiland: The lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver returns to town, but he's left both supergroups behind. After a successful reunion tour with the Pilots this past summer, Weiland is now pushing his latest solo project.

WASHINGTON - Addressing a sea of thousands who gathered for a concert yesterday that officially opened his inaugural festivities, President-elect Barack Obama kept it brief. He let the music do the talking. "Welcome to the celebration of American renewal," Obama said, succinctly summing up the energy behind the performances on the National Mall by some of the top names in pop music. The music was interspersed with historical passages read by Hollywood's brightest: Denzel Washington, Queen Latifah and Jamie Foxx among others.

LARRY HARMON, 83 Bozo the Clown entrepreneur Larry Harmon, who appeared as Bozo the Clown for decades and licensed the name to other Bozos around the world, died yesterday at his home of congestive heart failure, his longtime publicist, Jerry Digney, told the Associated Press. Although not the first person to play Bozo, Mr. Harmon took on the famous clown's persona and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly TV stations. Those stations then recruited their own Bozos for local shows.

DANNY FEDERICI, 58 Rock musician Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band's sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising," died Thursday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He had suffered from melanoma for three years. News of his death was posted late Thursday on Mr. Springsteen's Web site. He last performed with Mr. Springsteen and the band last month.