Feel the heat at the Guild with ‘The Boss’

Centrestage pays tribute to the talents of American rock star

PORT Elizabeth-based entertainment company Centrestage will recreate the music of Bruce Springsteen for two performances at the East London Guild Theatre on April 6 and 7.

Wayne Kallis fronts the seven-piece Centrestage E-Street band which will include a brass section to pay tribute to ‘The Boss’ in a review entitled ‘ USA on Fire!’

The performance will take in many of Springsteen’s most popular hits such as Dancing in the Dark, Born in the USA, I’m on Fire, Glory Days, Tougher than the Rest, Streets of Philadelphia, My Hometown, Cover Me and Tougher than the Rest, among others.

Included in the salute will be live concert favourites such as Born to Run, The Rising, Badlands, The River, 10th Avenue Freeze Out, Thunder Road and No Surrender.

The E-Street backing band consists of Arno Erasmus on lead guitar, Devon van Rooyen on drums, Andrew Warneke on bass, Debbie Everaard on keyboards, Shawn Lyons on trumpet and introduces the talented Curtis Kettledas on sax.

Springsteen is widely known for his brand of poetic lyrics, Americana, his working class and sometimes political sentiments centred on his native New Jersey, and his distinctive voice.

Springsteen’s recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more sombre folkoriented works.

His most successful studio albums, Born to Run (1975) and Born in the USA (1984), showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life. He has sold more 120 million records worldwide and more than 64 million records in the United States, making him one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time.

“Wayne Kallis is a vocal dead ringer for Springsteen,” says long-time Springsteen fan and Centrestage’s Gary Hemmings. ‘This show has all the potential elements to become one of Centrestage’s most rocking live shows, as the Springsteen songbook is so packed with big production songs, as well as chart-toppers …and the band, including a terrific horn section, plays this music so well!’

Shows start at 7.30pm and tickets costing between R130 and R160 can be purchased through Computicket or by calling Wendy on 082-661-6921.