Bruce Springsteen & The E Street have announced a 16-date string of North American shows for this fall. The arena trek, which will follow "The Boss" late summer stadium swing, will kick off on October 19th at Ottawa, Ontario's Scotiabank Place and wind down just under seven weeks later on December 6th at Glendale, Arizona's Jobing.com Arena. Additional stops seem likely to be added, with only four shows on the books for the first half of November and five for the second half of the month. Springsteen and the band wrap up their European leg tomorrow night (July 31st) in Helsinki, Finland.

Drummer Max Weinberg has been part of the E Street Band since 1974 and has seen Springsteen transform from an East Coast cult artist into a superstar before his eyes: "Well, I should say I've seen him become more intense than ever. And as a person, well, I think all of us have changed. You can't help but be changed by the Born In The U.S.A. tour, for example. The widespread acceptance of that record and that tour. Y'know, it was a struggle. For Bruce it was a 20-year struggle. I guess I could characterize him as, when you look at Bruce, you see a guy with a lot of piece of mind."

• UPDATED: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band North American tour dates (subject to change):
  August 14, 15 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park
  August 15 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park
  August 18 - Foxboro, MA - Gillette Stadium
  August 24 - Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre
  August 26 - Moncton, NB - Magnetic Hill Festival Grounds
  August 29 - Vernon, NY - Vernon Downs Hotel Casino
  September 2, 3 - Philadelphia, PA - Citizens Bank Park
  September 7, 8 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field
  September 14 - Washington, DC - Nationals Park
  September 19, 21, 22 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium
  October 19 - - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place
  October 21 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum
  October 23 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
  October 25 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
  October 27 - Pittsburgh, PA - CONSOL Energy Center
  November 1 - State College, PA - Bryce Jordan Center
  November 3 - Louisville, KY - KFC Yum! Center
  November 11 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
  November 15 - Omaha, NE - CenturyLink Arena
  November 17 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
  November 19 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
  November 26 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
  November 28 - Portland, OR - The Rose Garden
  November 30 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
  December 4 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
  December 6 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Arena

SIDE NOTES

• Steve Van Zandt's acting career may cause him to miss a few E Street Band shows, due to his shooting schedule for his Norwegian TV show Lilyhammer. Nothing has officially been announced, but the European-based production may coincide with the upcoming concert dates, forcing Van Zandt to miss his first group gigs since their 1999 reunion.
• Van Zandt recently explained to Rolling Stone, "I made commitments before the tour even existed. We're still trying to figure it all out, and we won't know for another couple of months. Bruce and (his manager) Jon Landau are very, very understanding about this and very supportive of my TV career. They're gonna try and bend things around as much as they can. And then, if they can't, if I gotta miss a few things, I'll miss a few things. We're gonna try not to, though."

CHECK IT OUT: Springsteen performing The River classic "Drive All Night" on July 27th in Gothenburg, Sweden:

Max Weinberg On Changes In Bruce Springsteen

Read more at Ultimate Classic Rock and Rolling Stone