Springsteen ends tour at Harley celebration

Milwaukee – Bruce Springsteen ended his world tour over the weekend, toned down but revved up.

Springsteen played more than 30 songs over 3 1/2 hours Saturday night on Milwaukee’s lakefront for Harley-Davidson’s 105th anniversary celebration. He made few comments between songs.

Only for a few moments before “Livin’ in the Future” did the rocker – who often brings his liberal-leaning political comments to the stage – stray into politics.

Springsteen performed to a crowd not unlike the one that gave Republican presidential candidate John McCain a warm welcome Aug. 4 at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Many roared their motorcycles during McCain’s speech.

Springsteen said “Livin’ in the Future” was about what was happening now: cheese, Harley-Davidson motorcycles (tailoring it to his Wisconsin crowd), transfats, “500 channels of nothing on” and the Bill of Rights.

But he also mentioned wire tapping and rendition – the secret transport of terror suspects from one country to another.

“Things that basically at the heart are un-American,” he said. The crowd gave spattered groans but mostly stayed silent.

He did not play “Born in the U.S.A,” his anthem about the difficulties Vietnam war veterans faced, or the anti-war ballad “Devils and Dust” about Iraq.

Fans snag tickets for Oprah, Olympians

Chicago – Fans began lining up at 6 a.m. Saturday for a chance to snag free tickets to “The Oprah Winfrey Show” season premiere featuring 150 U.S. Olympic athletes.

By noon, the line of Winfrey fans and U.S. Olympic supporters stretched nearly six city blocks in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The show will air Sept. 8 and include appearances by gold medalists Michael Phelps, Nastia Liukin and Kobe Bryant.

Tickets for the Winfrey’s tapings are usually available only by phone and nearly impossible to get, so fans were itching for the 2,000 seats up for grabs for Wednesday’s taping.

Organizers began passing out tickets at noon Saturday.

For those unable to get tickets Saturday, approximately 7,000 festival-style lawn seats would be available Wednesday, said Monica Cebula, special events coordinator for Millennium Park. Another 2,000 seats have been set aside for the Olympians’ families and friends.

Winfrey’s Harpo Productions said the show is a “welcome home celebration” for the athletes and a chance to feature Chicago in the city’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chicago is a finalist for the 2016 games along with Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Madrid, Spain. The International Olympic Committee will choose the 2016 host next year.