Bruce Springsteen is bringing his tour to NC in 2023. Here’s where and how to buy tickets

Bruce Springsteen has scheduled a tour stop in Greensboro in 2023, just over seven years after he canceled a show there because of North Carolina’s House Bill 2.

Springsteen and The E Street Band announced Tuesday that their 2023 international tour will kick off Feb. 1, in Tampa, Fla. Their North Carolina stop at the Greensboro Coliseum is scheduled March 25. Tickets go on sale July 22 at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster.

A news release notes that it’s Springsteen’s first tour in North America since 2016 and their first tour dates since February 2017. It’s also their first concert in North Carolina since 2014, when he played PNC Arena in Raleigh.

He was expected to bring his top-selling tour to the Greensboro Coliseum on April 10, 2016, but the rocker nixed the concert two days before the show, citing the controversial HB2 law. On April 8, he said he would cancel the concert because doing so “is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.” Over 15,000 tickets had been sold, The News & Observer reported at the time.

House Bill 2, often referred to as the Bathroom Bill, had been enacted on March 23. Among other things, it required people to use the bathroom that corresponded to the gender on their birth certificate and prevented municipalities from enacting non-discrimination ordinances.

“Some things are more important than a rock show, and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them,” Springsteen wrote to explain the cancellation.

Springsteen wasn’t alone. HB2 prompted several high-profile entertainers, productions and athletic events to halt business in the state, including Cirque du Soleil, Ringo Starr and Pearl Jam.

Springsteen’s 2016-2017 tour was still a hit and was “named 2016’s top global tour by both Billboard and Pollstar,” according to a news release.

Flash-forward to the present. HB2 has been repealed, and Springsteen is ready to return to North Carolina.

His most recent album, “Letter to You,” was released in 2020 and was the first time he and the E Street Band had recorded live together in many years.

How to buy tickets

Due to expected high demand, ticket-goers must register through Ticketmaster Verified Fan by 11:59 p.m. EST Sunday, July 17, to buy tickets. Those who are verified will be “equally eligible” to get a code to buy tickets. The website is at verifiedfan.ticketmaster.com/springsteen.

Ticketmaster said getting a code does not guarantee a ticket code, and thus the ability to buy tickets. But the ticket outlet said it prevents bots out of the ticket buying process.

Tickets will be available for purchase between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. If tickets remain, general on-sale tickets will be sold at 3 p.m. with no code required.