The Boss heads anti-Bush rock tour

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NEW YORK - The Boss is going up against the boss.

Bruce Springsteen, the US rock icon known as The Boss, will join two dozen other stars in nine "battleground" states for a rock 'n' roll tour aimed at ousting President George W. Bush, organisers said on Wednesday.

The "Vote for Change" tour - 34 shows in 28 cities - is scheduled for the first week of October, one month before the US presidential election.

"The tour is aimed squarely at the radical right wing policies of Republican ideologues throughout the country," said Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn PAC, the online liberal political action committee presenting the tour.

Six concert lineups will play simultaneous shows in a blitz of so-called swing states -- those that could go either Democrat or Republican in November: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin.

"I felt like I couldn't have written the music I've written, and been on stage singing about the things that I've sung about for the last 25 years and not take part in this particular election," said Springsteen, who has avoided direct political work in the past.

Dave Matthews, James Taylor, the Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, Pearl Jam, R.E.M, John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt are among the performers donating their talent and time to get Democrat John Kerry into the White House.

Proceeds from the tour go to America Coming Together, another liberal political action group.

"A vote for change is a vote for a stronger, safer, healthier America," Matthews said. "A vote for Bush is a vote for a divided, unstable, paranoid America."

The artists will play October 1 at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, October 2 at Cleveland's Gund Arena, October 3 at Ann Arbor, Mich.'s Crisler Arena, October 5 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, and October 8 at the TD Waterhouse Center in Orlando.

Tickets for the shows go on-sale August 21 to the general public; it is unclear if members of the R.E.M. fan club will have special pre-sale opportunities, which will be available to members of liberal group MoveOn.org, which is sponsoring the tour.

Organisers told reporters Wednesday that Springsteen had personally invited the other acts to join him at the shows.

"It just shows you how desperate times are," Mills told Franken. "(Defeating President Bush) is a life or death matter. (But) we're trying to keep it on the high road as much as possible. We can still make our point and do it with some class and dignity."

- REUTERS