BJORN OLSSON
Little Steven Van Zandt
On their current tour of Australia and New Zealand, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul have been performing Steven Van Zandt’s protest anthem, “Sun City,” for the first time since the ’80s. You can watch a video of their performance of it at the Byron Bay Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Australia, April 18, below.
Van Zandt wrote “Sun City” in protest of the South African government’s apartheid policy in 1985, and produced an all-star recording of it on which he was joined by fellow E Street Band members Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons as well as Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Bono, Run-DMC, Miles Davis, Lou Reed, George Clinton, Darlene Love, Hall & Oates, Jimmy Cliff and many others.
Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul presented their first shows since 1989 in late 2016, and will release a new album, Summer of Sorcery, on May 3. A record release show is planned for the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, May 8. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
Van Zandt has described the album as “capturing and communicating that first rush of summer. The electricity of that feeling of unlimited possibilities. Of falling in love with the world for the first time. Obviously, there are occasional personal references, and a bit of what’s going on socially scattered throughout, but I achieved what I set out to do. I created a collection of fictional movies scenes that feel like summer.”
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