Bruce Springsteen [ tickets ] and the E Street Band played the first official show of their 1999 world tour Friday (4/9) in Barcelona, Spain, to a wildly enthusiastic crowd that included fans from around the world. The 25-song set largely avoided material from the recently released Tracks boxed set, gravitating instead toward familiar songs from Springsteen's mid to late 70's albums Born To Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town and scattered selections from his 80's and 90's catalog.

The sole Tracks song, My Love Will Not Let You Down, opened the show. Springsteen will release a single-CD compilation from the expansive boxed set this week, titled 18 Tracks and featuring two songs, The Fever and a newly-recorded version of The Promise.

Ticket sales for the European leg of the tour have been brisk, prompting multiple shows in some venues and the addition of cities along the tour route. The latest round of show announcements commits the band to a total of 31 shows from April 9th through June 24th.

Over the course of the European run, Springsteen will play venues ranging from the 7,000-seat Donauarena in Regensburg, Germany to the 50,000-seat Estadio de la Comunidad in Madrid, Spain, according to data collected by the fan-run Badlands web site.

It's expected that ticket sales for the US stretch of the tour will be announced soon. Most industry reports indicate that the tour will begin with an extended series of shows at New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena. Initial press announcements pointed to a mid-July start for the tour and a September finish, though the L.A. Times reports that Los Angeles-area promoters are negotiating to have Springsteen book his L.A. dates at the new Staples Center, which is under construction and not expected to open until October.

Here is the set list from the opening-night show, followed by the full European tour itinerary to date: