I found this post from Backstreets enlightening:
GypsyMagic wrote: If SPL says it is true it must be true DennisC. A 2009 release makes sense.
Dennic C's Response:
You think?
For a 30th anniversary release it makes, of course, no sense at all.
But for someone who has put som effort in finding out more about this release it actually does.
let me tell you my own little story on the darkness on the edge of town 30th anniversary edition hopefully-to-be release:
The initial rumours:
They obviously came on the heels of the BTR30 release.
Mostly based on wishful thinking.
One source said that Thom Zimny already worked on the Phoenix footage from july 8th 78.
But a year and a half ago (give or take a few months) the mythic K2 "confirmed" work was being done on it and that the concert DVD would indeed be the Phoenix footage we all already "knew" about.
The first real evidence:
The first real evidence that work was actually being done on this release came when a fan spoke to photografer Frank Stefanko on an exhibition (I think) in London late last summer.
Stefanko, who shot the cover for Darkness, confirmed he had been interviewed for a documentary about the sessions in question.
He even said "the concert footage will blow you away".
That together with rumours of Darkness engineer Jimmy Iovine being together with bruce in Southern Tracks Studios in Atlanta was clearly a sign that something was going on.
The first "official" report:
When our friends here at Backstreets magazine report something on their news page, they know something.
I don´t ever remember backstreets.com reporting rumours that actually don´t have any credibility to it.
In january Chris Phillips reported that the chances of a Darkness anniversary box set would be released was "looking good" and "work is being done on it".
The rumoured release date:
The first rumoured release date I heard of was spring 08.
I don´t know how close we got to that one, but I do think the august/september release date were as valid and as set in stone as could be at that moment.
One source said Bruce´s birthday september 23rd.
Could have been right at the moment, who knows.
The code of silence:
What I do know is that during the summer things got very silent in this matter.
No rumours, no report on release dates, nothing.
Then came Chris Phillips with his report on one of the BTX Brunch Threads that things wasn´t as sure as we all thought regarding this release.
The concert footage:
When we talk about professionally filmed shows from the Darkness on the edge of town tour, there´s actually only one show we know that got that special treatment.
The War Memorial Coliseum show in Phoenix july 8th 78.
Infamous for the great Rosalita video footage, no wonder Bruce & Co looked at this one first hand as "reported" by the first rumour and by K2.
During the winter of 08 rumours said they were looking on other shows.
One show there was talk about was the december Houston show at The Summit.
Hell knows if they got that one or not.
Another source says the footage in question were taken from MSG aug 23rd.
I think it´s fair to believe this was all rumours, if it wasn´t for the "fact" that a source just a few weeks ago claimed the production team had run into technichal issues on the footage and therefore the whole set were being scrapped.
Good rocking tonight:
After things got quiet over the summer, back came Bruce and the band to the states and out of the blue keeps playing songs like Mona, Not fade away (just snippet of those of course), You can´t sit down, and even on one occasion bringing back the storytelling in the middle of Growing up.
And introducing Good Rocking tonight, Bruce even called out they "played this one at Passaic Theater".
This from a fella that needs to look at the teleprompter to sing Thunder Road.
You do the math.
Here´s my math:
My conclusion, based on the above rumours (I can´t enough express the _rumour_ part of all this) is this:
Work have been done, and done very well.
It´s fair to believe there´s a documentary already been done.
And just think of the incredible Darkness rehearsal footage that can be found in the Danny tribute.
Sure they knew where to look for that.
The initial choice for the concert DVD was Phoenix.
But it looks like they may have found some other shows to look at.
And my feeling is they went for another but got stuck with technical issues during the summer.
Bruce is in europe, so let´s wait ´til he gets back.
Bruce get´s back to the states, they take a very good look on what they got to decide what to do.
Hence the out-of-the-blue covers and storytelling that can easily be traced back to the Darkness tour.
Therefore it makes a lot of sense if they´re still working on this release for a 2009 release.
We all know what Bruce himself thinks of the Darkness on the edge of town album.
It´s been a cornerstone in all his rock shows for 30 years.
I think he is really eager to get this collecition out there, and even though I think we´ll have to wait for next year I stil think it´s a good chance they´re working hard to get this baby out in november to be able to concentrate on the new E Street album in the early days of 2009.