Bruce Springsteen is probably coming back to Philly in 2023

Breathe easy, Philadelphia: We can be reasonably sure that Bruce Springsteen (and the E Street Band) will be playing here again next year, but we have to wait to find out when exactly that'll be.

State of play: The Boss announced a spring 2023 international tour on Tuesday — his first sustained jaunt with the E Street Band in years — with a note that "a string of to-be-announced U.S. arena dates" are coming in February, along with another North American leg in August.

• So let's keep our fingers crossed for a Wells Fargo Center show in the colder months and a stadium show next summer.

Flashback: It's been almost six years since Bruce last played in Philadelphia. That doesn't seem possible, but that's what a beloved Broadway residency and global pandemic get you.

• I was on the field of Citizens Bank Park for Bruce's last show here back on Sept. 9, 2016. It was amazing — and hot. So hot. And it was only 3 hours and 47 minutes long, which couldn't top the four-hour-plus barnstormer from a couple of nights before that remains his longest U.S. show ever.