Bruce covers "Royals"

KING B OBSERVES THE LOCAL CUSTOMS: During his tour of Australia and New Zealand with the E Street Band featuring Tom Morello, Bruce Springsteen has delighted crowds with inspired cover choices. It started in Perth, the home town of Bon Scott, with an incendiary rave-up on AC/DC’s’ “Highway to Hell,” and continued Saturday night in Auckland when he opened the show with an improbable but totally convincing solo take on Lorde's “Royals,” cleverly personalizing the lyric by changing the “queen bee” line to “You can call me king bee.” Maybe Columbia should strip this one-off onto the Boss’ High Hopes collection. (3/3a)