Bruce Springsteen: blood brothers

Music news

Summarizing the Boss' tour through the prism of his 50-year career is the ambition of the documentary film Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. At the same time, another retrospective film, Disciple, looks back on the solo career of its “Consigliere”, Steven Van Zandt.

Painting the portrait of an artist who is much more than Bruce Springsteen's guitarist and the actor immortalized in The Sopranos is a difficult art. As for summarizing the 2023-2024 tour of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, while looking back at the highlights that have marked the “Boss’s” more than fifty careers, it’s a real challenge.

Because if the first is the Consigliere and first guitaristic trigger of the second, their careers have crossed, recrossed, taken divergent paths, have sometimes even been the subject of small annoyances, whatever the case, they have always found, as evidenced by every E Street Band tour since the 1999 Reunion Tour.

Some people only see “Little Steven” as Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist in the E Street Band. What a mistake! It would be to forget too quickly that he is also, or even above all, a composer, arranger, producer and singer… And whose solo work, even as an actor, is more than remarkable. Better still, the Boss's career bears his mark and, as Steven Van Zandt points out in Road Diary : “Bruce ended up recognizing, a little late, that I was the musical director of the E Street Band.”

This is what is explained – and many other things – over more than two hours in this epic documentary, very dynamic and full of often unpublished archive images. And his entourage testifies in his favor in this film signed by the journalist, documentarian and producer Bill Teck: thus we see the intervention of Maureen, his wife, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and many other collaborators and musicians who consider Steven Van Zandt , with whom they worked, as a major influence. Even Paul McCartney, Little Steven's absolute idol, comes to preach the good word.

As for Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, this one and a half hour film looks back on the Boss's return to the road after the pandemic, the reunion with the “Heart-stopping, pants-dropping, earth-shocking, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, earth-quaking, love-making, Viagra-taking, history-making, legendary E! Street! Band!”The documentary begins with the first rehearsals, spread over a week, the construction of the setlists based on the narration desired by Bruce, articulated around a very precise theme: the awareness of “the importance of living every moment of your life” as he repeated on stage.

More than a concert, it is a story that is told, a sort of electric counterpart to his solo performances on Broadway. “He just found what he wanted to do very early in the rehearsal process,testifies Van Zandt. The songs aren't all from Letter to You, but they do follow that theme. It’s not exactly a literal, linear story.”

Find the rest of this article on Road Diary, the event documentary on Bruce Springsteen, in our issue 167, available on newsstands and at Fnac.

Staff

Written by

Christopher Johnson

Christopher Johnson is a dedicated writer and key contributor to the WECB website, Emerson College's student-run radio station. Passionate about music, radio communication, and journalism, Christopher pursues his craft with a blend of meticulous research and creative flair. His writings on the site cover an array of subjects, from music reviews and artist interviews to event updates and industry news. As an active member of the Emerson College community, Christopher is not only a writer but also an advocate for student involvement, using his work to foster increased engagement and enthusiasm within the school's radio and broadcasting culture. Through his consistent and high-quality outputs, Christopher Johnson helps shape the voice and identity of WECB, truly embodying its motto of being an inclusive, diverse, and enthusiastic music community.