Why the E Street Band Is Glad Bruce Springsteen Stopped Changing His Set List: ‘It’s Not Stump the Band’

Sometimes things can change for the better.

In a new Hulu and Disney+ documentary Travel Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, the singer and his many bandmates take fans behind the scenes of his latest tour. It was the first time for the band in six years, and this time Springsteen made a big change. Instead of shaking up the set list every night, the 75-year-old musician had one set list for the entire tour.

And, they say in Doc, most of the band members are delighted with this change. “On other tours, we’d always get the set list maybe 30 minutes before we hit the stage,” notes keyboardist Charlie Giordano.

From left: Jake Clemons, Soozie Tyrell, Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen and Nils Lofgren perform in 2024.

Taylor Hill/WireImage

“On the last tour, he was a lot more spontaneous,” singer Michelle Moore says of Springsteen. Fans would write the songs they wanted to hear on the signs, and Springsteen would walk out into the crowd, grab one, and ask, “Can we confuse the band?” Moore adds, “If you knew, you knew, and if you didn’t, you just had to figure it out.” Giordano calls the practice “exciting and nerve-racking.”

Soozie Tyrell — who sings and plays both violin and acoustic guitar — adds that when Springsteen found some of the songs, she would think, “We haven’t played that in 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever played it. Is there a chart somewhere? Quick, quick!”

“We play 15 different songs every night,” notes guitar, accordion and mandolin player Nils Lofgren. “No one knows what the hell is going on. There’s an energy to it, but you can’t really get deep, deep into any song because you just don’t play it that often. One of the things I love about this tour is that you get to hear your bandmates develop.”

Bruce Spingsteen holds fan signs on stage in 2008.

Ralph Orlowski/Getty

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Bassist Garry Tallent says, “This is not a jam session, it’s not a disparagement of the band. It’s an experience. It’s a play. Bruce has carefully compiled this list. Start listening a little better, different emotions come out of each song every time you hear it.”

Springsteen also explains some of his thought process with the list in the documentary. “[The] this time the setlist will convey the story you’re trying to tell your audience,” he says. “And the 25 songs I focused on would complete the narrative of what I wanted to say and let the audience know who I am at this point in my working life.”

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In the documentary, viewers see Springsteen bring the band to the set list for the first time. It lasts three hours. “After six years, I thought we could downsize a little bit,” notes Jake Clemons, the saxophonist who has filled in for his uncle Clarence Clemons since his death in 2011. “I can’t do it. I can’t let the fans down,” jokes Springsteen.

The set list for the tour, which began in 2023, ended up including four songs from the group’s 2020 album. A letter to you as well as Springsteen classics like “Thunder Road”, “Born to Run” and “Dancing in the Dark”.

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Many of the songs are about death and Springsteen’s friends, family and band members who are gone. This includes the final encore performance, in which Springsteen, alone on stage, sings an acoustic version of “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”

Travel Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education