Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have been the subject of a new Disney+ documentary, which filmed their recent time on the road. This recent tour, which began in 2023, came six years after their last tour. Before that touring hiatus, Springsteen put out the record Letter To You, but couldn’t tour until now. This also means that these songs are being played live for the first time.
According to a report from The Independent, there’s a part of the documentary that focuses on setlists. Springsteen and his band play all the hits, plus new material, but there was one change that prompted guitarist Steven Van Zandt to call Springsteen out.
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Springsteen allegedly dropped the Letter To You song “Burning Train” from the setlist after it was played only one time on tour. This move stumped not only Van Zandt but documentary director Thom Zimney.
Zimney told The Independent that the song “was played once,” and featured “an amazing solo by Stevie [Van Zandt].”
Steven Van Zandt Baffled by Bruce Springsteen’s Setlist Change
Steven Van Zandt said, “I thought it was going to be a major part of the tour – a major part of the tour. Honest to god – a major part of the tour. I was so glad to see that in the movie. I jammed Bruce with that one. I was like, ‘Listen to that – how could you not play this one live?’”
Van Zandt was asked to elaborate, and possibly reveal the reason Springsteen chopped the song. “There’s a lot of good songs, man,” Van Zandt replied. Which, admittedly, is true. If they played every great song in their repertoire, the show would probably be an entire day long.
The unique part of a Bruce Springsteen show, however, is the fact that Springsteen often scans the crowd for signs requesting obscure songs. In the documentary, many members of E Street admitted that part of the show terrifies them. However, Van Zandt has the opposite opinion.
“I know, just from experience, the thing the fans enjoy the most is when we screw up and we’re really rehearsing on stage, which we do in front of 60,000 people. Literally, we get a sign and we go in the middle of the show, ‘Has that got a bridge? I don’t know – Gary [Tallent], does that have a bridge? ‘I don’t know – ask Roy [Bittan].’
He continued, “Bruce is never gonna pick something that’s never been on the radio before, but he might pick something that we’ve never played and was on the radio in 1965,” he said. “So it becomes nothing but fun knowing that any screw-up is a plus. You can’t lose.”
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