Attending a Bruce Springsteen performance is one of the few things that will make you feel more alive.
However, the theme of the tour was death when Springsteen and the E Street Band made their comeback to the stage in 2023 after a six-year hiatus.
Or at least death, as described in the documentary “Road Diary,” which follows Springsteen, his revered band, life on tour, and the unavoidable passage of time. On October 25, the more than two-hour movie will be available on Hulu.
The most significant discovery from this visual diary comes from Springsteen’s wife, Patti Scialfa, who revealed that she has had multiple myeloma, a rare disease, since 2018.
However, the movie reveals profound concepts and details about how the Boss gives people recognizable musical experiences.
‘Complete the narrative’ is how Springsteen selects his set list.
When Springsteen and the E Streeters meet at a Red Bank, New Jersey theater to “shake the cobwebs off” and get ready for their 2023 tour (which has been extended until 2025), the singer, who turned 75 in September, instantly focuses on the value of a set list.
He’s on a mission as he performs songs from his impactful 20th studio album, “Letter to You,” which was published during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, for the first time.
In the documentary, which was directed by Thom Zimny, a trusted friend and director, Springsteen claims that the set list will tell the tale to his fans. He explains, “I decided to concentrate on what would finish the story for what I wanted to say in 25 songs and let the audience know who I am at this point in my work life.”
The first set of 2023 gigs showed careful discipline for a band almost as well-known as The Grateful Dead for switching up tunes and bringing surprises to every show.
Why Springsteen uses this song to close out his set
“No Surrender,” “Ghosts,” “Prove it All Night,” and “Letter to You” were all included in the opening quartet, with very few exceptions. Even throughout the current run of fall performances, Springsteen has consistently concluded his performances on stage by himself with an acoustic guitar, leaving his fans with the poignant reflection on spirituality and grief, “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”
According to an unnamed voice that sounds like Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager of almost 50 years, “it’s of vital importance that he ties together the underlying thoughts and feelings that make this show different than any other show he’s done.” (One criticism of the documentary is that each band member is only mentioned once, and because of the size of the E Street Band, it can be difficult to tell who is talking over video of performances and backstage backstabbing.)
Danny Federici, who passed away in 2008, and Clarence Clemons, who passed away in 2011—“Clarence and I, we were different parts of the same spiritual body,” Springsteen says—are referenced throughout the movie. Additionally, it supported what fans had already deduced, which was that the addition of the set list of “Night Shift,” Springsteen’s soulful cover of the 1985 Commodores tribute to Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye, is a tipped hat to Federici and Clemons.
However, it’s surprising that the crippling peptic ulcers that kept Springsteen off the road for the final four months of 2023 before he and the band returned in March aren’t mentioned, considering the overarching subject of mortality.
An analysis of a fan base that is just as passionate in some parts of Europe (Barcelona in particular) as it is in the United States provides insights that are as much about the passing of time as they are about the euphoria of “Born to Run.”
One Irish fan comments, “We don’t expect him to tour forever.” “Just in case, we want to enjoy every second of this.