Bruce Springsteen's Road Diary film puts E Street Band in the spotlight

A couple of days before Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band gathered at the Vogel Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey to begin rehearsals for their 2023 concert Letter to you Tour, filmmaker Thom Zimny ​​received a short text from Springsteen. “Getting the band together,” it said. “You should come over.”

Over the next few months, Zimny ​​and his film crew accompanied Springsteen and Red Bank's E Street Band to production rehearsals in Trenton, New Jersey, and then to arenas and stadiums around the world for intimate backstage moments, exciting live performances, etc . to capture insightful interviews with each member of the 17-piece band. The result is Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Bandwhich premieres October 25 on Hulu and Disney+.

The film marks the first time that Springsteen has given fans access to rehearsals as he reunites with old bandmates, incorporates new ones into the mix and tries to put together the perfect setlist. The narration is provided by Springsteen himself, but the only people interviewed on camera are members of the E Street Band. “Thom's vision was to make this a story about the E Street Band,” says Springsteen manager Jon Landau, “and to really show and tell the story of the band's role in a way that has never been done before.”

In the early days of the E Street Band, little thought was given to capturing studio sessions, concerts, or backstage footage on film. What little remains from that time, including Los Angeles 1973, London 1975, Phoenix 1978 and selected moments from that time Born to run And Darkness on the outskirts of the city Sessions are more a product of luck and chance than long-term thinking.

“Bruce always had a kind of superstition,” says Landau. “He never wanted to show all the tricks of the trade. On the darkness Tour we did five radio shows in different regions. He told us, “When I get to 'Quarter to Three,' turn off the sound.” He didn't want to give away the whole show. He wanted to hold something back. That's why we avoided music videos for a long time. Bruce just had this ambivalence.”

That ambivalence began to fade in the mid-'90s, when the E Street Band reunited for the first time. He allowed filmmaker Ernie Fritz to shoot it Greatest Hits Studio sessions for the documentary Blood brothers. And as they wrapped up their 1999-00 tour at Madison Square Garden, cameras were rolling for an HBO concert special released on DVD.

This film was directed by Chris Hilson, who brought Zimny ​​on board to complete the editing process. “There's this great four-minute sequence in the film during '10th Avenue Freeze-Out' where Bruce tells this long story about the band,” says Landau. “He starts at the other end of the stage from Clarence and they start walking towards each other. I remember being in the editing room and watching Thom edit that sequence, which was spectacular. I said, 'All right.' This guy has some potential here.' However, I didn’t know that he would be with us for the next 24 years.”

During this time, Zimny ​​directed numerous Springsteen concert films, music videos and documentaries about the making of Springsteen Born to run, Darkness on the outskirts of the city, The riverAnd Letter to you. “Bruce really loves stability,” Landau says. “Stevie (Van Zandt) will be with him forever. Garry (Tallent) goes back to 1971, Max (Weinberg), Roy (Bittan) and I go back to 1974. George Travis, who produces the tours, dates back to 1977. Once Bruce finds the right people in a particular area, he's not the guy who wakes up in the morning and says, “Let me mess this all up.” He's been with a record company since 1973.”

Zimny ​​may be the new guy, having only been in the Springsteen camp for a quarter of a century, but there was still a strong sense of comfort among him and the musicians when he showed up with a remaining film crew for the first few days of rehearsals at Vogel in January 2023 . “We were invisible. We filmed and stood in such a way that their natural regrouping was not affected for the first time since the world shut down,” says Zimny. “I was a guest and my job was to learn as much as possible of the story unfolding in front of me and stay out of the way.”

The film's story began to come to Zimny's mind when he saw Springsteen take out a notebook and go through a setlist that told a story of friendship, age, death and memory. “As a filmmaker, I tried to harness that energy and reflect some of those themes,” Zimny ​​says. “My mission in this film was to achieve something that I couldn't put into words, but it's that moment in 'Backstreets' where Bruce stops the song to talk about his relationship with George (Theiss), a band member from (Castiles), to speak of his youth. I wanted the film to express all the emotions in that speech.”

The first sequence of the film takes place in Red Bank and Trenton, where the band rehearses the set and welcomes new members Ozzie Melendez, Anthony Almonte and Ada Dyer. Patti Scialfa is present during the rehearsal process and opening night in Tampa, but leaves the tour early. There was no explanation until she revealed to Zimny ​​on camera that she had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018.

“It came from this place of trust because I was sitting across from her and going through so many different questions about the tour and its history,” Zimny ​​says. “In these conversations, the details of why she wasn’t on tour came to light. She trusted me, and trust is such a big element in the process of making these films. I wanted that in the film, but I also wanted the feeling of strength, hope and love that she brings to the stage. That's why I recorded their performance of “Fire” in Los Angeles. It shows an intimate side of her and Bruce that is very rare.”

About 40 minutes into the film, the action shifts to Europe, where Springsteen enjoys a fanatical following and makes headlines at soccer stadiums. Hardcore fans in Norway, Italy and England tell their stories in front of the camera. “We spent quite a bit of time discussing (Springsteen's popularity in Europe) and analyzing among ourselves,” says Landau. “And we are now in the 'enjoyment' phase. Our European audience simply has a unique character. The film happens to focus on Barcelona, ​​which has one of our most inspired audiences. We have a real soft spot for them.”

Much of the film takes place in the present, but there are also brief journeys back to the early days through the memories of Van Zandt, Tallent, Weinberg and Bittan. “I love having a choir of overlapping voices giving you experiences,” says Zimny. “They all have musical voices. Stevie's voice tells a fantastic story about the beginnings of E Street. You understand Roy and his sense of humor. And then you start to feel the dryness of Garry and his performance. At the end you hear the poetic voice of Bruce's voiceover, his narration, which is like a friend coming to you and saying, 'This is what I think is really going on.'”

Throughout production, Zimny ​​sent Springsteen incomplete sequences that he had worked out. He responded with voiceovers inspired by what he saw. “I am able to take this voiceover and contrast it with my image,” says Zimny. “And every time it leads to a completely different point where I rework the whole thing.”

Road diary The focus is on footage from the 2023 tour, but Zimny ​​​​and his crew were present in Asbury Park in September when Springsteen headlined Sea.Hear.Now in front of 35,000 fans packed on the beach. “Can you imagine what that night was like for Bruce?” asks Landau. “Imagine this lonely kid from Freehold and everything we know about him as a kid growing up and then being the man he is today in the same place?”

It's unclear what will happen with this footage, but Zimny ​​hopes to make more Springsteen films in the coming years. “There's not a single chapter in Bruce's world where I don't think, 'Oh, that would be a great story,'” he says Born in the USA or the Other Band (tour 1992/93) as an example. I’m always looking for other stories and find all of his chapters really fascinating.”

However, there's another Springsteen film in the works that's very different from any of the Zimny ​​documentaries: a 2023 adaptation of Warren Zane's book Deliver Me From Nothingness: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's NebraskaDirector: Scott Cooper. The bear's Jeremy Allen White plays Springsteen, and Consequence's Jeremy Strong portrays Landau.

“Jeremy (Strong) and I got to know each other very well,” says Landau. “He's a fantastic guy, just an extraordinary person. And I don't know how he describes himself, but he definitely has a bit of the method actor about him. And I told him that I didn't think it was necessary for him to do the full (Robert) De Niro Angry bull route by gaining the extra 35 pounds to play against me.”

The real Springsteen is playing a series of Canadian arena shows with the E Street Band in November before they head to Europe next summer. Even Landau is unclear about her plans beyond this. “One way or another we had to go to Australia because they are just the most amazing and wonderful people,” says Landau. “But I’m not sitting here with an unannounced schedule. This is what we have. Everything we have is out there now.”