Before we start cruising down this highway, let’s make one thing clear – I am wholeheartedly, and with the madness in my soul, an E Street Band fan, a Springsteen fan, and yes, a Bruce Springsteen fan. I’ve been a devotee to that even longer than I’ve been writing about tech, nearly 29-years down the road.
So before hitting play on an advanced cut of Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which has since been released on Hulu and Disney Plus, I had some high expectations and was fully expecting to enjoy it after seeing more than a couple of stops of the 2023 to 2025 World Tour that it documents.
Road Diary ultimately tells the story of getting the band back together after a six-year hiatus. In that process, it showcases rehearsals to opening night to a boisterous crowd in Barcelona. It does a lot of looking back to get through the first half of a world tour that is still going. Maybe most importantly, though, it aims to capture that live performance magic and provide a bit of history on E Street itself.
From the moment you hit play on what will likely be one of the best Disney Plus shows or best Hulu shows for those in the US, I think it becomes clear it’s not just a concert film. It starts with a spoken word narration from Springsteen about Red Bank, New Jersey, where rehearsals began, and talks about the importance of performing live. It’s not long before, though, when he mentions counting the band in and we jump into a live cut of Ghosts that showcases the tour process: from the rehearsal space to arenas and stadiums across the United States and worldwide. It’s not the whole track, though, as Director Thom Zimny jumps us back to reality, err, rehearsal, then allows Springsteen and band members to walk us through that process. That’s something that was never really documented in this fashion, and it makes it a must-watch for E Street fans. It is also a documentary that anyone can jump into and find rewarding.
Springsteen talks amongst the band in the rehearsal spaces and backstage later on, but for the most part, he provides a spoken word narrative reminiscent of the Letter to You or Western Stars documentaries. Instead, we have E Street staples like Guitarist Steven Van Zandt, Guitarist and Vocalist Patti Scialfa, Pianist Roy Bittan, Bass Player Garry Tallent, Drummer Max Weinberg, and Guitarist Nils Lofgren walking us through key moments and sharing some stories. Weinberg especially pulls the curtain back a bit more historically and on the rehearsal process itself.
Given that it cuts from 2023 tour footage of Ghosts back to the rehearsal space, as I wrote above, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band charts its own path and one that makes it feel spontaneous, much like a classic E Street Band Show. You get to see how they worked through perfecting a new track like Letter to You next to them working through She’s The One, which is from 1975 and has been played countless times. Zimny gives us a taste of archival footage here, as Springsteen, Weinberg, and other band members stress the importance of sounding like classic E Street and giving the fans what they want.
It’s a rare look back and peek behind the curtain of how this tour came to be, but what was most surprising to me was how much an authentic history trip down E Street Band lane, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, ended up being. You’ll learn facts that contrast the current journey of being on tour and flying around in jets to the early days when they drove a car and then a bus fitted with army cots to get from show to show. It was a bit more rag-tag, but it also reminds us that Springsteen and the entire band have put in more hours than most other artists. And that adds up to the magic of the E Street Band live experience.
I was on the ground, seated behind the stage, on opening night in Tampa, and unlike the many fan-shot YouTube videos or even what I captured on an iPhone that night, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band manages to get the feeling in the room translated onto the screen, and hearing No Surrender – the first song of the tour – presented in clear, crisp footage with excellently mixed sound was a real treat. And you do get more moments like that from United States tour stops, which add in-band commentary and do a bit of an express roll through, leading up to legendary European crowds, including the return to Barcelona, which Springsteen amps up the anticipation for throughout the film.
Much like a live E Street Band show, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band does leave one wanting more – I love the introspection, the look back, the analysis of the current setlist, how Springsteen shapes it, and how the band works together. Hearing how the new additions (like Anthony Almonte) to the band fit in helps to add missing pieces to the puzzle, as does a look at the horn section's – including Curt Ramm, Eddie Manoin, Barry Danielan, Ozzie Menedez – need to be ever at the ready a Curtis King, Ada Dyer, Michelle Moore and Lisa Lowel of the E Street Choir aim to add there flair.
Charlie Giordano and Soozie Tyrell also make appearances, as well as Jake Clemons, who had the gargantuan task of replacing Clarence Clemons after he passed. It was also lovely to see archival interview footage and performing footage of both Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici included.
If it’s a sum of its parts, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band uses never-before-seen rehearsal access, live concert footage, and commentary to answer how this show and tour came to life. It’s clear that most of it was shot during the first half of 2023, but I hope there’s a part two or additional footage that might eventually see the light of day from the 2024 and forthcoming 2025 shows. Springsteen could expand this narrative to discuss how the setlist evolves or the audience's reaction. Even so, you do hear classics like Prove It All Night, Kitty's Back, Rosalita, Born to Run, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, and even the cover of Nightshift.
It’s ultimately not too heavy on either part, which shows the right mix, but at the end of the day, when you tune in to the documentary on the best streaming services, play it loud, and I bet it’ll make you buy a ticket to see them live when they come to your town. After all, Springsteen’s promised to go until the wheels come off.
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is available to stream on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus internationally as of Friday, 25 October.
