Bruce Springsteen on the song that could get you fired from the E Street Band
Bruce Springsteen is one of the best live performers on the planet. Decades of gigging, homing in on his stage presence and working out how to best please a crowd have paid off massively. He can take the stage and dominate it, creating carefully curated setlists that blend the classics and the deep cuts, satisfying both casual and die-hard fans in one sitting.
Of course, it’s not just Bruce Springsteen who is responsible for putting on these excellent gigs. He would be the first to admit that he wouldn’t be anywhere without such a strong unit of musicians behind him. Some of them have been on the road with The Boss for decades, while others are new additions, but all are at the absolute top of their game.
Springsteen’s connection with his band is unlike any other musical outfit on the planet. It’s less that they can play Springsteen songs well and more the way they bounce off each other and thrive in the live environment. When they tour, they are happy to take requests from the crowd, playing tracks from the old Springsteen catalogue that they might not have practised for decades or even playing tracks by others.
It’s become a staple for many Springsteen shows: fans often turn up with signs requesting a specific track. If he spots it in the crowd and likes the suggestion, the band is given around one minute of prep time before it’s time to start playing. It’s a sound engineer and lighting designer’s worst nightmare, but my word, it makes for a good gig.
When Springsteen was asked about this element of his live show, where songs from years ago are played almost flawlessly, he said that it’s not unusual for the band to be able to play tracks on command, given how much practice they have performing in bars. “First of all, the entire band are bar band veterans, so they play 100s of nights before we’d ever stood out in front of an audience after we had a record deal,” he said. “So there’s a common well which we all draw from.”
Springsteen also said that he doesn’t just take his band’s word for it, though. While there isn’t an audition process per se, there is one song that every band member is expected to be able to play on command, and if they don’t, they’ll be fired. “I mean, if we played ‘Wild Thing’,” he explained, “you’ll be fired from The E Street Band if you don’t know how to play that.”
While talking about the art of playing covers on the spot, Springsteen also revealed the band’s secrets when it came to getting the words to a track right. “There is a secret,” he elaborated. “There’s a little man under the stage, and he has a teleprompter, so if I decide we’re gonna play ‘Friday On My Mind’, we’re gonna play Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’—whatever we’re gonna play, within seconds he’ll have the lyrics up in front of you.”
