Steven Van Zandt has revealed he was blindsided by Bruce Springsteen’s decision to drop a song from the setlist of their tour.
Springsteen has been performing the latest dates with the E Street Band since 2023, which is the subject of a new Disney+ documentary released this week.
The tour arrived six years after the conclusion of their previous – a lengthier time than usual due to the pandemic. Letter to You was released in October 2020 meaning that, when the tour began, it was their first time playing songs from the album live.
One part of the documentary focuses on the band’s setlists, which becomes the source of much excitement among Springsteen fans.
While the musician is known for typically switching up the song list with every show, this tour featured a much more fixed order than usual, and was anchored with centrepiece performances including his cover of “Nightshift” and a moving mash-up of “Last Man Standing” and “Backstreets” dedicated to childhood friend George Theiss.
However, there was one song that was on the original setlist that Springsteen dropped, much to the confusion of Van Zandt, an E Street Band member since 1975, and documentary director Thom Zimney.
Speaking to The Independent, Zimney said that Letter to You track “Burning Train”, which is featured in the documentary, “was played once” and “had an amazing solo by Stevie”.
Van Zandt confirmed this, stating: “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?’”
When asked why Springsteen decided to drop the track, Van Zandt said: “There’s a lot of good songs, man.”
Zimney compared his placement of “Burning Train” in the documentary with the sign requests that have become a staple of Springsteen’s live shows.
These requests see fans bring banners emblazoned with obscure or rarer songs the musician then proceeds to pluck from the crowd for the E Street Band to play.
In the documentary, several members reflected on these requests, with some admitting to finding the prospect of playing something they haven’t rehearsed in almost a decade terrifying – but Van Zandt has a more open view.
“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].’
“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. So it becomes nothing but fun knowing that any screw up is a plus. You can’t lose.”
But Van Zandt is less enthused about fan frustration over missing certain songs, including “Jungleland”, at select shows.
The inclusion of such tracks adds a lucky dip-feel to Springsteen shows, which the guitarist calls “nice and fun” but, laughing, added: “It makes me a little bit like, ‘How about just relax and enjoy the show that we’ve chosen to play for you? How about that concept?’”
“You’re gonna really be disappointed if we don’t play a song? It gets a little bit much, sometimes. It’s fun, but come on.”
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band is available to stream on Disney+ from 25 October
