Rock Doc: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Road Diary’ – A Surprisingly Poignant Look At The E Street Band’s Latest Tour

“O great creator of being grant us one more hour to perform our art and perfect our lives” – James Douglas Morrison of The Doors

In between putting together our latest playlist (Songs About Eyes) and seeing the Struts this weekend, I managed to watch the great Hulu rock documentary Road Diary, from Thom Zimney, featuring a behind the scenes look at Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s preparations for and performances from their latest tour which started in 2023, stretched to ’24 and now looks to continue into 2025. I have to say, I didn’t expect it, but this documentary really grabbed me on an emotional level. Of course, that’s probably because I actually got to see Springsteen on this tour, back in February of ’23 and it was a spectacular show. It might be that or it might be the focus on Springsteen’s latest LP with the E Street Band, Letter To You, which has a strong message about mortality that hit me in the heart. Either way, I was unprepared for how much I liked this thing.

I’ve been a huge Springsteen fan since The River, even though I didn’t get to see him on the tour for that landmark album… bygones Brewster. I was a fan prior, but The River was the first LP that came out after I’d become a huge rock fan. We are always drawn by what’s “then current” when you’re in high school. But over the last 15 years my relationship to the man, his music and his band seemed to wane a bit. I don’t know why? I didn’t get to go to New York to see him on Broadway. And prior to that I didn’t read his autobiography, despite my best pal Doug telling me I needed to. I’ve only been able to convince the Rock Chick to see Bruce once, on the Magic tour, and he showed up a few hours late on a Sunday and I’m not sure she’s ever forgiven him. I wish I’d pushed her to see him on The Rising tour which was exceptional (oh for an official bootleg from that tour). Truth be told, I wasn’t even going to see him last February until the Rock Chick said, “It’s been too long, we need to go to this show…” My god was she right… but please don’t tell her I said that. It was simply put one of the best Springsteen shows I’ve ever seen and that includes the time I saw him on the Born In The U.S.A. tour. It has reawakened a fandom in me that I didn’t even realize needed a jolt.

At the time they started to rehearse for this tour, they’d completed Letter To You, but then the pandemic hit and they weren’t able to tour. It had been a long, long six years since they’d hit the road together. The E Street Band is: Roy Bittan (keyboards), Nils Lofgren (guitar), Gary W. Tallent (bass), Patti Scialfa (vocals), Max Weinberg (drums), Charles Giordano (keyboards), Jake Clemons (sax), and the incomparable Little Steven Van Zandt (guitar/vocals). Springsteen decided to add a big horn section and a number of very talented back up singers for the tour because as he says in the doc, after the pandemic ended he wanted to throw “the biggest rock n roll party” they could. Oh did he!

The first third of the doc is all about the prep for the tour, the rehearsal process. The band had to come together and had to get themselves back into playing shape, like NFL players during training camp. Springsteen starts the doc reminiscing about how much touring and that direct connection to the audience mean to him. I was stunned how much work he put into the setlist. He was really trying to communicate something through the songs he chose and he labored over it quite a bit. Perhaps, as is said in the doc, his time on Broadway enhanced his storytelling abilities. I loved that they opened with “No Surrender” when I saw him… I’d only seen Bruce perform that alone, acoustic. Watching these guys come back together is like watching a really cool family reunion with instruments…not like a drunken Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law’s house where I attempted to play the mandolin and sing “The Weight.” Me in my narrator voice: I neither sing nor play the mandolin.

They began rehearsals in a small theater but eventually moved to an arena to do a run-through. Little Steven stepped forward (and was finally named Musical Director) and actually did something the E Street Band had never done – had rehearsals without Bruce. Little Steven felt they needed to tighten some stuff up. The rehearsal footage is augmented with interviews with band members including the late Danny Federici and Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons. It comes quite apparent during the doc that the loss of those two long time friends deeply affected Bruce. Hell, losing Clarence deeply affected me… I remember a weekend when the Rock Chick left me alone and I dissolved into a puddle of whiskey, peanut butter, pizza crusts and tears as I watched the Big Man play on Blu-ray.

They then switch to footage from the actual tour. It starts, naturally, with opening night in Tampa. The intersperse live footage from the current tour with vintage footage and interviews showing the band as they were in the 70s. It’s not a concert film, this is a true documentary. I love the live stuff but it’s great to see the old film of the band. They started touring in a station wagon, then moved to an RV that was so cramped they had to share bed space, converting tables to beds. But all of that footage serves to show how far they’ve come and the natural conclusion is the stuff from the current tour. It’s all great and tells a cohesive story.

The band plays Barcelona and who knew that was a huge bastion of Springsteen fans. He kept telling his percussionist, whose name escapes me, “Wait until we get to Barcelona…” It’s cool to see how big Bruce & the E Street Band have become in Europe. The man is a national treasure out there as a rock n roll ambassador. They do show a bunch of footage of one of my favorites, “Kitty’s Back” from Barcelona… oh to have been in Spain.

It wraps up with Bruce talking about the songs from Letter To You, and again, his connection to the road. Maybe that was the part that grabbed me. Bruce talking about his first band and his rock n roll family, the E Street Band, and all the shows and all the miles. It’s been a long road, I’m just glad I was on it as a listener. Bruce’s music probably means more to me now than it did in 1980 and that’s saying something. He wraps it up with a great quote from Jim Morrison of the Doors, quoted above. I’d never even heard Jim say that…but I love it.

If you’re fan of Bruce or rock n roll – and I realize not everybody is a “behind-the-scenes” footage obsessive like me – or of live music, you’re going to love this thing. Even the Rock Chick who can best be described as a “casual fan” liked this doc. The care and crafting of the concert’s setlists really impressed me. This wasn’t a case of an older rock star just going out and playing “the hits” it was a highly curated show. He played “E Street Shuffle” and “Kitty’s Back” which while fan favorites were far from hits…

This is a much watch folks. Every now and then – usually more often than we deserve – our heroes deliver.

“Out of school and out of work
Thrift-store jeans and flannel shirts
The lights go down and you face the crowd
The last man standing now…”