Steven Van Zandt Previews Springsteen's Bonnaroo Gig

Bruce Springsteen's Working on a Dream tour wraps its current U.S. run in a week, but the E Street Band are heading to Bonnaroo on June 13th, and guitarist Steven Van Zandt has begun spilling details about what fans can expect at the Manchester, Tennessee festival.

While many acts might feel pressured to cater their set list to the unique venue, Van Zandt insists E Street are sticking to the Working on a Dream script. "Every time [Bruce] writes the new album, he is basically writing a new show. He is saying something with that particular album, and then we build the show around that with the other songs from the past, and then see what connects to it — what amplifies that idea, what complements that idea," he says. "So, we don't particularly change things according to who the audience is or not. We kind of do what we do, and then you just hope people dig it."

That doesn't mean there isn't impulsiveness to the E Street show, as the band has rattled off impromptu covers of Clash, Ramones and Troggs tunes in recent weeks. "We build a certain amount of spontaneity right into the show," Van Zandt says. "These last couple tours, in particular, we've been taking requests from the audience and really turning arenas and stadiums into clubs. Last tour, people would come with signs a lot of obscure Bruce songs. It just loosens everybody up and keeps the thing fresh, and there's nothing like playing the song, you've never played before and never rehearsed before, before 20,000 people."

For Springsteen fans, the biggest question leading up to the Bonnaroo performance is who will be the E Street drummer: Max Weinberg or his son Jay, Springsteen's "secret weapon" who will fill in for his father whenever scheduling conflicts arise with Max's other gig as band leader of the upcoming Late Show With Conan O' Brien. "You know, I'm not sure. I'm really not sure," Van Zandt admits. "I mean, they are obviously both great."

In regards to why the Working on a Dream tour set lists have featured a diminishing amount of Working on a Dream songs, Van Zandt says the current economic situation has inspired Bruce to resurrect songs like "Seeds" and "Land of Hope And Dreams." While time may be limited at Bonnaroo — the E Street Band are flying over from Europe before their headlining set — Little Steven also says he hopes to air a special edition of his Underground Garage program for the festival's Radio Bonnaroo station.

Related Stories:

• Bruce Springsteen Brings the "Dream" To California
• Springsteen's "Secret Weapon": How Jay Weinberg Scored a Spot in the E Street Band
• Phish and Springsteen Set to Headline Bonnaroo 2009

• 
  MUSIC Exclusive Live Chat With Linkin Park and Incubus
• 
  MOVIES & TV Peter Travers: 'The Avengers' Has it All
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Jon Corzine Is the Original Zimmerman
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive Premiere: Tenacious D's 'Tinnitus'

Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter