THAT OLD BRUCE 'MAGIC'

Springsteen, E Street Band won't be doing a disappearing act anytime soon

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/30/07
BY KELLY-JANE COTTER
MUSIC WRITER

When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band staged two rehearsal shows last week at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, the excitement in the crowd was palpable.

Fans were excited to see the band up close and to hear new music that had yet to hit the stores. A stadium-sized stage and sound system had been inserted into Convention Hall, making the intimate venue seem even smaller and adding a sheen of glamour to the evening.

At Monday's show, four friends seated in the second row above the soundboard were thrilled. They pretty much had the best seats in the house, and they felt like a Giants Stadium production had been delivered expressly to them. Their wives, they said, were going to be extremely jealous. But somebody had to stay home with the kids that night  . . .

Pat Tedesco, Anthony Sallustio, Ira Samilow and Bob Kardane, all of Ocean Township, are men in their early-to-mid 40s. Springsteen already was an international superstar before these fans had finished high school. He and the E Street Band have been together for more than 30 years.

Samilow has seen about 25 shows, beginning in 1977 in Princeton. "The River" is his favorite Springsteen album, and he wore a T-shirt from that tour to the Convention Hall show. He's 45, but as he anticipated the first song of the evening, he seemed much younger.

"This is so great," he said, with the puppyish enthusiasm of a teenager.

Rock 'n' roll will keep you young, if it doesn't kill you first. The lifestyles of serious rockers, be they fans or musicians, involve late hours, loud concerts, questionable diets and the availability of recreational drugs, not to mention plain old beer. It's not exactly healthy.

But the strong and the lucky do survive, well into middle age and beyond. For them, rock 'n' roll can be a fountain of youth, as the music keeps them intellectually curious and culturally aware.

Springsteen is all too aware of the, um, curiousity of his fans. When some in the crowd started guessing the first encore Monday night, well before the band hit the first notes of "Thundercrack," Springsteen chuckled and speculated that "some ------- on the Internet" must be leaking pivotal information.

Springsteen also is aware that some fans feel a sense of urgency about the "Magic" tour because they think it could be their last chance to see him with the E Street Band. In an interview last month with Backstreets magazine, Springsteen laughed off any discussion of a farewell tour, saying, "Oh, I'll never do that, man. You're only gonna know that when you don't see me no more."

Max Weinberg, who probably burns more calories drumming onstage in two hours than most of us do in a day, acknowledged that it can be tiring. Weinberg leads his own band on NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," but said that performing on tour with the E Street Band is on a different scale.

"You're older, and there are aches and pains from touring," Weinberg said. "I play every day, but it's different."

Fans recognize this, too, and they don't expect superhuman behavior from people in their 50s and 60s.

"I think this is probably the last big tour," said Tedesco, 42. "I don't know how much Clarence can take."

A certain age

Clemons, while still a robust saxophone player, sat in a chair during parts of the rehearsal shows. He's dealt with some health issues in recent years — nothing that would get in the way if he had a desk job. But it's not easy to play two-hour concerts when you're past a certain age.

"It wouldn't surprise me if it was Bruce's last tour with the E Street Band," Samilow said. "I think these guys are getting old. How long can they do it as a unit, especially the way they do it, where they're rockin' out?"

And rock out they do. The Convention Hall shows had no filler, no stage patter or long introductions to the band that would give the musicians any breathing room. The format made for a sharp, intense set, and it revealed the E Street Band for the tight unit that it is.

The official "Magic" tour begins in Hartford, Conn., on Tuesday, the very day that the CD is released. Springsteen and the E Street Band play Friday and Saturday at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Oct. 9 and 10 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford and Oct. 17 and 18 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.

They head to Europe for the end of the year, and are expected to return to American stages sometime next summer.

Even if they were to walk offstage one night and never reassemble, the members of the E Street Band would be unlikely to glide into retirement.

Many of them have recorded solo material or have worked with other bands. Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, barely had time to enjoy the release of her latest solo CD, "Play It As It Lays," last month before E Street Band business kicked into gear.

Weinberg not only tapes a "Conan" show on weekdays but also is preparing for a benefit gala for the SPCA, organized by his wife, Becky, on their farm in Middletown.

Steven Van Zandt, having recently finished "The Sopranos," keeps busy by saving rock 'n' roll for future generations via his "Little Steven's Underground Garage" syndicated radio show and his two channels on Sirius radio, "Underground Garage" and "Outlaw Country."

When he's not playing guitar with Springsteen, Van Zandt is producing, promoting and playing with bands he admires, including garage greats The Chesterfield Kings, who are signed to Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records.

And on and on for these busy people  . . .

There are two beautiful portraits of Springsteen and the E Street Band in the packaging for the "Magic" CD. Both pictures are by Danny Clinch, who is known for his emotional black-and-white portraits.

Clinch, whose company is in Manhattan but who lives in Toms River, is especially proud of the portrait that runs across the center panel of the CD sleeve.

Clinch first saw the finished product when Springsteen showed him the CD during an afternoon rehearsal last month at Convention Hall.

"To see that packaging — this still doesn't get old for me," Clinch said. "I told Bruce that as someone who grew up here, listening to these guys, to see my picture of them in the CD is a real thrill."

The portrait captures the band only slightly posed. Van Zandt is mugging for the camera, with a big pout. Nils Lofgren faces the camera seriously. Danny Federici, Roy Bittan and Clemons wear big smiles, while Weinberg, Garry Tallent and Scialfa have shy grins. Springsteen seems caught in mid-sentence, his arm around Scialfa.

The photo depicts an ensemble of people who appear comfortable with themselves and each other.

Fans said they sensed camaraderie onstage.

"It was just the best assortment of songs — he reached back to 'Thundercrack,' he did some new stuff," Samilow said. "Between the energy and being at Convention Hall, it could be in the top one or two of the shows I've seen. I don't know if I can go to the Garden or the Meadowlands now, this might've ruined it for me."

"I'm glad he's back with the E Street Band — they're friends, they're great musicians and the way they get along onstage, it's a great sound," said Tedesco. "It seemed like the old Bruce. He was very relaxed, and drove himself."

Privilege and a pleasure

Springsteen probably is driven because he still has a lot to say, musically and otherwise.

"How many people are making great music for 30 years, and keep raising the bar?" Weinberg said. "It's a privilege and a pleasure to work with him, and we work so fast. I heard it in May, all the songs in a row. You record and you forget what you did — this record has something for everybody.

"I think Bruce is in a renaissance in his art," Weinberg said, "and (producer) Brendan O'Brien is a good partner — he makes it so easy, getting it down."

Springsteen introduced certain songs in his set with warnings about the erosion of civil rights in post-Sept. 11 America, and he railed against the government's illegal wiretapping and torture of prisoners.

"Things happened here that we thought would never happen," Springsteen said before playing the title track, warning that torture could become as American as a hot dog at Max's or the WindMill.

''We're living in pretty Orwellian times, when you can make something that's a lie seem true, and something that's true seem a lie," he said. "So watch out for that magic."

Monday's concert at Convention Hall was a first for Kardane, 41. He had never seen Springsteen in concert before.

"I knew the legend, of course, but I couldn't believe how consistent he was in stepping up, and I didn't know how good a musician he was, how tight the band is, how you get caught up in the jam of a song whether you know it or not," Kardane said. "I was mesmerized. I can't say enough. I don't know if I can go again! How can it get better?"

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