Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Revisiting Old Territory‏

by Brent Warnken

For the first time in years, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are taking a break. The group has performed together for 35 years and only recently confirmed that following their late November performances throughout North America they will take an undefined hiatus.

"We are going to take a break," says E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt during a press conference. "I don't know how long, one year, year and a half, two years off. This is a good time to see us. We may not be as pretty, [but] we seem to be getting better in funny ways. You never know. This could be the last tour. We do every show like it's our last show anyway."

The group is pushing its current tour, which as luck has it still has Bruce Springsteen tickets available for its final concerts at Giants Stadium, Wachovia Spectrum, Scottrade Center, Sprint Center, Palace of Auburn Hills, Wuicken Loans Arena, Bradley Center, Sommet Center and HSBC Arena.

It has been a three year roller coaster for the group, though confirmations about a split are not all that surprising, following a European interview earlier this year when Springsteen noted his next project would be without the E Street gang.

"As far as I know, we'll wrap up at Thanksgiving and that'll be it for the time being," guitarist Nils Lofgren said. "For 25 years since I joined up, my experience is that ... at the end of the tour - for instance, the "Born in the USA" Tour - that was it, no future plans. I got back to my solo thing ... writing my next batch of songs and just go on with my musical life. And if there's another call and project, I'm honored to be a part of it."

Though the air is filled with indistinctness, the E Streeters aren't holding back on their own plans. Saxophonist Clarence Clemons, reports Billboard, is publishing a memoir Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales, co-written by Don Reo with a foreword by Springsteen, while keyboardist Roy Bittan hopes to finish his solo album Out of the Box.

The backing band has been with the Bob Dylan prodigy since 1974, the year after his failed The Wild, the Innocent 7 the E Street Shuffle appeared. Though it was deemed a 'revision,' the group saw a head-to-toe makeover as saxophonist Clemons, Van Zandt, organist Danny Federici, Bittan, bassist Garry Tallent and drummer Max Weinberg were added, now all personal staples in Springsteen's efforts and a pin-point to his return to success.

The Boss found success following court battles after August 1975's Born to Run album and his return to the spotlight shot to the mainstream the second time around as his semi-underground genre had made it to the top of the charts, just in time for his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town.

The albums kept on coming as his tunes were inspiring interpreters everywhere, until he parted with the E Street Band (for the first time) in 1992 to pursue a solely solo stint. Following his win at the Academy Awards for Best Song for his work on the film Philadelphia, Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band and began touring the world once again like no time had separated the group. Since, the two acts have remained inseparable ... until now.

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