After a lifetime of performing, Bruce Springsteen paused touring when the pandemic hit. But we all know the New Jersey native was born to rock. His latest documentary film, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, directed by Springsteen’s longtime collaborator and Emmy and Grammy winner Thom Zimny (Western Stars, Letter to You), picks up with the now 75-year-old and his E Street Band’s return to rehearsals ahead of their 2023–2024 global trek, and includes personal interviews and rare archival footage.
But the moment that left Zimny the most thunderstruck was that first show back, in Barcelona, which is shown in the doc. “The crowd overpowered the sound of the band. They sang along, not to every lyric, but to every nuance of the music. By the end of that Barcelona concert, everyone had tears in their eyes,” Zimny says. “It’s something that I’ll never forget.”
Below, Zimny writes in his Road Diary.
You’ve done a lot of documentary work — covering Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Sylvester Stallone — but by far you have worked with Springsteen the most. Why do you think that you keep getting drawn back to these projects with him?
Thom Zimny: In the past 24 years I’ve been working with Bruce and the thing with Bruce is that it’s a story that just keeps growing and it presents for me as a filmmaker so many different challenges. Road Diary was no different in that way, where you arrive to a story, [and] you’re not quite sure what it’s going to be about. The very first day I arrived with the band at the rehearsals, I knew that there was something in this footage that could tell a compelling story. I saw, in that rehearsal, Bruce and the band start to piece together their show. I thought that was an interesting thing to chase, and then chase an understanding of Bruce the band leader, and then also have elements of Bruce and E Street’s history. And Bruce, the artist, is always surprising me in the direction that he’s going.
What makes Road Diary stand out among other music docs out there?
I think Road Diary is unique for me because this one is a culmination of this magical thing that you need as a filmmaker, which is time and trust. They gave me trust to be with them from the very early days of starting and gave me access to all the travel and experiences that they had presenting the new material and some of their older material to a live audience for the first time in six years. So, Road Diary had themes to work with that were very different, which was this sense of mortality and an awareness of time, but also this celebration of coming back after not being on the road for six years. The movie taps into these emotional chapter points that are sometimes the story of rock and roll.
Related‘The Devil’s Climb’: Tommy Caldwell & Alex Honnold on Their ‘Crazy’ Nat Geo Buddy Trip
Springsteen is known for being a perfectionist. How does that seep into the documentary process for you?
I’m not sure that I see Bruce as a perfectionist, because in a weird way that just reads as counter to the journey I’ve had with Bruce, where I think it’s an examination of, how can we tell a story better? It’s really demonstrated in Road Diary where [in] the early days, Bruce would walk around the stadium and check every seat’s perspective of the music. Now he doesn’t do that because he has a team, so he lets go of that. But Bruce the artist, in wanting to get the best show every night, I’ve witnessed again and again. I don’t see that as perfectionism. I really see it as a laser focus that I can trace back to the earliest archival films of them in the studio.
It’s a great, beautiful thing to witness and it’s a huge inspiration to me as a filmmaker and as a person. It’s changed my life to have witnessed that dedication to the process. And it’s reflected in all the work that I do.
What do you hope fans will take away from this film?
You know, when you’re in the dark of the editing room and you wonder, “How will someone take this in?” You hope that at first that they will like it, but then later on, you have the experiences like we had in the Toronto Film Festival, where you realize that it’s an emotional experience. So, I hope that they [find] a place of feeling emotional and a celebration of this music and the stories that we revealed in the doc. I hope they get a sense of themselves. If they’re a casual fan, I hope they really step into it in a new way. And if they’re the uberfan, I hope that they get a sense of seeing things they never dreamt they would see.
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Documentary Premiere, Friday, October 25, Disney+ and Hulu
More Headlines:
‘The Devil’s Hour’: Peter Capaldi & Jessica Raine Tease What’s Next After Shocking Season 2 (VIDEO)When Does ‘Heartland’ Season 18 Premiere in the U.S.?‘Jeopardy!’ Boss Breaks Silence on Final Jeopardy Handwriting Controversy‘Road Diary’ Doc Director on Working With Bruce Springsteen‘New Girl’ Fans Will Be in for a Treat in Lamorne Morris ‘Poppa’s House’ Episode
