Devils & Dust Tour - Approach

Approach

The Devils & Dust album, while not using the E Street Band as a whole and being in the more acoustic, somber vein of his earlier Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad works, was not without (sometimes substantial) instrumentation and arrangements.

Thus when Springsteen began rehearsals for the upcoming tour in Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre, he experimented with a small band line-up. Although the rehearsals were closed, a dozen or two of Springsteen fans would stand outside the theatre each day on the chilly early spring boardwalk, listening through walls to try to hear what was being played, a practice that had been going on since the E Street Band's Reunion Tour rehearsals in 1999. These fans reported that Springsteen was rehearsing with Nils Lofgren (guitar and keyboards), Danny Federici (organ), Soozie Tyrell (violin and vocals), and Steve Jordan (drums), all of whom had participated in recording the album.

After a week or two of this, however, Springsteen decided it was not what he wanted. The musicians disappeared, and Springsteen would perform on the tour all by himself. As he told Rolling Stone before the tour began, "Nils and some other folks came in for rehearsals to give me a sense of if I wanted to go with something bigger. But what tends to be dramatic is either the full band or you onstage by yourself. Playing alone creates a sort of drama and intimacy for the audience: They know it's just them and just you." He would further explain his challenge to Esquire during the tour: "I don't have a piano and a sax and drums behind me on this tour. So I had to re-approach the guitar as an instrument of solo accompaniment. It becomes a bit of a new land, and I'll play it in ways I've never played it before. I'm constantly asking myself, How can I wring as much music and meaning as possible out of those six strings? One thing I do know: With the correct playing style, you can summon up an orchestra."