Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band

Twenty Grammy Awards, record-setting concerts, albums charting in the Top 5 in each of the last six decades — as a musician, Bruce Springsteen has conquered just about every mountain there is to climb. From that high vantage point, an artist gains a unique perspective.

That’s what Springsteen brings to Road Diary: an evocative look back at the path he and his band have blazed since the ’70s, and a look forward to what lies on the horizon. Mortality, yes, but also more of the passion, energy, and grit they’ve always brought to touring, as they prepare to hit the road one more time.

Working again with long-time collaborator Thom Zimny (Western Stars, TIFF ’19), Springsteen narrates this look at the singular alchemy that produced such a tight, enduring group. The film begins with beautiful, rare images of the band members barely out of boyhood, then contrasts that immediately with a present day challenge, their first tour in six years.

Can they recapture the spark and dynamism they first found over 40 years earlier? Can newer members add fresh colours to the sound, and fill the gap left by the late saxophonist Clarence Clemons. Do they all still have what it takes?

Springsteen could be called a poet, a master craftsman, a voice of his generation. Above all, he is a magnificent performer, and leader of one of the world’s greatest-ever live rock bands. Road Diary offers an inside look at how he and the E Street Band create what their fans pay to see — “the intensity of your presence.”