Imagine being able to talk to David McCullough about history, quiz Bill Gates about software or ask Vera Wang what to wear to a party. That's what it's like to play with Bruce Springsteen.
“It's like playing baseball with Mickey Mantle or playing football with Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana or the great Steelers teams,” says Joe Grushecky, the Dormont resident who forged an enduring friendship with Springsteen in the 1970s.
Springsteen and the E Street Band are returning for a second appearance this year on Sept. 11 at Consol Energy Center, as part of The River tour. The tour started at the Uptown arena Jan. 16 and concludes three nights after the Pittsburgh show on Sept. 14 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Grushecky won't be featured in this show, but he has performed with Springsteen numerous times throughout his career, mostly with his band, the Houserockers, on stages large and small. Springsteen has joined the band at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., and at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland.
Grushecky admits these experiences transcend the usual concert performance.
“When a person of that talent and charisma and magnitude joins your band, it automatically ups the ante on everything,” Grushecky says. “It's a lot of fun playing with Bruce, and I think one of the reasons he sits in with our band is we do a good job of playing his music.”
The Houserockers don't have any choice but to perform at their best. Springsteen may project a fun-loving attitude, but taking the stage with him is a serious venture.
Sound checks with Springsteen often turn into full-fledged rehearsals. Eddie Manion, who first began performing with Springsteen in 1976, played saxophone for the Wrecking Ball and High Hopes tours from 2012 through 2014 and remembers the intensity of those pre-concerts sessions.
“Bruce would start singing horn parts that he would like us to replicate and arrange,” says Manion, a New Jersey native who now lives in Seven Fields, Butler County. “This process would be going on until show time. And then at show time, things can change, too. You have to stay focused and stay on top of your game.”
Being inattentive will draw Springsteen's attention. Joffo Simmons, the drummer for the Houserockers, says Springsteen instructs the band to follow his cues, verbal and non-verbal, on stage, and to never take their eyes off him. Once during rehearsals for a Pittsburgh show, Simmons ended the song “Human Touch” before Springsteen was finished.
“He turns around and he's still playing,” Simmons says with a laugh. “He turned around and looked at me and said, ‘The head didn't move. I'm here to lead the band. The head didn't move. I will end the song.' ”
Dan Gochnour, guitarist for the Houserockers, says Springsteen simultaneously inspires and challenges musicians. He agrees with Simmons that “you learn very quickly that you never take your eyes off of Bruce.”
“Not that he's overbearing or demanding — he's easy to work with,” Gochnour says. “But, he hears things how he hears them and wants them that way. He's harder on Joffo than anyone else because he wants the songs in a certain spot.”
That spot is behind the beat, not on it like Simmons is used to playing. Simmons, who has a degree in percussion from the University of Pittsburgh, says Springsteen's knowledge of music and ability to get the best performances from his musicians transcends anything he learned in college.
“I wouldn't be at the level I'm at right now if it weren't for playing with Bruce Springsteen,” Simmons says. “But I feel sorry for the guitar players. They might play the same song three nights in a row, but he's liable to come in at sound-check and change the key. … You have to learn the song all over again.”
During tours with the E Street Band, Manion put in a lot of work beforehand learning as many 240 songs. But no matter how much he prepared, Manion admits to being “nervous and trembling” when signs requesting songs started to pop up during shows. Especially with a song such as Chuck Berry's “You Can Never Tell” (check out the footage on YouTube of the Springsteen and guitarists Nils Lofgren and Steven Van Zandt trying to figure out the chords).
“I got to tell you I didn't have a clue and couldn't remember how the song went,” Manion says. “He was singing the horn parts, and he taught them to us on stage in front of 80,000 people. By the end of 10 minutes, we all had it. ... That's where practicing and doing your homework as a musician comes in handy. If you can figure that out, that's pretty good.”
Even though the Houserockers regularly perform with Springsteen, there's a sense of anticipation as shows approach. And work to be done. Grushecky says there's investment of time required before any gig in order to avoid being embarrassed.
“Bruce trusts enough to be prepared to play,” Grushecky says. “He trusts me to prepare the band. … Bruce is great, but you have to stay on your toes because you never know where's he going to take the song. Like Ed said, you know you're not only playing with one of the greatest now, but one of the greatest of all time. You up your game and act accordingly. It's been a very rewarding experience for me and the Houserockers.”
The Houserockers will perform Sept. 10 at the Hard Rock Cafe, Station Square. Admission for the 8:30 p.m. show is $15, $10 in advance.
Rege Behe is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
Record-breaking shows
He may be turning 67 this month, but that's not slowing down Bruce Springsteen.
The rocker has been playing 3½- to 4-hour sets on his latest tour. The Aug. 30 concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., ended four hours after it started, breaking the previous record for the group's longest U.S. show of 3 hours and 59 minutes set at MetLife on Aug. 25. The Boss' longest show was 4 hours and 6 minutes in Helsinki, Finland, in 2012.
For the tour's last stop at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 14, the Foxborough, Mass., board of selectmen voted to extend the concert curfew to 11:30 p.m. The typical curfew for weeknight concerts is 11:15 p.m.
