Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s 2023-2025 Tour Continues

Another Soulful and Powerful Trek

Like a vintage pink Cadillac that just won’t quit, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band made it into the ranks of the top 10 tours again in 2024, according to Billboard and Pollstar, which tallied the Boss and his band’s concert revenues at $235.6 and $251.3 million, respectively; one notch up from another astoundingly high-mileage band, the Rolling Stones, which had a 2024 ticket haul of $235 million (See Showtime, this issue, page 22).

Both bands keep rolling through the decades with incredible durability despite adversity, winning plaudits for energetic performances despite their ages (Springsteen is 75; Mick Jagger is 81). And while there’s no indication yet of subsequent tours to follow, neither band thought it necessary to include the word “farewell” in the names of their latest treks.

The 2023-2025 tour, the first outing for Springsteen and his band since the Covid shutdowns, kicked off on Feb. 1, 2023. The 2023 tour traveled the U.S. and Europe, and returned stateside for more shows through Sept. 3, 2023. But after that, a number of shows had to be postponed due to illness.

The 2024 portion of the 2023-2025 tour picked up again in March, taking the band through the U.S., Europe and Canada before wrapping up in Vancouver, BC in late November. A final European leg is set to run from mid-May to early July, 2025.

Seasoned Band and Crew Members

Throughout the trek, lead vocalist/guitarist Springsteen has been joined onstage by as many as 18 other band members. They start with the core E Street band members, including guitarists Nils Lofgren and Steven Van Zandt, bassist Garry Tallent, drummer Max Weinberg, keyboardist Roy Bittan and guitarist/background vocalist Patti Scialfa (who joined the E Street Band in 1984 and married the Boss in 1991).

Also on stage: saxophonist and percussionist Jake Clemons (nephew to saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who had been part of the band from 1972 until his death in 2011); violinist Soozie Tyrell and keyboardist Charles Giordano. Nine other musicians on stage enrich the overall sound with their brass, percussion and backing vocal performances.

Together, they’ve been bringing a three-hour set list to life, night after night, with selections from the band’s extensive catalog of hits since the 1970s mixed in with more recent songs from his two most recent albums, Letter to You (2020) and Only the Strong Survive (2022). And though the current tour continues in 2025, the creative process to put this production together has already been chronicled in a Disney+ documentary released in October 2024: Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

As with the core band members, the backstage audio crew includes plenty of seasoned pros. George Travis, recipient of the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement honor in 2013, has been the band’s tour manager since 1977. Production manager Sean Magovern, who is part of a three-generation family offering backstage support, started out as a carpenter in 1985.

And on the audio side, most of those handling the mixing, including John “Coop” Cooper at FOH and Monty Carlo and Troy Milner at monitors, have been with the band since the early 2000’s.

“There’s a sense with [Springsteen’s] show that you are part of something special,” says Cooper, who mixes on an Avid S6L console. “My goal has always been to give him the freedom to come in and not be concerned with sound check but to have the confidence to work on his music and be creative.”

FOH and P.A. Choices

Although Cooper’s setup includes a Waves server in addition to his Avid S6L console, he doesn’t work with a plethora of outboard gear. “I have some Oxford plug-ins and a Rupert Neve 5045 Primary Source Enhancer for Bruce’s vocal,” he says, adding that “the key to it all is knowing your artist and knowing their music.”

This knowledge also helped when choosing a P.A. system which, as with previous treks, is a Cohesion system supplied by Clair Global. “I had the opportunity to hear the Cohesion system very early on, and I was impressed. I immediately started to plan to get it on the road with us,” says Cooper.

“At this point, we have put Cohesion in lots of different environments and frankly, it’s like sitting in a control room,” Cooper adds. “The detail put forward is just remarkable, and it makes my day comfortable. But it’s not all down to hardware; it’s in the very skilled hands of our systems engineer Brandon Schuette and the rest of Clair’s amazing sound crew.”

Along with his role as the tour’s systems engineer, Schuette serves as crew chief, working with P.A. techs Telvin Armour, Abigail Chilton and Bobby Taylor, among others. He cites high morale as a key ingredient for each concert’s success. “We can almost operate load ins/load outs without having to communicate — that’s how tight our crew has become,” Schuette says. “They’re second to none, but I’m most proud of how everyone finds time and ways to help each other.”

The Cohesion setup includes large format CO12 loudspeakers for main and side hangs, CO10’s for delays and the center hang, and side fill deployments of CO8’s and CP218 II+ subwoofers. “The main objective is to provide the most consistent coverage possible,” Schuette says, mindful of the generations of fans who keep turning out for the shows. “I want every seat to sound like they’re sitting at FOH next to Coop. That usually starts by balancing the energy in the room, so that whatever SPL we have at FOH is going to be the same SPL in any given seat.”

Schuette also credits Clair Global for its behind-the-scenes support from the shops to the stages. “Whether it’s from Lititz or Aesch, we have been set up for success every time we go out. Between the great people that support us in the shop and the great people I get to work with on the road, I am absolutely spoiled.”

The Monitor Mixing Team

Monty Carlo and Troy Milner, the longtime monitor-mixing tag team for the band, are once again at stage left and stage right with DiGiCo SD7 consoles. Carlo mixes monitors for Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, Roy Bittan and the horn section. Milner’s monitor duties focus on mixes for Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Nils Lofgren, Soozie Tyrell and Charles Giordano.

“The SD7 has been our go-to console since 2012,” says Carlo. “It’s still the most flexible, scalable console that we deal with. Bruce wants to hear everything. Floor monitors are hung from grated decks in a stereo configuration, and he has a spatial perspective of where everybody is playing on the stage in his position. There are no egos up there; do your job, and he’s very appreciative.”

Milner notes that he programs all his mixes on snapshots except for drummer Max Weinberg. “I mix him ‘old school’ since we sometimes don’t know what song is coming next; I need to make sure Max gets what he needs to start each song — it can be fast paced keeping up with Bruce and his song choices.”

A third DiGiCo SD7 is helmed by Matt Fitzgerald, who mixes for Patti Scialfa and other musicians on stage. Fitzgerald also credits the Quantum SD7 as “one of the few desks out there that can handle the sheer number of inputs and outputs we have. We’re looking after 160 inputs from the deck, with no playback, time code or syncing to anything, split five ways to each of our mixing consoles. It’s just a very large, very raw, unscripted rock band up there!”

Fitzgerald also cites the value of the teamwork and high morale backstage. “Having such a great audio team, all working so close together and helping each other out, really makes for a much better and enjoyable day in the life of touring with Bruce and The E Street Band.”

Along with having each other’s backs, clear communication is critical between all three monitor engineers, the audio and backline techs.

“Everyone has a talkback mic that we can always hear, no matter what we are listening to during the show,” Milner says. “It allows us to fix issues and changes before any band members are even aware something might change.” Audio tech Calvin Welshans stays at stage right with Milner during the show. “There is plenty to pay attention to, and the more eyes looking at the stage, the better.”

IEMs and RF Management

Those on stage hear the show as it progresses through a mix of IEMs, headphones and on-stage speakers. “Max gets his mix from my desk to a pair of Albatros Headphone hardwire amps in ‘drum tech’ world, and behind the drum kit, I have three Cohesion CP118+ self-powered subs for feel, as well as a Porter & Davies shaker seat,” notes Milner.

A selection of Cohesion CM22 and CM14 wedges are also deployed on the stage. Fitzgerald, however, notes that because so many of the vocalists he mixes for are on IEMs, he relies on “individual PSE’s, reverbs, slaps and panning for each vocalist to create an image, space and clarity to their mixes on such a loud stage.” The IEM setup includes to a mixture of JH and 64 Audio in-ear monitors on Wisycom transmitters.

RF Coordinator Brad Galvin notes his frequent role as Carlo’s second pair of ears — and eyes. “During the show, I stand next to Monty at the SL monitor position, and when he’s looking at Bruce, I keep my eyes moving between Roy [Bittan], Steven [Van Zandt] and the horn section,” Galvin says. “As soon as I see him moving to another mix, or hear it change, my eyes go directly to Bruce, so someone always has their eyes on him.”

Using IAS software, Galvin coordinates 88 frequencies per day between 32 channels of Wisycom MTK982 dual transmitters, 54 channels of Shure Axient Digital, and a couple of frequencies for the FOH Lectrosonics TM400 measurement mics. “There are 24 channels of Axient Digital in my RF rack stage left, and 32 split between six backline racks spread around the stage, all networked together for central control from my workstation,” he says.

Galvin also appreciates the touring team from Clair Global and account executive Greg Hall for their “phenomenal” support. “I never have to fight for anything because they understand that if we’re asking for it, we’re asking for a reason. The packaging of the systems is also amazing, from the design down to the implementation — and I’m very particular in how I want things set up.”

While knowing that the roles they play demand the highest levels of audio expertise, it helps that everyone seems to appreciate how valuable everyone else is to the success of each show. “I realize how few folks will get to do what I do for a living at this level,” Cooper concludes. “Without the outstanding professionals I am surrounded by, none of what I do would be possible, and for that, I thank them all.”

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band — and their dedicated crew — will head to Europe next for their Spring/Summer 2025 concerts.

For more details on crew and gear, CLICK HERE