E Street Band Continues Tour Without Steve Van Zandt: A Brief Absence Amidst a Long Career
When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to the stage at the Reale Arena in San Sebastián on Tuesday night, they were missing one of their key members: Steve Van Zandt. The guitarist had recently undergone surgery for appendicitis and will be absent from the next few shows as he recovers. In a message to fans on Instagram, Van Zandt shared his experience, writing, "Got a sharp pain in my stomach, thought it was food poisoning, turned out to be appendicitis. Got lucky with an exceptional hospital in San Sebastian. Operation was a complete success and I’m hoping to get back on stage for at least one of the shows in Milan. Thank you all for all the good vibes. See you soon." This is not the first time that Van Zandt has missed shows due to illness. In 2014, he missed several weeks of shows while filming his Netflix series Lilyhammer, with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello stepping in to fill his role. However, in February 2023, Van Zandt had to miss a show in Dallas due to a positive Covid test, with Springsteen and Nils Lofgren covering his parts without additional help. Lofgren will now have his hands full as he takes on Van Zandt’s parts during the upcoming shows. However, don’t expect to see Morello parachuting in to help them out. In a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Morello said such a thing wouldn’t be possible. "Oh, hell no!" he said when asked if he could step in for Van Zandt at a moment’s notice. "I learned 250 songs for that tour [in 2014]. Maybe with the appropriate cheat sheet. Maybe. But no. I worked really, really hard to get ready for that, and it’s been a few years." Springsteen recently told Rolling Stone that he hopes to bring the E Street Band to Australia next year and that future tours will be much shorter. "Rather than do a 130-show stretch," he said, "which we did this time because we had been off for six years, so I had to get back in touch with my audience, and it was fun playing with the band…in the future, I think we’ll probably play more often and less dates." In the meantime, fans can look forward to seeing Springsteen and Lofgren on stage together as they continue their European tour without Van Zandt until he is ready to return for the closing show in Milan on June 30.
In the ongoing E Street Band Tour following Steve Van Zandt's brief absence, their musical journey demonstrates remarkable resilience and adaptability amidst a distinguished career filled with triumphant chapters.
The E Street Band's ongoing tour without Steve Van Zandt serves as a poignant reminder of the band’s boundless resilience amidst his brief absence, demonstrating their strong collective spirit and commitment to music that spans decades.
The absence of Steve Van Zandt from the E Street Band's ongoing tour has breathed new energy into their collective journey, demonstrating how a long and storied career can endure even in moments separate.
