It’s
Friday night at the Clapham Grand, the stage lights are low, the room teeming
with beer bottles, Bruce shirts, and bandanas. But the Boss himself is nowhere
to be seen. That’s because this high-spirited gathering of fans young and old
aren’t here for Bruce Springsteen himself, but for the all-girl covers band
breathing new fire into his songs.
The
She Street Band formed in 2016, after bassist Jody Orsbon saw Springsteen live
for the first time at London’s Wembley Stadium that summer. His performance
with the E Street Band blew her away, but it was the infectious energy of the
audience that really stayed with her. The She Street Band came into being, she
tells the Clapham crowd, ‘to try and keep some of that magic alive’.
Covers
bands often bring to mind bad Elvis wigs, uncool dads kindling their teenage
band-member dreams, cartoonish adaptations of rock star outfits, and the likely
desecration of your favourite songs. This is unfair. Covers bands can also be
one of the best reciprocations of love for an artist or band.
But as
the type of fan who can date a photo of Springsteen according to the length of
his sideburns, I have my reservations as I wait in a crowd masked in
anticipatory blue haze. When the seven members of the She Street Band take to
the stage with grins to rival Springsteen’s, though, and settle into a
confident, poignant rendition of Thunder Road, I am immediately at home.
The
She Street Band are in no way amateurish. For most of the band this is one of many
musical projects. They know how to inhabit a stage. What’s particularly
striking is that they make no attempt to imitate Springsteen. There aren’t,
thankfully, seven blue-jeaned, bandana-brandishing figures lined up on stage. The
She Street Band is not a tribute to Springsteen the star (and certainly not to
Springsteen the eighties sartorial disaster), but to his music. As well as
their avoidance of rock star fancy dress, the She Street Band’s thoughtful arrangement
of lead vocals allows Springsteen’s songs to travel through time and take on new
identities. Playing on the different strengths of the band’s impressive vocal
range, the songs are distributed between four lead singers, or they all sing
together. No member of the She Street Band has been assigned the role of Bruce
Springsteen. His spirit is dispersed equally throughout the band, strengthening
their command of his music and making space for updated interpretations.
Some
things stay the same, of course. Each sax solo is met with audience ecstasy.
The Badlands counter melody, familiar to anyone who’s ever been within earshot
of a Springsteen show, runs like a leitmotif through the night. Everybody
explodes during Born To Run. There’s a delightful moment during Dancing in the
Dark when a man winds up on stage dancing with Orsbon.
But
the She Street Band doesn’t rely solely on these moments of guaranteed
satisfaction inherited from Springsteen’s masterful song writing. Their
rendition of Darkness on the Edge of Town, more tender yet just as vigorous as
the original, reminds me that a well-crafted song can offer up new meanings and
take on new stories, if it falls into the right hands.
And it
goes without saying that Springsteen’s songs take on a whole new resonance when
they’re sung by women. Fresh and energetic, this is Springsteen not just for
newer generations, but for all the girls absent from his shows before the 1980
chart success of Hungry Heart.
The
Grand is full of faded Springsteen tour t-shirts on this February Friday night.
Two veteran fans in the front row demonstrate particularly contagious
enthusiasm: white-haired, they are the best dancers in the house. I think of
all the decades of Springsteen tours they must have followed. I’m moved not
just by their dedication and loyalty to his music, but by their
open-heartedness towards a new era’s treatment of songs that have belonged to
them for so long. That’s what’s remarkable about Springsteen’s work: its spirit
endures through generations, never losing its power to forge communities.
I’ve
always dreamed of being in the E Street Band, but now I think I want to be in
the She Street Band. And with Twitter support from Amy Lofgren, wife of E
Street Band guitarist Nils, and Olivia Tallent, daughter of bassist Garry, two sell-out
London shows under their belt, and the loyalty of a legion of Springsteen fans,
surely it’s only a matter of time before Springsteen himself offers an
approving grin.
When I
listen to Bruce Springsteen’s songs, I never imagine myself as the female
characters. I’m never Mary or Wendy or Janey. I’m always the protagonist, always
wanting to know if love is wild and real, wanting the heart, the soul, control,
right now. The She Street Band provide the joyful space for me to be that person.
And they keep the magic alive.
