E Street Band member Nils Lofgren says he was happy to pass on the title of “new guy” to Tom Morello.
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Morello joined Bruce Springsteen’s backup group for a number of dates on their 2012 Wrecking Ball tour and then was on board for all of the 2014 High Hopes tour.
And for multi-instrumentalist Lofgren, he was a welcome addition both in a musical sense and because he was finally able to shed the tag of “new guy” which he had to put it with despite having joined the band back in 1984.
He says the ribbing from his band mates eased off during 1987 tour for Tunnel Of Love, but that he’s never been able to totally shake it off until now.
Lofgren tells Something Else: “I’ve had a sense of humour about that. That new guy thing took a big step back with Tunnel Of Love, because we did 155 shows or so. I’ve got to say, it’s more a humorous thing.
“Having Tom there too, just like the guys did for me, I’m happy to give Tom some pointers here and there. He’s very intelligent and self sufficient and has a sense of humour about it.”
Lofgren also praised Morello’s technical ability and his calm demeanour under fire from The Boss – who often changes setlists at the last minute and calls on the band to improvise onstage.
He adds: “I think my favourite line of the last year or two was when we were in Australia with one of these wild improv shows, which we do every night, but this night in particular Bruce just went crazy with the improv songs.
“Songs out of the audience, songs we’ve never played. At one point, Tom walked up to me and said, ‘Hey, this is the first song I’ve recognised in an hour and 20 minutes.’ We just fell out laughing about it, because to play an hour of music that you’ve never heard in your life standing next to Bruce with a guitar on is a daunting thing. He handled it quite well.”
