“Captain” Kirk Douglas of The Roots discusses performing with Bruce Springsteen in a new YouTube video.
Guitarist “Captain” Kirk Douglas of The Roots says it is “mind-blowing” to perform with Bruce Springsteen.
“To be playing in a band on the same stage with Bruce Springsteen, or to be in the same physical space as that man … his electricity is just so contagious,” he says in a new YouTube video that is part of a series being posted by Roots members, talking about their experiences playing music.
You can watch Douglas’ video below, or follow the series — new installments are being posted daily — at youtube.com/theroots.
In the eight-minute video, Douglas talks about all three times Springsteen performed with The Roots, who are the house band of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
The first was in 2010, when the show was still titled “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” Springsteen sang “Whip My Hair” as a joke with Fallon, and performed “Because the Night” and “Save My Love” with The Roots plus two E Street Band members, Steven Van Zandt and Roy Bittan. Douglas said The Roots were “still relatively green, in TV world,” at the time, and that they only found out they’d be playing with Springsteen a day or two beforehand.
The second time was in 2012, again on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” Springsteen did another comedic number with Fallon, and played “Death to My Hometown” and “Jack of All Trades” with the E Street Band (augmented by guitarist Tom Morello). Then Springsteen, the E Street Band and The Roots all joined forces for “The E Street Shuffle.”
“Bruce wanted me to play the intro with him … and it was pretty nerve-racking, because that’s Bruce Springsteen, and because there’s cameras there, but you just have to rally and make it happen, so that’s what I did,” says Douglas.
The third time was also in 2012, when Springsteen and The Roots were both performing at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, and members of The Roots joined Springsteen and the E Street Band for “The E Street Shuffle” and “Twist and Shout.”
Here is Douglas’ video plus videos of “Save My Love” and the Roskilde version of “The E Street Shuffle.”
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