Bruce Springsteen says he “screwed up” by playing marathon sets – as fans now expect an epic every time.
The Boss is famous for long gigs and reckons his devoted followers would feel shortchanged by anything less.
Referring to Beatles shows, which often lasted 25 minutes, Bruce joked on Conan O’Brien’s podcast: “That wasn’t so bad. We screwed the whole thing up by playing too f***ing long. Now I have to do it.” Bruce, 71, holds the record for the longest concert – four hours and six minutes in Helsinki in 2012.
His extended slot at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park in 2012 saw Royal Parks bosses pull the plug on him and Sir Paul McCartney when it ran over.
He was also fined £4,000 by Dublin Council for two curfew-breaching shows in 2009.
Speaking about his stamina last year, Bruce said: “You may be tired, want to go to sleep.
“But that walk from dressing room to stage… something turns on between those two points.”
Underlining his enduring appeal, Bruce’s new album with the E Street Band, Letter To You, is No1 in the midweek charts.
He said of it: “I want people to dance. [But] I try to insert something that can address your inner life, by revealing my own.”