Pattison Avenue freeze out: Bruce Springsteen and his band close down the Spectrum

I'VE PROBABLY talked more with guys in the E-Street Band in the last couple of weeks than I had in the previous 10 years.

First there was a group grope with guitarists Steve Van Zandt (also known from his role on HBO's "The Sopranos") and Nils Lofgren and veteran keyboardist Roy Bittan. Then came a one-on-one with "The Big Man," Clarence Clemons, the legendary saxophonist whose solos always take us higher.

You can't blame them all for wanting to share, to ruminate out loud. This month, front guy Bruce Springsteen and the band are helping to shut down the Spectrum and Giants Stadium - two venues that have meant a lot to the guys.

To mark the occasions, the "wrecking crew" (as Spring-steen has lately been describing them) are devoting one (of three) show hours each night to performing a career milestone album - either "Born To Run," "Darkness on the Edge of Town" or "Born in the U.S.A."

"We tried this out first at a benefit concert in Red Bank [N.J.]," clued Lofgren, "and it worked so well we decided to take it on the road."

Making this run of shows even more bittersweet for the band, "The Boss" has decided they're all to go on an extended hiatus starting at Thanksgiving. No, the split won't be quite as long and harrowing as Springsteen's infamous 1989 breakup of the group, which lasted a mere 10 years.

"If he holds out that long again, I'd be, like, 90, when we started up again," cracked Clemons, who may not be good at math but, at 67, is the oldest "by eight to 10 years" of anyone in the troupe. (Bruce just turned 60.)

"We're looking at a year-and-a-half to two years off," believes the lugubrious Van Zandt. He then added ominously, "But who knows for sure what's going to happen? If you've been thinking about seeing us live, now would be the time. We always treat each show like it could be our last. And we're playing better now than we ever have before."

Hey, you can't blame the guys for getting a little melodramatic. They lost Danny Federici, "the wind behind our music," bemoaned fellow keyboardist Bittan, to melanoma last year.

And other guys in the band have had their share of health issues that could mess up the next reunion in . . . whenever.

In his entertaining and partly true new book, "Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales," out Oct. 21 from Grand Central Publishing and written with Hollywood buddy Don Reo, Clemons comes clean on most of his maladies.

The man has suffered through three hip replacements, then last year had both knees replaced. All that jumping off stages he used to do with Bruce at friendly halls like the Spectrum didn't help, "but mostly my problems stem from the degenerative arthritis that runs in the family," he explained.

There's also mention of a suspected heart attack showing up last year in an EKG. On the phone, Clemons dismissed that, saying it was later discovered to be "some interference" from his pacemaker - a subject not broached in the book.

But hey, the guy had to leave room to share sagas of the band's start and struggling days, as well as his colorful "encounters" with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Norman Mailer and Fidel Castro - the latter crop (and crock) almost completely bogus, admitted the equally mythical Big Man with a laugh.

Also on the E-Street Band's injured list is guitarist Lofgren, who used to bounce on a trampoline as part of his stage schtick. He's had both hips replaced, too.

The "Mighty" Max Weinberg - constantly on planes bouncing between the "Tonight Show" in L.A. and Springsteen tour stops - needs to be cinched up with a back brace before he can pound the drums for the marathon-length shows the Boss still delivers.

And while the ever-pumped Springsteen looks on top of his game, a discretely positioned, lyrics-spewing TelePrompTer suggests his memory isn't quite as sharp as it used to be.

"Don't worry about us," assured Clemons. "I always say, being up on stage is our healing floor, the most healthy situation I can be in."

Having a golf cart to get him to the stage helps, nowadays. And behind the scenes, as the "Big Man" book details, there's a small army of personal assistants - trainers, doctors, chefs - plus private jets and first-class hotels to keep this well-oiled machine in gear, still hitting and selling out huge venues around the world.

Not bad for a "group of misfits who only had one big hit album, that performs songs of hard-core reality, that's still kinda underground, that refuses to dwell in nostalgia," said Van Zandt. "Even today, more than half our sets are songs we've recorded in the last 10 years."

A lot of that good gravy is going to wash away, of course, when the band shuts down, "but we've all got plans to do our own things," said Lofgren. He'll go back to his solo career, Van Zandt to running his Sirius XM satellite radio channels and record label, and Bittan to a long-stewing instrumental album project.

Clemons is planning a "long overdue" honeymoon with Russian-born wife (No. 5) Victoria. He's already thinking about a follow-up book to "Big Man" and is looking to make some rock/hip-hop crossover music "with a guy like Jay-Z, whom I've lately come to admire."

So what fond memories does Clemons have of Philadelphia and the Spectrum? "Very few," he kidded.

"Actually, I married my first wife there and lived for a year in West Philly. This was before Bruce, when I was just 21. I was working down on the docks, for the Philadelphia [Coca-Cola Bottling] Co., loading cocoa onto boats. At night, I'd go out with my saxophone to play at small clubs.

"One night, I come off a bandstand, and this goon says to me, 'Where's your musicians union card?' When I told him I didn't have one, he said, "If I ever see you on a stage again, I'll bust you up and your horn."

Somewhat happier - especially in retrospect - was the first time Springsteen and the E-Street Band played at the Spectrum, opening for Chicago on June 6, 1973.

That night it seemed as if the headliners' fans didn't like Springsteen's music, " 'cause they kept booing us . . .," Clarence recalled. "But after three or four nights of this, Bruce figured out that they were actually our fans, and they were yelling 'Broooooce.' In fact, that tour was the last time we ever opened for anyone. Because after we were on and tore things up, nobody wanted to follow us, not even a good group like Chicago. It was suicide for them."

So what does he think about the closing of the Spectrum?

"It's a very mixed emotion. There are all the memories of all the fun we had, of all the bands that played there. But if you think about it, it's just natural progression. There'll be new arenas and new bands and new people coming to see them. Everything's gotta change in this world. Except, I hope, we'll still be around to open the new places."

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band perform "Born To Run" (plus other material, natch) on Tuesday; "Darkness on the Edge of Town" on Wednesday; "Born to Run" on Oct. 19, and "Born in the U.S.A." on Oct. 20 at the Wachovia Spectrum, Broad Street and Pattison Avenue. All shows at 7:30 p.m. Some "newly added" seats are available at $68 and $101 at 800-298-4200, the Wachovia Complex Box Office, select Acme markets, www.comcasttix.com and www.livenation.com.