E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren is coming to the defense of Bruce Springsteen, who was the target of criticism from Washington Post critic Paul Farhi last week for his use of an on-stage teleprompter.

Farhi asked, "If he believes as deeply as we assume he does, why the need for a cheat sheet? Is he singing from the heart? Or is it just from the McScroll?"

Lofgren has written an open letter saying, "We played 192 different songs on [our last] tour. Dozens of those songs were from audience-request signs... [Bruce called] audibles that were songs unrehearsed or played in years or decades. With our collective musical memory, hand signals and teleprompter, it allows for those ambitious, ad-lib moments and an inspired, musical recklessness I believe is unique to our shows."