Hours before Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band headlined the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on Sunday, the lead singer surprised fans by appearing at shows by the Trey Anastasio Band and Gaslight Anthem earlier in the day.
Springsteen came on stage and hugged Anastasio before he and the Trey Anastasio Band began singing “Kitty's Back” from Springsteen's 1973 second album. The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street ShuffleThe two lead singers traded upbeat, upbeat tunes in a song that lasted more than 10 minutes. “I never imagined I would have to follow Bruce Springsteen on a beach in Asbury Park,” Anastasio said with a big smile after their performance together.
Springsteen also surprised fans during his performance of Gaslight Anthem on Sunday, which took place just before his own show. He joined singer and guitarist Brian Fallon for the band’s “History Books,” which features Springsteen, the lead single from Gaslight Anthem’s sixth studio album, released last year. It was followed by another lead single, “American Slang,” the New Jersey band’s 2010 release. Both songs found Springsteen and Fallon swapping lyrics and harmonizing on the choruses.
On Saturday night, Springsteen performed with a star-studded lineup at the Sea.Hear.Now after-party at the Stone Pony. The performance featured Noah Kahan, Robert Randolph, Jake Clemons of the E Street Band, Sea.Hear.Now founder and Springsteen partner Danny Clinch, and more songs from artists including Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker and more.
In March, Rolling Stone Clinch talked about how he convinced Springsteen to perform at the festival.
“So, this time, we were looking for our headliner, and he was scheduled to play a show on the East Coast, and his tour was scheduled to end on September 13th. So, we said, ‘Man, this seems like a good opportunity to connect with him,’” Clinch said.
“And I happened to be at his house. And I said, ‘Man, I was looking at your schedule, and we’d love to have you on our show Sea.Hear.Now,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, that would be great.’ And I said, ‘Can I ask my friend to put your friend in touch?’ He just laughed, and he said yeah. And then later on I got back to the studio, and he turned to me at one point and said, ‘I’m going to do the beach thing. I’m going to Sea.Hear.Now. I want to bring the band to the beach. That could be great.’”
