Last week, Bruce Springsteen performed live at a star studded event at his native New Jersey, where he was joined by several household names, including Bon Jovi and Public Enemy to name a few.
This concert series took place for the opening of the new Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey on June 4 and 5. The center itself officially opens this Saturday (June 13).
It also celebrated 250 years of American Music, with the first night looking at legendary artists like Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams. The following night saw artists like Elvis Presley, Dion, Public Enemy and Bob Dylan being celebrated.
Along with Dion and Public Enemy, other names like Sheryl Crow, Darlene Love, Nils Lofgren, Jackson Browne, and Gary Clark Jr featuring, with Little Steven's Disciples of Soul serving as the house band.
The shows saw Bruce Springsteen cover Elvis' classic, 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'Burnin Love'. He also joined Gary Clark Jr for Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland’s ‘Further Up The Road’ and Sheryl Crow for Bob Dylan's 'I Shall Be Released'.
Elsewhere, Jon Bon Jovi performed a cover of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B Goode', his first appearance on home soil since 2018.
Having signed off the show with a solo version of 'Land Of Hope And Dreams', Bruce Springsteen had earlier joined Jackson Browne, Bon Jovi, and Public Enemy for a live rendition of Pink Floyd's 'Raise Your Hand'.
“My God,” Springsteen told the audience. “At 19, I was on this campus…not going to school. But played here on the steps over at the big building they have over there. If you had told me then, in 1969, that anything like this would ever, ever occur, I would’ve said, ‘You are out of your fuckin’ mind, my friend".
News of this comes after Bruce Springsteen was forced to increase security measures during his tour, following death threats made against him over his criticism of the Donald Trump administration.
Speaking about this, E Street Band member, Steven Van Zandt said: "it's mostly just talk. And it's not like we're saying something that's not true or we're saying something that's so really particularly controversial, but it's specifically political".
"This tour has been a little bit different because of the high security," Van Zandt continued. "It's a very specific political theme to this tour and there's been a lot of threats, death threats. Usually there's always some, but this time it's been increasing".
"So the FBI and others have been really watching things and been overly concerned about it, as they should be," he added. "We want the fans to be safe and feel safe. So we really go the extra mile with extra security for that reason alone".
More on this from Nova here.
