Hours before Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band headlined Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey on Sunday, the frontman surprised fans with appearances at Trey Anastasio Band and the Gaslight Anthem’s sets earlier in the day.
Springsteen showed up onstage and gave Anastasio a hug before he and the Trey Anastasio Band launched into “Kitty’s Back,” from Springsteen’s sophomore album, 1973’s The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. The two frontmen traded revved-up, rollicking riffs for the 10-minute-plus jam. “I never thought I’d have to follow Bruce Springsteen on a beach in Asbury Park,” Anastasio said while sporting a huge grin following their performance together.
Springsteen also surprised fans during the Gaslight Anthem’s performance on Sunday, which happened right before his own set was to take place. He joined singer-guitarist Brian Fallon for the band’s “History Books,” which features Springsteen; it’s the title track from the Gaslight Anthem’s sixth studio album released last year. They followed it up with another title track, the New Jersey band’s anthemic “American Slang” from 2010. Both songs found Springsteen and Fallon trading lyrics and harmonizing on choruses.
On Saturday night, Springsteen performed with an all-star cast for a Sea.Hear.Now afterparty held at Stone Pony. Noah Kahan, Robert Randolph, E Street Band’s Jake Clemons, Sea.Hear.Now founder and Springsteen collaborator Danny Clinch, and more covered songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, and more.
In March, Rolling Stone spoke to Clinch about how he convinced Springsteen to play the fest.
“So this time around, we were looking for our headliners, and he was going to be on the East Coast, and his tour was going to end on the 13th of September. So we’re like, ‘Oh man, this looks like a good opportunity to hit him up,’” Clinch said.
“And I happen to be over his place. And I said, ‘Man, I was looking at your schedule, and we would love to have you at our Sea.Hear.Now show,’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, that’d be cool.’ And I said, ‘Can I have my guy reach out to your guy?’ He just was laughing, and he said yeah. Then later I was back in the studio, and he just turned to me at one point and he was like, ‘I’m gonna do the thing on the beach. I’m going to Sea.Hear.Now. I want to bring the band on the beach. This could be incredible.’”