Bruce Springsteen says his home state will rebound from the devastation of Superstorm
Sandy.

Bruce Springsteen on stage during a concert at Penn State
Bruce Springsteen on stage during a concert at Penn State (Twitter)
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Springsteen and his band played to an adoring crowd at the Jordan Center on the Penn State University campus in State College on Thursday night. He thanked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for "doing a fine job" of taking care of citizens. He also lauded police, firefighters and other first responders.

He then launched into an extended, heart-wrenching rendition of his song "My City in Ruins."

Christie is a huge  fan of The Boss having attended over 200 concerts. Their politics, however, are completely different as Springsteen is a left-leaning Democrat and big supporter of President Obama. Christie is Republican who, until the arrival of Sandy, was campaigning for Mitt Romney and a vocal critic of Obama.

Springsteen snubbed Christie by ignoring the Governor's request to play a concert in Atlantic City on Labor Day weekend to help revitalize the city.

Several fans on the floor at Jordan Arena among a crowd of at least 12,500 held up signs referencing the damage along the Jersey shore. "Greetings from Belmar, N.J. Sandy left my city in ruins," read one sign. "Jersey strong," read another sign.

Springsteen also made several other references to the storm during the show. He said he hoped Asbury Park  would recover from Sandy's wake much quicker than the 25 years it took for the coastal town to rally from earlier hard times.

During a line from the second song of the night, "Wrecking Ball," Springsteen paused for at least a minute following the line "Now my home is on the Jersey shore."

At another point he held up a sign handed to him by a fan. "Never forget, 4th of July, Asbury Park." "There you go," Springsteen told the crowd, "we can't let a hurricane get rid of that one."

Springsteen will join NBC's planned benefit concert Friday for victims of the storm.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

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