‘The Boss’ makes two surprise NJ appearances in one day

In the past I’ve called Bruce Springsteen the poet laureate of a blue-collar generation. He’s been at it so long though maybe it’s more like two generations. He’s also known for popping up by surprise. Well, The Boss apparently decided one surprise appearance wasn’t enough on Friday.

He popped up twice at the Jersey Shore on Friday, first making a drop-in visit to the new Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University and then, just hours later, walking onto the stage at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

And while seeing Springsteen unexpectedly turn up anywhere in New Jersey is pretty spectacular, what happened at the Stone Pony was the real showstopper.

Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University (Jen Ursillo)

Springsteen joined New Jersey native Jack Antonoff and Bleachers during the band’s Shadow of the City festival, and the combination was about as Jersey as you can possibly get.

Antonoff had already been talking about what it meant to be playing at home when he started into Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl.” Yes, it was Waits’ song before Bruce made it a hit.

Then The Boss showed up.

The crowd absolutely erupted.

Springsteen joined Antonoff for “Jersey Girl,” taking the lead on several of the verses before the two shared the vocals. They followed that with “Chinatown,” the Bleachers song that Springsteen originally appeared on back in 2020.

Theo Wargo, Getty Images

He looked completely at home on that Stone Pony stage.

And watching Springsteen, 76, perform alongside Antonoff, 42, was a pretty great reminder of how Jersey rock music gets passed from one generation to the next.

Antonoff has made no secret of Springsteen’s influence on him. In fact, he has described Bruce as the artist who showed him that the sound of the place he came from had value.

So, watching the two of them share a stage at the Stone Pony felt bigger than a surprise appearance.

It felt like Jersey rock history meeting Jersey rock’s present. And just maybe a ghost of Jersey rock yet to come.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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