Credit: Danny ClinchBruce Springsteen treated an unsuspecting invite-only crowd at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, to a glorious night of music on Saturday, playing a surprise two-hour set during a private event benefiting Boston College, according to a Variety report.
One of the lucky 400 people in attendance, Stan Goldstein — co-author of the book Rock and Roll Tour of the Jersey Shore — tells Variety that The Boss played 22 songs, including a variety of his classics, such as “Spirit in the Night,” “Growin’ Up,” “Because the Night,” “Cadillac Ranch,” “I’m On Fire,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Rosalita” and “Born to Run.” Springsteen also threw in some select cover tunes, among them “Seven Nights to Rock,” “Twist & Shout” and “Detroit Medley.”
For most of the show, Bruce was backed by ex-Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes guitarist Bobby Bandiera‘s band. E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg joined in about halfway through the set and played on several tunes.
The show also featured a cover of The Ad Libs‘ 1964 hit “The Boy from New York City” that was sung by Layonne Holmes, a member of Jon Bon Jovi‘s solo backing band, Kings of Suburbia. Bandiera took on lead vocals on a rendition of the Springsteen gem “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come).”
Bruce brought he show to a close with a solo acoustic version of “Thunder Road.” You can check out fan-recorded video of that performance on YouTube.
Springsteen, whose son Evan attended Boston College has performed at previous fundraisers for the school held at The Stone Pony in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Here’s the full set list from Saturday’s show:
“634-5789”
“Seven Nights to Rock”
“Darlington County”
“Spirit in the Night”
“Growin’ Up”
“Because the Night”
“Two Hearts”
“Cadillac Ranch”
“Rendezvous”
“The Boy from New York City” — sung by Layonne Holmes
“From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)” — Bobby Bandiera on lead vocals
“I’m On Fire”
“Waiting on a Sunny Day”
“Talk to Me”
“Fourth of July Asbury Park (Sandy)”
“Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Born to Run”
“Rosalita”
“Detroit Medley”
“Twist & Shout”
“Thunder Road” (solo acoustic)
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