Bruce Springsteen is back: Boss joins Zach Bryan for two songs in Philadelphia
Bruce Springsteen is back in the U.S.A.
The Boss joined Zach Bryan for two songs, “Atlantic City” and “Sandpaper,” at the country star's Aug. 7 show at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Springsteen's appearance was his first on a U.S. stage after a just-concluded European summer tour. The Boss came out unannounced for a countrified version of “Atlantic City” from his 1981 lo-fi classic album “Nebraska.”
“He looked and sounded great,” said Brandon Thompson, editor of the Blog It All Night Springsteen news site, who was in the pit for the show. “He looks incredible. My friends were with me and couldn’t believe he was about to turn 75.”
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Springsteen, a Freehold native, turns 75 on Monday, Sept. 23.
“He actually walked right by me behind the pit on the way to the stage and I shook his hand,” Thomson said.
“Sandpaper,” a smoldering country burner about desire and the passing of time that recalls the Springsteen classic “I’m on Fire,” is on the new Bryan album, “The Great American Bar Scene.” On March 27, Springsteen joined Bryan, 27, on stage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where they performed "Sandpaper" with Bryan's band.
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The track is the first for Springsteen to hit Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, opening at No. 26 in July.
The Lumineers and Shane Gillis also appeared on stage with Bryan on Wednesday. Springsteen returned at the end of the night for a group jam on Bryan's "Revival."
Springsteen and the E Street Band shows begin in the U.S. and Canada on Thursday, Aug. 15, at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Concerts the rest of the year are mostly makeup dates from 2023, but the one new show is the headliner appearance at the Sea Hear Now festival on Sunday, Sept. 15, on the beach in Asbury Park.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen joins Zach Bryan onstage in Philadelphia
