Concert-goers were treated to a surprise Sunday after Bruce Springsteen made an appearance to perform a three-song set with Social Distortion. According to Rolling Stone, Social Distortion was performing at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival when lead singer Mike Ness stopped to ask the crowd if they could guess who their guest would be.
Sure, enough it was New Jersey icon Springsteen who jumped into a performance of the Social D staple “Bad Luck” alongside the band. After the first song, Ness stopped mention that the park had a curfew and that he would have to pay a $5000 fine if he went over.
“I think it’s worth it, don’t you?” Ness said to the approving roar of the audience.
The Boss stayed for two more songs, “Misery Loves Company” and the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire.” At the end of the set, Springsteen asked the crowd to give it up for Social Distortion before walking off stage.
Located on the ocean the Sea.Hear.Now festival was designed around music and surfing. Along with Social D, headliners for the show included singer Jack Johnson and Incubus. Other performers listed were Blondie, Brandi Carlile and Kaleo.
This was the inaugural year for the festival, which took place on September 29-30 at Asbury Park in New Jersey.
Fans of Springsteen may recognize the name Asbury from his first studio album Greeting from Asbury Park, NJ, which he released in 1973. The album was the debut record for Springsteen and was considered of the 100 best debut albums by Rolling Stone.
This has been a busy year for Springsteen, who is currently performing his one-man show “Springsteen on Broadway”. The show has received critical acclaim and earned the singer a Tony award earlier this year. Springsteen plans to end the shows run in December and is looking to bring the show to Netflix.
As for Social Distortion, the guest appearance of Springsteen can definitely be seen as a highlight after Ness reportedly got into an altercation with a fan over the singer’s negative views of President Trump.
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