The A.V. Club Blog A Jersey Reunion In the UK: Bruce Springsteen & The Gaslight Anthem

by Noel Murray June 30, 2009

New Jersey rockers The Gaslight Anthem have made no secret of their love for their more famous neighbor Bruce Springsteen, and apparently Springsteen has no problem with The Gaslight Anthem either. Springsteen reportedly took in a Gaslight Anthem show earlier this year at the urging of his kids, and met up with the band backstage afterwards to offer his encouragement and ask if they'd be interested in joining him and The E Street Band on the bill for some European festival gigs. The band accepted, and earlier this week played at Glastonbury and Hard Rock Calling. Here's some footage from Glastonbury, with Springsteen joining The Gaslight Anthem on-stage for "The '59 Sound:"

Springsteen muffs the words, but he gets in a nice guitar solo, and generally looks to be having fun. This is no real surprise. When I saw The E Street Band in Chicago earlier this year, Springsteen's performance jumped up to a higher level after Max Weinberg was replaced behind the kit by his son Jay Weinberg. This could be chalked up the fact that Jay played the second half of the show, which is traditionally more high-energy, but Springsteen genuinely seemed to enjoy interacting with Jay, cueing off the younger man's enthusiasm. And over the past several years, Springsteen has publicly praised and even performed with a number of young acts, including Marah, The Arcade Fire, and Jesse Malin. (Not coincidentally, the PA system prior to Springsteen's Chicago show played The Gaslight Anthem's "Miles Davis And The Cool" shortly before The E Street Band took the stage.)

Now someone needs to take the next step and put together some kind of Boss-fest, featuring Springsteen and young bands he's strongly influenced: Marah, The Arcade Fire, The Gaslight Anthem, The Hold Steady, The Constantines, The Killers... who else?

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