Recently, the Garden State’s second-finest band of rock ‘n’ roll troubadours, the Bruce Springsteen cover band B Street Band, found itself in quite a conundrum. The band had signed a contract to play at this year’s Garden State Inaugural Gala way back in 2013, when we still had a president who understood that the chorus of “Born In The U.S.A.” is supposed to be sarcastic.
However, in the interim the Rust Belt continued to corrode, eventually electing Donald Trump, who delights in stiffing the hard-working men and women celebrated in Springsteen’s music out of their fair share of the American Dream. So what was the band to do? Keep its promise and perform at the ball to hordes of booing management, or drop out and refuse to perform in honor of a man who their idol has called a “moron” and ”a tragedy for our democracy?”
Well, the decision has been made. The B Street Band has decided to stand on its principles, as it announced earlier today. As band founder Will Forte—no, not that Will Forte—tells Springsteen fan site Backstreets in a statement:
With deepest apologies to our fans and the New Jersey Inaugural Ball committee, the B Street Band is withdrawing from performing at this year’s inauguration Gala.
Our decision is based SOLELY on the respect and gratitude we have for Bruce and the E Street Band.
Bruce’s music has been the foundation of our livelihood. The B Street Band would not exist without the talents of Bruce and our E Street brothers.
We are most grateful to these rock legends and look forward to many more years of emulating and performing the Forever Music, of Bruce Springsteen.
It’s not clear if Springsteen himself intervened in the situation, or if it was simply a response to the national press the band has been getting from irony-hungry libtards as of late. Turning down the inauguration ball doesn’t seem to have hurt the B Street Band’s hireability, as they’re scheduled to play in New Jersey and Pennsylvania next weekend and in Florida the week after. Considering they’ve now narrowly avoided performing both at the wedding of accused “Craigslist killer” Philip Markoff and an event celebrating the inauguration of Donald Trump, though, hopefully they’ll start being a little more picky about their gigs.