Bruce Springsteen treats crowd to early tracks, surprise cameos & more at Asbury Park’s Sea.Hear.Now festival

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band headlined the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Sunday, treating the crowd to a set filled with songs he hadn’t been playing on the rest of their tour.

The set featured several tour debuts, many from early in his career, a likely homage to the fact the band got their start playing clubs in the beachside town.

According to setlist.fm, tour debuts included “Blinded by the Light” and “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?,” the first time they played either song since 2017; “Thundercrack,” for the first time since 2016; “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” which was dedicated to late E Street Band member Danny Federici; “Meeting Across the River,” also for the first time since 2016; “Local Hero”; and a cover of Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl,” the latter of which closed the show.

The set also featured Bruce’s wife, E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, who came out for “Tougher Than The Rest.” Her performance was her first public appearance since the revelation she’d been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018.

Bruce also treated fans to plenty of his usual classics, like “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” “Born to Run,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” “Dancing in the Dark” and more.

But playing just his set wasn’t enough for The Boss. Springsteen also turned up for surprise appearances during sets by The Gaslight Anthem and Trey Anastasio Band.

The Boss helped fellow New Jersey natives The Gaslight Anthem open their set with their collaboration “History Books” and stuck around to join them on their classic “American Slang.” And during Trey’s set, Bruce joined him for a cover of his own track “Kitty’s Back.”