Bruce Springsteen's 'Songs That Shaped Us' Finale: An All-Star Journey Through American Music History
The second and final night of 'Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us' saw Bruce Springsteen lead an ensemble of music legends, including Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, and Public Enemy, through a vibrant celebration of American music, culminating in a...
Bruce Springsteen returned to the OceanFirst Bank Center in Monmouth, New Jersey, for the second and final night of the ‘Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us’ concert. This event celebrated 250 years of American music and marked the opening of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music. While the first evening honored pioneers like Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, and Woody Guthrie, this installment spotlighted later acts such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Dion DiMucci, and Public Enemy.
The stacked bill featured Dion DiMucci and Public Enemy, alongside Jon Bon Jovi, Nils Lofgren, Darlene Love, Jackson Browne, Gary Clark Jr., and Sheryl Crow. Little Steven’s Disciples of Souls served as the house band, with Bob Santelli, Director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, hosting the evening. Springsteen himself watched from the audience, joining the stage periodically for unforgettable duets.
Springsteen first graced the stage to pay tribute to his original musical hero, Elvis Presley, delivering high-energy renditions of “Jailhouse Rock” and “Burnin’ Love.” Santelli underscored Presley’s impact, stating, “Elvis Presley creates a sound and a moment that will forever change not only rock and roll history, because there wasn’t any yet, but American culture and American music history.”
Later, Springsteen joined Sheryl Crow for a moving performance of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” They were supported by guitarist Larry Campbell, who famously played the song with Dylan during his 1997-2004 backing band tenure. This marked Springsteen’s debut singing the iconic track from Dylan’s 1967 Basement Tapes sessions. Coincidentally, it followed Dylan himself unearthing another obscure Basement Tapes gem, “Baby Won’t You Be My Baby,” for his summer tour, nearly 60 years after its recording.
Intriguingly, Dylan’s current live set features Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Share Your Love With Me.” At Music America, Springsteen also delved into Bland’s catalog, performing “Further Up The Road” with Gary Clark Jr. The duo faced the unenviable task of following Public Enemy. “Man, you can’t come on after Public Enemy,” Springsteen quipped, “Forget it. Jesus is coming back, he ain’t coming back after Public Enemy.”
As the night neared its close, an all-star lineup including Jon Bon Jovi, Jackson Browne, and Public Enemy rejoined Springsteen and the Disciples of Souls for a rousing jam on Eddie Floyd’s “Raise Your Hand.” This soul classic has been a staple in Springsteen’s live repertoire since the 1970s. Though his familiarity with the track was uncertain, Flavor Flav brought his signature hype, singing into Springsteen’s mic, sharing a big hug, and urging the crowd to “make some noise for the E Street Band.” (Nils Lofgren and Steve Van Zandt were indeed on stage, making the E Street connection palpable.)
The stage remained packed for Southside Johnny’s iconic “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” with Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, and Steve Van Zandt sharing lead vocal duties. This New Jersey rock "holy trinity" even huddled around a single microphone, with Flavor Flav inevitably joining the fray. His magnetic stage presence, a defining trait of his hip-hop legacy, was on full display.
The evening culminated with Springsteen performing his own “Land of Hope and Dreams” solo. This was the sole original composition he played across both nights, a powerful contrast to the array of covers. Reflecting on the moment, he shared, “My God, at 19, I was on this campus…not going to school. But played here on the steps over at the big building they have over there. If you had told me then, in 1969, that anything like this would ever, ever occur I would said, ‘You are out of your f***in’ mind, my friend.’ I don’t know what to say, really.”
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