Bruce Springsteen contracts Covid after NJ show, gets his own NJ holiday
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band wrapped up the spring leg of their 2023 tour at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center on Friday. They opened with “Local Hero,” which hadn’t been played in a decade, and included “Out in the Street,” “Because the Night,” “Prove it All Night,” “The Rising,” “Badlands,” “Jersey Girl,” “Born to Run,” “Glory Days,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and more. Check out the setlist and video below.
Absent from the Prudential Center concert was Springsteen’s wife and bandmate Patti Scialfa, who was under the weather. According to Variety both she and Springsteen tested positive for Covid just a few hours after the show.
That meant the Springsteens also had to miss the inaugural American Music Honors gala, which is a fundraiser for the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University. Bob Santelli, the Archives’ executive director, told the audience, “It broke our hearts around 6 a.m. this morning when I got a call that two of the most important people who were supposed to be here, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, unfortunately came down with COVID.”
Host Jon Stewart lightened the mood, saying, “They’re alive. Don’t overreact. You can still see them in concert. They’re home sitting by the fire eating French onion soup.” Bruce did tape two video introductions for awards being given to Darlene Love and the E Street Band’s Steve Van Zandt. Stewart joked that Bruce “with COVID looks better than me.”
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy was at the event, where he announced that the singer’s birthday, September 23, is now officially “Bruce Springsteen Day” in NJ.
The E Street Band’s North American tour starts up again August 9 in Chicago and includes two nights at NJ’s MetLife Stadium on August 30 & September 1.
Bruce’s tour hit NYC for shows at MSG and Barclays earlier this month.
SETLIST: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band @ Prudential Center 4/14/2023
Local Hero
No Surrender
Ghosts
Prove It All Night
Letter to You
The Promised Land
Out in the Street
Candy’s Room
Kitty’s Back
Nightshift
Mary’s Place
The E Street Shuffle
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because the Night
She’s the One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Encore:
Jersey Girl
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
I’ll See You in My Dreams
Check out pics from Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s recent show at Barclays Center:
