Bruce Springsteen Surprises Bleachers at Asbury Park’s Shadow of the City Festival

Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance alongside Bleachers on Friday, August 28, 2026, at the Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The moment happened during Jack Antonoff’s Shadow of the City Festival, where the two musicians performed “Jersey Girl” and “Chinatown” together.

• Springsteen appeared during Bleachers’ hometown set at the Shadow of the City Festival on August 28, 2026.
• The pair performed a cover of Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl” and Bleachers’ own “Chinatown.”
• Saves the Day frontman Chris Conley and Antonoff’s former Steel Train bandmate Evan Winiker also joined Bleachers onstage that night.
• Bleachers open a run of shows at West Hollywood’s Troubadour on September 10 before launching a European and UK tour in Milan on November 5, closing in London on December 3.

What Songs Did Bruce Springsteen and Bleachers Perform in Asbury Park?

As Antonoff began strumming into Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl,” Springsteen walked out to join him, and the two carried the song through to its finish. Waits wrote and recorded the track for his 1980 album “Heartattack and Vine,” reportedly as a tribute to his wife Kathleen Brennan.

Springsteen and Bleachers then moved into “Chinatown,” a song from Bleachers’ third studio album “Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night,” on which Springsteen served as a collaborator.

Jack Antonoff’s Message to the Asbury Park Crowd

Speaking to fans during the set, Antonoff reflected on his roots in the area and what it meant to headline a hometown show. “There’s nothin’ like playing at home. There’s nothing like being 16 years old and having to sell a certain amount of tickets so you can play inside the Pony, and it’s just your cousins at the show,” he said. “There’s nothing like playing in the place you wrote the songs from. There’s nothing like going through a lot, then being reunited with your people. It means the world, everybody. It means the world to be supported by you and my friends and my family.”

The History Behind Springsteen and Bleachers’ ‘Chinatown’

Springsteen and Antonoff first performed “Chinatown” together in December 2020, in a stripped-down version filmed on the roof of Electric Lady Studios in New York City during the pandemic. Accounts of what followed differ slightly: one report states the pair played the song together once more before debuting a full electric arrangement in 2022, while others point to a high-profile 2022 performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York that later appeared on Bleachers’ “Live From Radio City Music Hall” album, with one outlet dating that specific performance to 2023.

Reports also vary on the pair’s earlier ties to “Jersey Girl.” One account notes Springsteen and Waits performed the song together in 1981 at a live show in Los Angeles, while another says Springsteen has covered the tune since 1981 and most recently played it in Asbury Park during the 2024 Sea.Hear.Now Festival. Springsteen’s own rendition of “Jersey Girl” is also widely remembered from a 1985 performance.

Antonoff has previously described performing “Chinatown” with Springsteen as “the honor of a lifetime,” calling him “the artist who showed me that the sound of the place I am from has value” and crediting him with inspiring the spirit behind Bleachers’ music.

Shadow of the City Festival Lineup and Extra Guests

The Shadow of the City Festival had originally been scheduled for Memorial Day but was pushed back to August 28, 2026, because of bad weather. Besides Bleachers, the rescheduled lineup featured Real Estate, Toadies, Grade Ives and Bike Routes, though Annie DiRusso was unable to make the new date.

Springsteen was not the only guest to join Bleachers that night. Saves the Day frontman Chris Conley came out for “Tiny Moves,” and Evan Winiker, who played alongside Antonoff in Steel Train, added guitar on “upstairs at els.”

Bleachers 2026 Tour Dates

Bleachers released their new album “Everyone For 10 Minutes” in May 2026 and are set to begin an intimate residency at the Troubadour in West Hollywood on September 10. The band will then head overseas for its largest European and UK headline run, stopping in Milan, Munich, Berlin, Oslo, Stockholm, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham, Dublin and Manchester before wrapping up in London.

• September 10: West Hollywood, CA, Troubadour
• November 5: Milan, Italy
• December 3: London, England, Eventim Apollo (Hammersmith)

Organizers have said that £1 or €1 from every ticket sold on the European and UK leg will go to The Ally Coalition, which supports LGBTQ+ youth.

More Info

• Watch Bruce Springsteen and Bleachers join forces for ‘Jersey Girl’ and ‘Chinatown’ in Asbury Park | NME
• Bruce Springsteen Joins Bleachers In Asbury Park For Tom Waits Cover More | JamBase
• Watch Bruce Springsteen and Bleachers Reunite to Sing Jersey Girl and Chinatown in Asbury Park | Rolling Stone
• Watch: Bruce Springsteen Joins Bleachers in Asbury Park | Relix