In Red Bank, New Jersey, on Saturday night, Bruce Springsteen revealed a secret to his audience while spreading cake icing over his nose and slamming back a shot of tequila.
Springsteen deadpanned this song, which I composed as a sort of joke to get people laughing at the Red Bank theater. I don’t play it because of this. However, we will perform it tonight.
The song in question was Pink Cadillac, a loose and silly B-side from 1984 that perfectly complemented Springsteen’s unbuttoned surprise set that soared long into the Jersey night and his free-flowing hour on the Count Basie stage.
And Joe Grushecky and the House Rockers, who are staples of the annual Bob’s Birthday Bash rock extravaganza at the Count Basie Center for the Arts, the centerpiece of the Light of Day Foundation’s WinterFest, where dozens of concerts throughout New Jersey raise money to fight against Parkinson’s Disease and similar ailments, were the ones who would play Cadillac instead of the E Street Band.
Since Springsteen and Grushecky, the legendary Pittsburgh heartland rocker, have been friends for fifty years, Grushecky’s six-piece band provides accompaniment when The Boss shows up and takes over the party, something he has done thirteen times in the celebration’s twenty-five years.
Bruce, ever the stage commander, explained the plan to his temporary band.
On January 18, 2025, Bruce Springsteen plays at the “Bob’s Birthday Bash” event of the Light of Day festival at the Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey. (For NJ Advance Media, Al Mannarino)
I will perform a verse, followed by the chorus performed by the band. Please don’t let me down! He probably meant it when he barked, but it was primarily in good humor.
Even so, Bruce would mispronounce the song, fumbling over the wordy bridge and laughing to himself as he attempted to force his way through it, eventually succeeding on his third attempt.
Springsteen’s first Light of Day engagement since 2020 and his first public performance since his arena tour ended in November had such a lighthearted tone. The 75-year-old rock star was in great spirits and was enjoying the low stakes and lack of pressure from a crowd of 20, 40, or 60,000 ardent fans who had paid top cash to see him. No, John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, who was also fantastic, and New York musician Jesse Malin, who has been recuperating from a crippling spinal stroke he suffered in 2023, were officially the main acts of this Light of Day performance.
On January 18, 2025, Bruce Springsteen plays at the “Bob’s Birthday Bash” event of the Light of Day festival at the Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey. (For NJ Advance Media, Al Mannarino)
Any more Boss magic was, pardon me, frosting on the cake since the sold-out crowd was thrilled to have Springsteen there at all. Bruce ripped a scorching solo with his guitar cranked to jet engine roars in Grushecky’s own bruiser, Never Be Enough Time, which opened Springsteen and the House Rockers’ show.
Bruce opened with a little preacher-like grandeur and some media criticism before moving on to some of Springsteen’s favorites, including the moving Darkness on the Edge of Town, the brilliant and dazzling The Promised Land, and the darker cut Savin Up.
He claimed to be a billionaire, according to Forbes magazine. I wish I was, but that is false information, ladies and gentlemen. Because purchasing a new car would be my first move if I were a billionaire. Purchasing another guitar would be my second course of action. But in all honesty, the Lord will not inquire about your financial account balance when he returns. What’s in your love account is what he wants to know.
On January 18, 2025, Bruce Springsteen plays at the “Bob’s Birthday Bash” event of the Light of Day festival at the Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey. (For NJ Advance Media, Al Mannarino)
Like his sweat-soaked 2018 Asbury Lanes opening, he then exploded into the soulful song and two-stepped across the stage with more carelessness than I’ve ever seen him.
Springsteen then played backing dancer on Grushecky’s Pumping Iron, moving his arms like a Supremes member before he and Danny Clinch, his personal photographer and harmonica player, engaged in a spirited call-and-response between Bruce’s guitar and Clinch’s instrument.
At a quarter past midnight, the six-hour marathon event featuring over a dozen acts concluded with roughly fifty people on stage, including other bands, the festival organizers, and the family of Light of Day co-founder Bob Benjamin, who is wheelchair-bound and has Parkinson’s disease. As the musicians and audience sung “Happy Birthday” to Benjamin, who was positioned in the middle of the platform, a cake was brought out that Springsteen couldn’t resist touching.
On January 18, 2025, Bruce Springsteen plays at the “Bob’s Birthday Bash” event of the Light of Day festival at the Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey. (For NJ Advance Media, Al Mannarino)
Bruce concluded with an acoustic Thunder Road as a last crowd-pleaser, and the audience grew even more as they left the auditorium in joyful rock euphoria.
Over the years, the event has collected over $6.5 million for Parkinson’s research and brought benefit concerts to more than a dozen locations in North America and Europe. It was an exciting end to an overwhelming night of rock music for a good cause.
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