Bruce Springsteen surprises NYC audience

Bruce Springsteen surprised audience members on Thursday night (April 5th) at New York's Carnegie Hall, when he took to the stage at a charity tribute for him. The Tribute To The Music Of Bruce Springsteen show, a fundraiser benefiting the Music for Youth Initiative of the UJA Federation of New York, featured such acts as Ronnie Spector, Steve Earle, Patti Smith, Odetta, the Bacon Brothers, Badly Drawn Boy, Jessie Malin, Pete Yorn, and Marah, among many others.

Each artist performed material spanning Springsteen's entire career, backed by the night's house band Elysian Fields.

The Boss appeared after the final act, declaring, "I'm not dead!" and went on to perform acoustic renditions of "The Promised Land" and "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)." The Springsteen fan site backsteets.com reported that, "Springsteen interrupted ("Rosalita") barely halfway through to joke that the song 'was too damn long.' A humorous nutshell-summary of his career followed, culminating with, 'And then people came to New York City from miles around -- well, from the tri-state area, at least -- to hear his songs,'" which brought a massive roar from the audience.

After that, Springsteen brought out all the night's performers, and the Rascals' Eddie Brigati, for a second run-through of "Rosalita."

Among the evening's highlights were "Nebraska" performed by Steve Earle; "Because The Night" performed by Patti Smith; "Cover Me" by Juliana Hatfield; "Hungry Heart" by Jesse Malin with Ronnie Spector; and "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" by Odetta.

Charles Feldman, the chairman for Music For Youth, told billboard.com that the benefit raised "well over" $100,000 for the charity.

On June 5th, Springsteen will release a new live CD and DVD, titled Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band Live In Dublin. The performances are from Springsteen's three-night stand last November in Dublin at The Point.

In addition to material from the album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, highlights on the new set include more folk-oriented arrangements of such Springsteen classics as "Blinded By The Light," "Growin' Up," "Atlantic City," "Bobby Jean," "For You," and "The River."
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