Watch Bruce Springsteen Jam with Social Distortion in New Jersey
The Boss jumped onstage for a surprise three-song mini-set at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park.
On Saturday night Bruce Springsteen jumped onstage with Social Distortion during their set at the inaugural Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The Boss played three songs with the band: their 1992 classic, “Bad Luck” (for which Springsteen ripped a searing solo); “Misery Loves Company,” the 1999 solo track from Social D. leader Mike Ness, which Bruce also guested on for the studio version; and a punked-up cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
A Springsteen appearance at the festival had been rumored all day, given his various connections to the event. In addition to his longtime links to Asbury Park and Social Distortion (Ness has performed onstage with Bruce and the E Street Band several times over the years), Sea.Hear.Now was also produced by Springsteen’s longtime photographer, Danny Clinch.
You can check out the full three song mini-set above.
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Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.

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