Bruce Springsteen delivered his annual performance of songs and one-liners at this year’s Stand Up For Heroes benefit gig.
Running since 2007, Stand Up For Heroes is an annual gig that benefits the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which supports charities and runs programs benefitting US veterans. This year’s edition on Monday night (November 7) also featured performances from The Lumineers, Jon Stewart, Jeff Ross, Amber Iman, Hasan Minhaj, and Iliza Shlesinger.
“I’ve been here for 16 years,” Springsteen told the crowd. He has played every event since the event’s inception in 2007, bar 2017 when the date clashed with his Broadway run. “It’s always an honour to be here with our men and women in uniform who have given us so much. Thank you, thank you.”
The Boss opened with ‘House Of A Thousand Guitars’ from his 2020 album ‘Letter To You’, which he described as his “state of the union”, followed by ‘I’ll Work For Your Love’ and ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’ (per Rolling Stone). Springsteen closed his set with his 1984 classic ‘Dancing In The Dark’.
Check out fan footage of ‘See You In My Dreams’ below.
@springsteen performing I’ll See You In My Dreams at Stand Up For Heroes last night. #springsteen #standupforheroes
Thank you Arnie Spier!! pic.twitter.com/4zPacBnXKL
— Spring-Nuts (@SpringNuts_) November 8, 2022
As usual, the 73-year-old also peppered his set with jokes in between songs. “During sex, you burn off as many calories as if you ran eight miles. But who can run eight miles in 30 seconds?” he said at the start of the night, before adding that he “got that off the internet”.
“Why does it take 100 million sperm to fertilise one egg?” he asked later. “Because, like all men, they won’t stop to ask directions.”
Springsteen is set to release a new collection of soul covers, ‘Only The Strong Survive’, this Friday (November 11), and is scheduled for a forthcoming appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
In a four-star review of that album, NME wrote: “Creating a covers album can be a daunting prospect, as people tend to favour the original over the remake. But with ‘Only The Strong Survive’, Springsteen resurrects these classics as a means of celebration, pointing back to some of the strongest songwriters and vocalists of all time with 15 huge and heartfelt tributes, as opposed to just churning out shallow reimaginings.
“Not only does it shine a light on what inspires one of the greatest living American songwriters, it also works to preserve the greats of the past and ensures that the best music and stories continue to survive.”