Bruce Springsteen at Asbury Lanes: ‘I feel like the Ghost of Christmas Past’

KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES

Bruce Springsteen at Asbury Lanes.

At the official “Opening Event” of the new, renovated Asbury Lanes tonight, Bruce Springsteen took on the role of elder statesmen. Or, as he called it, “old homeboy.”

“I’m speaking as an old homeboy tonight,” he said in his crowd-welcoming comments, at the start of the evening. “We didn’t know if we would ever see Asbury come back or not, in our lifetime, so it’s been a joy watching what’s been happening in town over the past 10, 15 or 20 years.”

He gave “a shout-out to all the people who were here when nobody else was,” mentioning the art community and the LGBTQ community.

“I walk down the boardwalk now, I feel like the Ghost of Christmas Past,” he said. “But that’s okay. It’s fun to watch Asbury’s future unfold in front of me.”

The event featured Portugal. The Man and The Tangiers Blues Band. Below are videos of Springsteen’s opening comments, and of him performing the bar-band standards “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu,” “Twist and Shout” and “Down the Road Apiece” with the Tangiers Blues Band.

“We’re gonna send this one out to all the folks from the old Asbury Lanes who kept this such a funky place,” he said before “Down the Road Apiece.”

Tickets were not made available to the general public for this event. There was a lottery of 100 free pairs of tickets for Asbury Park residents, and another, smaller lottery for non-residents, plus various invited guests. The event was publicized as being “in support of” the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County, and a donation was made to that organization.

Introduction:

“I Just Want to Make Love to You”

“Twist and Shout”

“Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”

“Down the Road Apiece”