Music America: The Songs That Shaped Us: Night 2: June 5, 2026

Bruce Springsteen. June 5, 2026

Why, on all other Bruce shows, do we E Street Band or other bands, but on this night we have only Disciples of Soul? 

Why, on all other Bruce shows, do we have mostly Bruce songs, but on this night we have a curated concert? 

Why, on all other Bruce shows, does Bruce not even change his shirt once, but on this night he changes it twice?

Why, on all other Bruce shows, do we either sit or stand, but on this night we listen standing to symbolize inspiration?

ok, well... some of us, on that last question, but for the answers, we must be delivered from the days of old.

Last night was the second installment of "Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us" at OceanFirst Bank Center on the campus of Monmouth University. The first installment took American music from its origins up through around World War II, and last night's show picked things up from there.

An obvious question is how, in the space of a pair of 3 hour shows, would it be possible to teach this exodus of music and keep it exciting for thousands of us kiddies who might be getting restless and hungry. A few things here: 1) Don't try to teach the whole thing; 2) Keep it exciting; 3) Keep it moving.

Bob Santelli provided MC services again, reiterating at the start that this was a "curated concert." On this night, most of the material and performers at the 2nd show were mostly instantly familiar to the bulk of the audience. "Strap in!," as Santelli said.

We started with Elvis and Chuck Berry, because if we're going to teach the Rock and Roll story a little bit, that's where we should start. Who better to present Elvis than Bruce Springsteen? Sure, "Jailhouse Rock" was a bit messy at first, but that's Rock and Roll. And if "Burning Love" doesn't really fit the timeline, so what? We paid good money for our tickets, and we wanna see a hunka hunka burning love! As for covering Chuck Berry, Jon Bon Jovi wouldn't be my first choice for "Johnny B. Goode," but hey, we're in Monmouth County and Bon Jovi is hugely popular here and he sounded fine -- which is something considering the voice issues he has had recently. Little Steven came on to lead the Disciples of Soul through a blistering version of "Bye Bye Johnny." Steve did not duck walk - for a second I thought maybe he was tempted! - but he got all the Rock and Roll poses, and really he's a great band leader.

At this point I pause to point out that the Disciples of Soul were the house band for the full show, doing everything from Chuck Berry to Chuck D and making it feel completely seamless every step of the way. And even if the Public Enemy guys got them confused with Some Other Band, we all knew. Special kudos to guitarist Marc Ribler for his guitar work, band direction, and even helping stars on and off the stage, and to Eddie Manion for the horn arrangements.

Santelli kept the narrative moving through various highlights, some based on having a respectful teaching of history, and others maybe based a bit more on which performers were in the house, working without fees. Sheryl Crow -- of only one outfit change -- did a fine turn with Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and later came back for Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." She brought up Bruce for a reading of "I Shall Be Released," with Bruce looking somewhat uncomfortable to me, as if to say "I Have Not Been Rehearsed," but it was more than fine. I still don't know who the other two people on stage were, doing the backing guitar and vocals (I have now been informed that they were Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams.

Mavis Staples. June 5, 2026

Part of this show was the Octogenarians Delight. Dion and Mavis Staples -- born within 8 days of each other in 1939 -- gave strong performances. Dion performed two of his own songs, "The Wanderer" and later "Abraham, Martin and John." Staples, who needed some help getting to her spot on the stage, let loose on "The Weight," a song the Staples Singers covered back in the 1960s, and let everyone know she could still bring it.

Dalene Love. June 5, 2026

But the performance highlight of this show - of any show - which is not to diminish any of the other stars who performed, was Darlene Love bringing the house down with "River Deep, Mountain High." After that, the main service was done, you're gonna need a break. But come on back for the other treats!

Santelli and team tried to touch on a wide variety of genres throughout the event, and to contextualize them. But there were many that were left out. Just as examples, to my recollection: No Brill Building, no Everly Brothers, no Buddy Holly, no mention at all of the city of Detroit (Bruce said, "the only thing we missed was Motown," but that wasn't quite true, and anyway they didn't touch on Aretha either, to my recollection), no Beach Boys or any other surf music, no Muscle Shoals or Southern Rock, no Sound of Philadelphia, no heavy metal. For a show that had enough space, for example, for Jackson Browne to perform "For America," a 1986 song that wasn't something I'd consider to be one of the songs that "shaped us" (never mind its thematic resonance to present day America), it seemed a bit odd to leave out so much, even as contextualization.

Second set highlights included an instrumental jazz piece with David Sancious and Will Calhoun, Jimmy Vaughan doing his brother's "Texas Flood," Gary Clark Jr. taking on Jimi Hendrix's "Power of Soul," Jackson Browne joined by Steve Van Zandt for "I Am a Patriot," Nils Lofgren doing "Rockin' in the Free World," and then Public Enemy with "Fight the Power," for which Chuck D and Flavor Flav brought the power. ok, they didn't quite know the identity of their backing band, and that led to many shout-outs to the E Street Band and much ensuing hilarity on stage, including from Bruce

Flavor Flav, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and Little Steven.
Reach Up and Touch the Sky.
June 5, 2026

Bruce came back on for the foray in to blues, with Santelli explaining what they were going to do with Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Farther Up the Road." The song eventually included Bruce, Vaughan, Lofgren, Clark, and Ribler trading guitar licks.

Then, the script was done, and Bruce took over the stage for what were effectively encores. There weren't any moments as transcendent as Dropkick Murphys' "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" or Trombone Shorty's Second Line that ended Thursday's show, but "Raise Your Hand" and "I Don't Want to Go Home" were both fine. Bruce concluded the once-in-a-forever set with "Land of Hope and Dreams" solo acoustic, seeming as a lullaby to Patti who was not in attendance.