Bruce Springsteen paid a visit to the Asbury Park, New Jersey club The Wonder Bar on Sunday to help the historic venue celebrate the 20th anniversary of its renovation and reopening.
NJ Advance Media reports that The Boss showed up at the club several hours before a concert by original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez and his current group The Wonderful Winos.
A video posted on Wonder Bar manager Debbie DeLisa‘s social media sites shows Springsteen, with his arm around her, sending out a special message in honor of the milestone.
“It is the 20th anniversary of The Wonder Bar,” Bruce declares in the clip. “I just want to congratulate the Wonder Bar on being an Asbury Park institution and bringing so much love and character to our town.”
Springsteen then embraces DeLisa, who thanks Bruce “for everything that you do.”
Stan Goldstein, who gives Springsteen-related tours of the Jersey Shore, told NJ Advance Media that he spotted Springsteen hanging out at The Wonder Bar for a while on Sunday with late E Street Band sax player Clarence Clemons‘ son Jarod and also taking a stroll on the Asbury Park boardwalk.
“He hasn’t been around Asbury Park, it’s the first I’ve known of it happening in a few years,” Goldstein said. “It’s a big deal, that he’s hanging out in Asbury Park enjoying himself on a Sunday in the summer.”
Bruce has been known to occasionally give surprise performances at The Wonder Bar, the most recent being a July 2015 appearance at a show by his friends Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, during which he played for nearly two hours.
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