Bruce Springsteen Plays ‘Western Stars’ Live for First Time
Bruce Springsteen brought a long-awaited rarity to the stage during his annual appearance at the Stand Up for Heroes benefit in New York City. On Monday evening at David Geffen Hall, Springsteen performed songs from his 2019 album Western Stars for the first time in a public concert setting.
While Springsteen has toured extensively since the orchestral pop record was released seven years ago, he had previously reserved those tracks for private or controlled environments. The setlist at the benefit concert featured “Hello Sunshine” and “Moonlight Motel,” alongside staples like 2007’s “I’ll Work for Your Love” and “Dancing in the Dark.”
A Rare Public Debut
The decision to keep Western Stars tracks off the setlist for E Street Band tours has been a stylistic choice for the veteran rocker. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2025, Springsteen explained that he viewed those songs as requiring a different atmosphere than the high-energy, three-hour rock shows he performs with the E Street Band.
“If I was going to do that, I’d go out on probably a smaller tour, where I might engage an orchestra and play those records specifically,” he noted. “When I go out with the E Street Band, I go out to do a rock show. I want to come out, put the pedal to the metal for three hours, and exhaust you, myself, and anybody in the immediate 20-mile vicinity.”
Prior to Monday night, performances of the material were limited to a private 2019 concert on his New Jersey farm—recorded for the Western Stars concert film—and an exclusive jam session at Asbury Park’s Transparent Clinch Gallery last month. Monday’s performance marked the first time these songs were accessible to the public.
Comedy and Future Plans
As per the tradition of the Bob Woodruff Foundation-organized benefit, which has raised $123 million for veterans and their families over two decades, Springsteen balanced his music with a series of blue-humored jokes. His set included a well-received revisit of his “voodoo penis” routine from the 2018 event, as well as a story concerning a humorous mix-up at a sex-shop counter.
With the Stand Up for Heroes benefit serving as the final stop on his 2026 public calendar, fans are looking toward his upcoming studio projects. Springsteen confirmed in September that he has finished work on one solo album and is currently finalizing a second. He noted that the second record, due to the nature of its material, is slated for release first.
Regarding his future on the road, Springsteen expressed a preference for shorter, more targeted tours over massive, multi-show runs. “I don’t imagine a 140-show E Street tour will happen again,” he said. “But I do imagine a good series of simply shorter tours where we touch different places at different times.”
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