Just Let the Music Take Us and Carry Us Home: Bruce Springsteen's Appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"

I raced home from shooting Nick Cave at the 930 Club last night to be sure I caught all of Bruce Springsteen on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." Springsteen was to be the only guest/performer on the show and given what a fan Fallon is, and that the new box set The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story, came out yesterday, it was bound to be an incredibly wonderful reason to stay up late.

Indeed it was. We heard good stories about the making of Darkness, like that Springsteen's guitarist, Steve Van Zandt, wanted to call it "A Bunch of Lost Arguments," and that Springsteen wrote the song "Fire" for Elvis Presley. There was also a spot-on recreation of Bruce's look from back in the mid-70s...back when the E Street Band was a band who wore hats.



Later, Bruce, Steven, and "Professor" Roy Bittan played "Because the Night" and "Save My Love" with Quest Love and The Roots. "Save My Love" is one of the best songs on the box set and when Quest hit the drums at the start of it, I almost jumped out of my chair....So brilliant. How on earth that song hadn't seen the light of day before now, especially live, is completely beyond me. Here's hoping it gets tossed into a set list somewhere on an upcoming tour...



"Now there's something coming through the air, that softly reminds me..." sang Springsteen. Late night tv can sometimes feel canned but this wasn't one of those times. This was a soft reminder of how great a performer Springsteen is, as well how well the man has long been able to turn a phrase. Watch the whole episode...it's definitely worth it.