That Time Bruce Springsteen Played ‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town’ in August

It was Christmas in August for me and about 50,000 of my closest friends, as Bruce Springsteen busted out his holiday chestnut "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" at his marathon Metlife Stadium show the other night.

Bruce has been on tour most of this year, promoting his expanded "The River" box set with lots of outtakes and alternate versions of the songs. For most of the winter and early Spring, Bruce and the E Street Band had been playing the River album in its entirety in the original running order.

That must have been a challenge for an artist and a band so renowned for changing up the set list night after night.  So, Tuesday night's show in Jersey had an "anything goes" vibe to it, starting off with a 12-minute version of a really deep album cut, "New York City Serenade."

Bruce traditionally takes requests from his fans. They'll hold up signs with the song they want to hear, and if one strikes his mood, he'll show it to the band and off they go. On Tuesday, a guy in the crowd had a lovingly made, green and red "Santa Claus" sign. Bruce did a double take, laughed, showed the sign and even invited the guy onstage to sing it with him.

I've seen Bruce more times than I can count. It's at least 50, but I've lost a few of the ticket stubs so I don't have an exact number.  One of the reasons I keep going back is that you never know what you are going to hear on any given night. The nearly 4-hour shows are a big selling point too, and as the band all move through their 60's they seem even more committed than ever to doing marathon concerts.

Here's a video of Bruce and the E Street Band bringing a little holiday spirit to a Summer night. He has two more shows at Metlife over the next few days, so if you're going, enjoy. You're in for a treat.