At the height of the Great Pandemic, when pleasant surprises were in short supply and even the smallest of delights were few and far between, Jack Antonoff surprised fans with a surprise Bleachers album.
And not just his own fans, but E Street Nation as well–because the lead single from the album featured a very special guest star who hadn’t been seen in public much since the start of lockdown.
“Chinatown” centers on the dichotomous relationship between New York and New Jersey, and if there’s anyone who represents that better than Antonoff, it’s Bruce Springsteen.
Getting Bruce to appear on your track is a tall order under normal circumstances; during a global quarantine, it might seem nigh impossible. Antonoff had an advantage, though: he was already working with Patti Scialfa and Ron Aniello on at least one track for Patti’s upcoming album.
One day, Antonoff brought the track with him to Bruce’s home studio, and… well, let’s let him tell us what happened next in this clip from an NPR interview from last year.
Now, it’s one thing to get Bruce Springsteen to appear on your album track. It’s another to get him to co-star in your video. But come on–we’re talking about a song that’s literally about driving to New Jersey. How could Bruce not appear in it?
There was only one problem, though, and Antonoff sheepishly confessed to it to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
So despite breaking the law to do so, Antonoff managed to get Bruce to appear on both the song and the video. Then he decided to go for the hat trick, assembling his band and guest vocalist for a live session on the roof of Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village.
Jack’s vocals are clearer in the live version, and Bruce’s are more prominent, dominating the chorus throughout the song.
Bruce also plays acoustic guitar throughout the song, and the resulting video was medicine to live music fans at the end of a year mostly devoid of it.
Update 1/3/2024: Since this article was first published, Bruce made a guest appearance with Bleachers on “Chinatown” at Radio City Music Hall in 2022. Here’s that performance below.
Chinatown
Recorded: 2020
Released: Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night (2020)
First performed: November 2020 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: July 26, 2022 (New York City, NY)
My favourite song of 2020, by a country mile.