{"id":11845,"date":"1988-04-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"1988-04-13T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=11845"},"modified":"2026-02-08T20:01:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T04:01:36","slug":"matr-joe-grushecky-and-bruce-springsteen-juniors-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/04\/13\/matr-joe-grushecky-and-bruce-springsteen-juniors-bar\/","title":{"rendered":"Junior&#8217;s Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s reach waaay back in Joe Grushecky&#8217;s catalog&#8211;all the way back to the Iron City Houserocker days and the band&#8217;s sophomore album (and one of the better albums of 1980), <em>Have a Good Time But Get Out Alive<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Buried in the middle of Side Two of that\u00a0 is one of the album&#8217;s strongest tracks, &#8220;Junior&#8217;s Bar,&#8221; just screaming to be played live.<\/p>\n<div id=\"v-wTGVZtrU-1\" class=\"video-player\"><iframe title='VideoPress Video Player' aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='758' height='426' src='https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/wTGVZtrU?hd=1&amp;cover=1&amp;loop=0&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;permalink=1&amp;muted=0&amp;controls=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;useAverageColor=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent=\"true\" allow='clipboard-write'><\/iframe><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" src='https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/video\/assets\/js\/next\/videopress-iframe.js'><\/script><\/div>\n<p>On March 23, 2014, Grushecky obliged during his joint concert with Bruce, and as a result, we have the one and only Grushecky\/Springsteen performance of &#8220;Junior&#8217;s Bar.&#8221;\u00a0Bruce hangs back on guitar for most of this one, but towards the end he steps up to the mic to provide backing vocals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QOoXCcig4Xo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>IMO, those particular nights (two back-to-back shows) didn&#8217;t feature Bruce at his best. He&#8217;d just finished the High Hopes Tour, and the tour-closing stand seem to exact a pretty steep toll on him.<\/p>\n<p>Even with a week off to recover and despite a spectacular set list, he seemed less animated on-stage than usual, so I&#8217;m holding out hope that Joe and Bruce will give &#8220;Junior&#8217;s Bar&#8221; another go someday&#8211;I&#8217;d love to be there when they both cut loose on it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Junior&#8217;s Bar<br \/>\nFirst performed: May 23, 2014<\/strong> (Pittsburgh, PA)<br \/>\n<strong>Last performed: May 23, 2014<\/strong> (Pittsburgh, PA)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 August 11, 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One time only: Bruce joins Joe Grushecky on one of the Iron City Houserockers\u2019 best early tracks, &#8220;Junior&#8217;s Bar.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,3609,5],"tags":[1587,56,2427],"class_list":["post-11845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-me","category-little-help","category-meeting-across-the-river","tag-iron-city-houserockers","tag-joe-grushecky","tag-juniors-bar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/R-13458508-1554591070-9585.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-353","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5413,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/03\/28\/meeting-across-the-river-bruce-springsteen-and-joe-grushecky-pumping-iron\/","url_meta":{"origin":11845,"position":0},"title":"Pumping Iron","author":"Ken","date":"March 28, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"As much an anthem for Pittsburgh as anything Bruce ever wrote for New Jersey, \"Pumping Iron\" is a surefire setlist bet any time Joe Grushecky and Bruce play together.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/admin-ajax-7.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/admin-ajax-7.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/admin-ajax-7.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/admin-ajax-7.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18899,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/01\/13\/matr-joe-grushecky-and-bruce-springsteen-east-carson-street\/","url_meta":{"origin":11845,"position":1},"title":"East Carson Street","author":"Ken","date":"January 13, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"Bruce plays guitar on the title track of Joe Grushecky's 2009 album, but even without Bruce's contribution, \"East Carson Street\" is a great song about staying true to one's roots.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/618bGcdfvFL._UF10001000_QL80_.jpg?fit=1000%2C906&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/618bGcdfvFL._UF10001000_QL80_.jpg?fit=1000%2C906&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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&quot;Great&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Great","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/great\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/image3A37425_Glitch3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/image3A37425_Glitch3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/image3A37425_Glitch3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/image3A37425_Glitch3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/image3A37425_Glitch3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8428,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/01\/03\/matr-bruce-springsteen-and-joe-grushecky-true-companion\/","url_meta":{"origin":11845,"position":3},"title":"True Companion","author":"Ken","date":"January 3, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"One time only: Bruce joins Joe Grushecky on stage at a benefit show in Pittsburgh for a blistering guitar solo and backing vocals on Joe's \"True Companion.\"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Joe_Grushecky_y_The_Houserockers-True_Companion-Frontal.jpg?fit=953%2C953&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Joe_Grushecky_y_The_Houserockers-True_Companion-Frontal.jpg?fit=953%2C953&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/borntorock.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/borntorock.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/borntorock.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/borntorock.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/borntorock.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57748,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/17\/kingdom-of-days-july-17-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":11845,"position":5},"title":"July 17","author":"Ken","date":"July 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On this date: Bruce and Joe Grushecky team up on stage for the first time, a rocking tribute to Clarence, the filming of Springsteen on Broadway, and more.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Kingdom of Days&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Kingdom of Days","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/kingdom-of-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20120717_booklet2.jpg?fit=1188%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20120717_booklet2.jpg?fit=1188%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20120717_booklet2.jpg?fit=1188%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20120717_booklet2.jpg?fit=1188%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, 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