Social Distortion's Mike Ness joins Bruce Springsteen at Sports Arena

Bruce Springsteen is all about community -- in his songs and his actions. Besides giving publicity to local service organizations during concerts at each city he visits on tour -- in L.A., it's the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore -- the Boss often reaches out to the local music community as well.

At Wednesday's opening of his two-night stand at the venerable L.A. Sports Arena, Springsteen welcomed Tom Morello of the Nightwatchman, Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave for help with "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and Stephen Foster's "Hard Times." On Thursday he turned to one of the stalwarts of the Southland punk scene, Social Distortion singer and songwriter Mike Ness.

The two paired for Springsteen's post-9/11 anthem "The Rising" and Social D's standard "Bad Luck." "The crowd response when Mike came on stage was amazing," Social Distortion road manager Shane Trulin said Friday. "I think we all were pretty surprised."

Ness met Springsteen backstage at the Honda Center in Anaheim on his last swing through Southern California. Springsteen invited him to call when Ness' solo tour reached New Jersey and wound up joining Ness for four songs when his band played in Asbury Park.

So Ness was invited to return the favor when the Boss got back to L.A.

"It was one thing for him to come out and play four songs with the Mike Ness Band in Asbury Park," Ness said Friday. "But for me to do two songs with the E Street Band in front of his crowd, that's an entirely different thing."

Ness said it was Springsteen's choice to do "Bad Luck." "He likes to solo on that riff."

That was to be their only duet, but after rehearsal, as Springsteen thanked him and started to leave, Ness said, "I learned 'The Rising' last night!' " So into the set it went.

"What a nice group of guys -- every one of them -- including the crew," he said. "I'll never forget it."

Springsteen is not the first classic rocker to display his admiration for Orange County's punk torch-bearer. Neil Young tapped Ness & Co. to open for him nearly two decades ago on a tour that also placed him onstage at the Sports Arena.

 -- Randy Lewis

Photo by Christine Marie

Comments

[RTC]

Unbelievable! Unfortunately such things do not really happen over here in germany that two legends meet and play together...