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Bruce Springsteen received a royal reception in Texas on Thursday night when George Strait – country music’s beloved “King” – joined him and the E Street Band onstage at the Moody Center in Austin.
One by one the band took their seats on the stage, Springsteen coming last. Only he was not alone, but accompanied by a familiar silhouette with a cowboy hat. It took a second for the crowd to realize it after the two men clapped hands and onlookers excitedly shouted, “That’s George Strait!”
“Austin Texas!” Strait, a San Antonio-area resident, said. “It’s my honor to introduce you to a band tonight that really needs no introduction, right? Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!”
“Thank you, George. Good evening Austin!” Springsteen responded, then quickly counted out for a set-opening “No Surrender.” The band’s 27-song set included a cover of the Commodores’ “Nightshift” and “Cadillac Ranch” (named after a tourist attraction in the west Texas town of Amarillo), as well as classics from “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” to ” badlands”. ‘ to ‘The Uprising’. Jake Clemons, the group’s sax player, missed the gig due to Covid, but Ed Manion stepped in for the evening.
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Next up for Springsteen is a February 18 show in Kansas City, followed by stops in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle. Earlier this week, the group announced several new stadium dates for the summer, beginning August 9 in Chicago and running through December 8 in San Francisco.
Strait has his own share of tour dates ahead of him this summer as well. After officially retiring from the streets in 2014, Strait only played one-off shows and a residency in Las Vegas, but this time he will play in stadiums for seven days with Chris Stapleton. Two of these shows will take place back-to-back on July 28th and 29th at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium.