Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are set to play the Sea.Hear.Now festival in their old stomping grounds of Asbury Park, New Jersey, on September 15 and the festival’s creator, photographer Danny Clinch, is opening up to Rolling Stone about how it happened.

Springsteen made a surprise appearance at the festival in the past, but Clinch, who’s photographed the rocker several times, says he set his sights on trying to get The Boss to headline this year after realizing Bruce’s current tour ended on the East Coast right before the festival.

“So we’re like, ‘Oh man, this looks like a good opportunity to hit him up,’” Clinch shares. “And I happen to be over [at] his place. And I said, ‘Man, I was looking at your schedule, and we would love to have you at our Sea.Hear.Now show,’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, that’d be cool.’”

Clinch adds, “Then later I was back in the studio, and he just turned to me at one point and he was like, ‘I’m gonna do the thing on the beach. I’m going to Sea.Hear.Now. I want to bring the band on the beach. This could be incredible.’”  

With fellow New Jersey natives Trey Anastasio and The Gaslight Anthem playing just ahead of Bruce, Clinch is certainly hoping fans will get to see some fun collaborations.  

“Yeah, I mean, it’s happened before. It is kind of a family block party in a sense right now, because Trey is from Princeton,” Clinch says. “He’s just like, ‘You gotta be kidding me. This is amazing.’”

Clinch adds, “And you know, Gaslight into Bruce — it’s insane. It’s a New Jersey dream right there.”

Sea.Hear.Now is going down September 14-15 on the beach in Asbury Park. Tickets are sold out. A complete lineup can be found at seahearnowfestival.com.

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