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Bruce Springsteen made history in the summer of 1999 with the reunion of his famed E Street Band and subsequent 15-night run of sold-out performances at New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena. Phish played down the road in Holmdel, NJ on 7/15/99 and 7/16/99 while Springsteen was in the middle of that infamous 15-show run. Before Phish’s encore on the second night, Trey spoke openly to the crowd: 

“Thank you... I just need to say, before we go on with the rest of the show here... of course, I did grow up in New Jersey, as did Page, and all kidding aside, it truly is an honor for me to play here... I saw all my first concerts here; I saw concerts at this venue, and I saw concerts at Brendan Byrne and lots of other places around the state... so it’s very, very special for me to come play here tonight. And we are going to bring a special guest up here. He’s somebody that I love very much, and that I consider to be one of the great songwriters of our time. Someone that I can honestly say when I was in high school, I grew up listening to his music, and it really meant a lot to me. He’s been with me through my whole life, and he also, of course, is a New Jersey native [loud cheering]... That’s right, one of the great songwriters of our time. So would you please give a warm welcome, the great songwriter, New Jersey’s favorite son, ladies and gentlemen…” And Fishman hit the opening drum roll, and Trey rang out that signature-opening riff, and the crowd went wild… “Tom Marshall, ladies and gentlemen!”

Typical Phish tease! Indeed, we were treated to Tom Marshall, decked out in his best early-80’s Springsteen attire, singing The Boss’s most popular song.  Of course, nearly ten years later at Bonnaroo, Trey told a very similar story, only with a very different outcome.

Watch Born to Run on YouTube Bruce Springsteen, “Born to Run”

(Springsteen)
© Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected
and steppin' out over the line
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
and strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
'Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild
girl I want to know if love is real

Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss

The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
but there's no place left to hide
Together Wendy we'll live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don't know when
we're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go
and we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
baby we were born to run