It was an onstage pairing few would ever have predicted, as blue collar rocker Bruce Springsteen joined jam titans Phish onstage for a few songs during the latter's Bonnaroo-closing set on June 14 in Manchester, Tenn.
Springsteen's three-hour set the night before was the Boss's first-ever appearance at a North American festival with his E Street Band. Phish had reconvened only months earlier and was playing Bonnaroo for the first time, a festival conceptually inspired by the band's own massive events like the Clifford Ball and the Great Went.
Springsteen came onstage during the first of two Sunday night Phish sets to play rock chestnut "Mustang Sally," followed by Springsteen's "Bobby Jean" and "Glory Days." A few days later, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, still basking in the that glory day, says, "I got to play with Bruce. That's my hero."