Watch teenage dreams come true twice over!
15-year-old Brisbane resident Nathan Testa was invited on stage by the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, to join him in a duet of his 1973 track “Growin’ Up”. Uncannily, the same budding musician had been called upon by Springsteen to perform “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” in 2013 at the same venue, when Testa was 11-years-old.
Four years later, Testa stood in the front of the crowd with a sign reading, “Missed school. In the shit now. Can I play ‘Growin’ Up’ with you?” The cheeky sign caught the Boss’ eye who asked Testa, “You know the song? You know it on guitar?” and asked him to “come on up.” On stage, Testa was handed an acoustic guitar by Springsteen’s guitar tech, Kevin Buell, and immediately began strumming the rock ballad off the American musician’s debut album Greetings From Asbury Park N. J. and even shared the mic with Springsteen at some points.
The calling up off young fans on stage by the Boss is a staple occurrence of his gigs with his backing band, the E Street Band, and is considered a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform with one of the most legendary rockstars of our time –however, in the case of young Nathan Testa, twice! The fortuitous meeting could also be predestined back to 2013 when Testa thanked Springsteen for bringing him on stage and gifting him a harmonica. Springsteen’s response at the time had been, “That’s okay, I’ll see you again.”
Testa was also given a crash course in Rock and Roll 101 by Springsteen who said, “When I was your age, I brought my first guitar, and I realized, it wasn’t how well you played it, but how good you looked doing it. So I go in front of the mirror trying out different poses,” and went on to teach young Nathan some moves and strike rockstar poses.
Lastly, with shaking hands, Nathan got his phone out of his pocket to take a selfie with his hero. After asking his name, Springsteen told the crowd: “I have seen the future of rock and roll, and his name is Nathan Testa.” The Boss then immediately launched into the next song – seemingly without remembering he had already met the ‘future of rock’ four years ago.
