All those who fancied a quiet night in New Jersey with Pennsylvania rockers Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers got one hell of a surprise when the Boss himself showed up. You're lucky if you can catch Bruce Springsteen live at all these days, let alone seeing him pop up unannounced at a city bar.

Bruce Springsteen 2015Bruce Springsteen performs surprise gig at Asbury Park

The multi-Grammy winning superstar decided to drop in on his friend Joe Grushecky, on whose 1995 album 'American Babylon' Springsteen produced, while he was performing with his band at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park. And it wasn't even like it was a short stop to play a couple of duets; he was there for a good two hours entertaining a lot of shell-shocked fans whose night epitomised the expression 'a lot more than they bargained for'.

He used to be a regular fixture on the streets of New Jersey in the 80s and 90s but, whilst the last couple of years have been a busy time what with his stellar last two albums 'Wrecking Ball' and the all-round number one 'High Hopes', the Boss has otherwise been rather quiet on the live circuit.

More: Read our review of 'High Hopes'

Playing songs like 'Racing in the Street', 'Save My Love', 'Atlantic City' and 'Pink Cadillac', the residents of Asbury Park were delighted to have the Long Branch native rocking up their town, with the crowd spilling out on to the streets to catch a glimpse of their hero.

It was the third time Springsteen had ever performed at the Wonder Bar, with his last appearance in 2011, and he has only returned to Asbury Park once since then in February 2012 at the Press Room. Plus, Springsteen hasn't performed alongside Joe Grushecky in Asbury Park for more than ten years - and, curiously, that makes it seven years to the day since his 2011 return.

More: Watch live footage of Bruce Springsteen performing 'Born To Run'