‘Missed school… can I play with you?’—Bruce Springsteen grants young fan a second unforgettable moment on stage, but is this as unexpected as it seems?

Bruce Springsteen has shared the stage with thousands, but on a warm Brisbane night, history quietly repeated itself in the most unforgettable way. In front of a packed arena, The Boss spotted a sign in the sea of faces—a cheeky plea from a young fan he once welcomed onstage years ago.

“Nathan, let’s see if you remember this one,” Springsteen called, his eyes twinkling with mischief and memory.

As the crowd’s excitement swelled, Nathan Testa—now older but just as starstruck—stepped out of the crowd, guitar pick in hand and heart pounding. The house lights shimmered as two generations met again under the music’s spell, ready to revisit magic made once before.

And in that moment, Bruce Springsteen wasn’t just a rock icon; he was the storyteller inviting a young believer to join him at the heart of his myth—where nerves, dreams, and guitars collide under stage lights, making legends out of ordinary Thursday nights.

A devoted Bruce Springsteen fan just experienced the thrill of a lifetime—again. Nathan Testa, emboldened by youthful mischief, caught The Boss’s eye during a concert in Brisbane thanks to an attention-grabbing sign.

The sign read: ‘Missed school, in the s**t now, can I play “Growin’ up” with you?’ It was this cheeky note that led Springsteen to invite Nathan up from the crowd for a musical moment they’d both remember.

Remarkably, it wasn’t their first onstage collaboration. Nathan had already joined Springsteen in Brisbane back in 2013. This week’s reunion saw them share a spirited performance of ‘Growin’ Up,’ just as they had four years earlier.

Springsteen paused his show at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Thursday night after spotting Nathan’s sign. “You know it on guitar?…Well come on up!” he exclaimed, and Nathan gamely emerged from the audience, already gripping a guitar pick.

After a stagehand handed over an acoustic guitar, Nathan strummed out the opening chords of ‘Growin’ Up,’ a track from Springsteen’s 1973 debut, ‘Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.’ As the pair sang together, Springsteen reminisced about his first guitar.

“I brought it home and realized it wasn’t about how well you played it, it was about how good you looked doing it,” he joked, all while Nathan played on.

Nervously, Nathan snapped a selfie with Springsteen as the crowd cheered. The pair even struck a few classic rock poses before closing out the song.

Springsteen asked for the youngster’s name before announcing to the crowd, ‘I have seen the future of rock ‘n’ roll, and his name is Nathan Testa.’ He then rolled seamlessly into the next tune, overlooking the fact that he’d dubbed Nathan the “future” once before.

Indeed, back in 2013, the Courier-Mail reported that an 11-year-old Nathan Testa was called on stage by Springsteen to sing ‘Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.’ “I was that happy I started crying; I had a little tear in my eye,” Nathan said at the time.

Now a repeat guest of The Boss himself, Nathan can relive this latest adventure: their full performance is available on YouTube for all fans to see.