Today show live concerts normally air between 8:30 and 9:00 AM, but this morning Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band broke the rules and played the show’s longest-ever set. “I can count on one hand the number of acts we would seek this for,” Today executive producer Jim Bell tells Rock Daily. “[Springsteen] is known for playing longer than scheduled, so we were prepared. He was supposed to play about four songs and he played seven.” The final set list was a mix of classics and new cuts from Magic: “The Promised Land,” “Radio Nowhere,” “Livin’ in the Future,” “My Hometown,” “Night,” “Last to Die” and “Long Walk Home” (click above for footage from Magic debut single “Radio Nowhere”). Bell says this morning’s crowd ranks among the show’s largest, extending onto the plaza of 30 Rockefeller Center and including two women who arrived yesterday morning from Ohio to claim their front-row spot (giant screens were set up so everyone had a decent view). “Bruce had the Magic this morning, and we’ve had a lot of great feedback coming in from all quarters from people saying how special was,” Bell quips. After the show was over, Springsteen and Co. packed up and headed back to New Jersey, where tonight they’ll play the final of three benefit warm-up gigs for their fall tour.

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