Barry Gibb Cover Bruce Springsteen at U.S. Tour Kickoff

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By

Andy Greene

     

May 16, 2014 10:05 AM

Barry Gibb kicked off his American tour Thursday night at the Boston Garden, and midway through the show he took a break from the Bee Gees hits to return a favor to Bruce Springsteen  who played "Stayin' Alive" on his recent tour of Australia. "My inspiration, Bruce Springsteen, sang 'Stayin' Alive,'" he said, referring to Springsteen's  cover of the song in Australia in February ."I sort of want to return that compliment. Not easy to do, but I'll give it a shot."

Bruce Springsteen Covers Stayin Alive Leads Massive Group Twerk.

He picked Springsteen's 1984 classic "I'm On Fire," a nice choice for Gibb since he was able to showcase his trademark falsetto during the coda. The rest of Gibb's 33-song set was focused heavily on Bee Gees hits like "Tragedy," "I Started A Joke" and "Jive Talkin'." He also played a handful of tunes he wrote for other people, like "Islands In The Stream" and "Grease." 

This is Gibb's first tour since the death of his brother Robin in 2012. (Maurice Gibb, the third member of the Bee Gees, passed away in 2003.) "In so many of my dreams now, I see my brothers," he recently told  The Philadelphia Inquirer. " I see Robin a lot, presently. I see his expressions. Maurice and Andy, too, but less than Robin. He and I, we were as close as we could be within those circumstances. Maybe we were worried that we would become so close, it would have to come apart." 

Gibb only booked six American shows this year. His tour wraps up June 4th at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As for Springsteen (who played "Stayin' Alive" again this past Tuesday at a show in Albany), he closes out his American tour this weekend with a pair of shows at the Mohegan Sun Casino in

  Connecticut.