Bruce Springsteen, Seth Meyers headline veterans fundraiser

NEW YORK >> Bruce Springsteen teamed up with country star Eric Church on a version of “Working on the Highway” and Jon Stewart laced into Donald Trump at a bawdy event Monday in New York that gathered comedians and musicians to help raise money for military veterans.

Springsteen, a vocal critic of several White House policies, avoided politics completely at the Stand Up for Heroes show, instead offering a few off-color jokes and four songs, including “Dancing in the Dark,” “The Hard Land” and “If I Should Fall Behind” with his wife, Patti Scialfa.

The Boss, in jeans, a white shirt and a jean jacket, was returning to the event now in its 12 year, having been the musical guest since the beginning. Last year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers took his spot as he worked on his oneman “Springsteen on Broadway.”

Stand Up for Heroes is co-presented by the Bob Woodruff Foundation and the New York Comedy Festival. It kicks off the festival and raises money for the Woodruff foundation, which funds programs for injured veterans and their families. The foundation is named for the ABC news anchor injured in Iraq in 2006. It raised over $5.4 million at the event, held at the 6,000-seat Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Stewart, also a veteran of the event, opened his set ridiculing the notion that America faced a threat from thousands of Central American migrants traveling northward in a caravan. “I’m so scared,” he said. “There’s thousands of sharecroppers coming at America at 1 to 2 miles per hour. They’ll be here by April.”

Jimmy Carr, a British comedian, hit the stage with mostly blue, edgy material, but had some jokes at the expense of the commander in chief. “Walls work,” he deadpanned. “I was in China last year. I didn’t see one Mexican.”

But the other comedians on the bill stayed away from politics, despite the event being held on the eve of divisive midterm elections.