Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their North American tour in support of the new The Ties That Bind: The River Collection box set in Pittsburgh last night. After running through the 1980 double album The River in its entirety, the band performed a few other songs, and they opened their encore with a cover of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” in tribute to the late icon. “I wanna take a moment and just note the passing of our good friend David Bowie,” Springsteen said before the performance. “I don’t know if people know it, but he supported our music way, way back in the very very beginning. 1973, he rang me up and I visited him down in Philly while he was making the Young Americans record. And he covered some of my music, ‘It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City’ and ‘Growin’ Up” and he was a big supporter of ours. Particularly when I took the Greyhound bus, that’s how early it was. Anyway, we’re thinking of him.” Watch below.