FREEHOLD -The hometown screening got a hometown surprise.

The audience at the AMC Loews Freehold Metroplex Cinema got a special introduction to a screening of Bruce Springsteen’s “Western Stars” from the Boss himself on Saturday, Oct. 19.

"We knew we weren’t going to tour, so I tried to figure out a way to get the music to you,” Springsteen said. He then added, "If you have applause, if there are any, I would save it for the end of the film because the editing and the pacing of the film has its own message.”

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“Thanks for coming out, thanks for supporting me all these years and enjoy ‘Western Stars’,” said Springsteen to the cheering audience.

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Springsteen introduced two showings of "Western Stars" at the multiplex on Saturday, according to multiple attendees.

“We were wondering why the lights came back up and then there was Bruce!” said Stan Goldstein, co-author of “Rock & Roll Tour of the Jersey Shore.” “I never expected it. He just introduced the movie, asked us not to applaud. He was with Thom Zimny (the film co-director). Everyone in the theater was floating on air after that surprise. What a great way to setup the movie for us and in his hometown.”

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Springsteen is, of course, a native of Freehold Borough.

“Western Stars” is a concert film shot in a barn in front of a small audience on the rocker’s Colts Neck, New Jersey, property, not far from Freehold. Vignettes starring a solo Springsteen, set in the Southwest and California, preface performances of the songs of “Western Stars,” released as a music album in June.

Springsteen and Thom Zimny are the co-directors.

"Bruce continues to reveal the more vulnerable side of himself to us through ‘Western Stars,’ said Laura Maimone, who attended Freehold showing with husband Pete Maimone. “It’s part of his life journey that we are fortunate to be a part of. The journey continues, as does ours each day. It’s another intimate experience and a memory to last a lifetime.”

Tickets for the Saturday preview screening were distributed by Fathom Events. A second Fathom preview screening is scheduled for Wednesday.

The movie, from Warner Bros., officially hits theaters on Friday, Oct. 25.

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Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com