Bruce Springsteen closes out Final Four with rock and roll

Bruce Springsteen took the stage holding a basketball on the last day of a three-day music festival in Dallas for the NCAA Final Four.

"This has something to do with basketball. Am I right?" he asked the crowd Sunday before he and the E Street Band launched into Van Halen's "Jump" at the NCAA March Madness Music Festival. They followed that up with some of their own hits, including "Hungry Heart," "Spirit in the Night," "Glory Days," and "Dancing in the Dark."

"This is good weather to play in. Nice and wet," he said, according to New Jersey's Star-Ledger. "Get washed off a bit. Good playing weather. Dallas, I have been here many times but never in honor of basketball. I don't know a lot about basketball. I played basketball in the Freehold YMCA, I played in a lot of basketball gyms. That changed my life. All I know the scene that is most alive, that carries the most spirit. We have been hired here tonight to bring the spirit to Dallas. We have been hired here tonight in a light monsoon, to bring the spirit to Dallas."

Nate Ruess, the lead singer of the pop band fun., rolled around on the stage, soaking himself, and said, "Dare you to do that, Boss" -- later adding that he didn't think Springsteen would because he was "smarter than that."

Fun. sang hits including "Carry On" and "We Are Young" before an encore featuring "Some Nights."

Later, as a light rain fell, Springsteen told the crowd: "I need help. We gotta stop this rain." He then played his cheerful song "Waitin' on a Sunny Day."

Texas-based artists Pat Green and the duo The Wind and The Wave also took the stage at Reunion Park, an outdoor venue in downtown Dallas that was the site of Reunion Arena before it was demolished in 2009.

Reunion Arena hosted the Final Four in 1986. This year's Final Four is being held at the massive stadium in nearby Arlington, where the Dallas Cowboys play.

The music festival started out as a one-day event in 2006 and has expanded to three days of offerings, which in recent years have included Jimmy Buffett, Sting and Kenny Chesney.

Concerts on the first two days this year included performances by acts like Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, The Killers, the Eli Young Band and LL Cool J.