i have the mp3 of that somewhere... bruce & the wallflowers doing one headlight.
bruce put jacob to shame. it sounded like the song should have been his.
springsteen opened the VMA's just a few years ago when The Rising was out... played the title track from one of the museums on 5th avenue, i do believe (show was at radio city)
i'm sure if u2 wanted to be on the show this year they could have been... for some reason they chose not to.
*edit- bruce performed the rising at the 2002 VMA's from outside the Museum of Natural History in NYC. jimmy fallon hosted that year, and a rehashed version of GNR closed the show.