I watched as angry Bruce Spingsteen shocked his UK fans with savage swipe at Donald Trump during concert
But has Bruce Springsteen ever delivered a more withering indictment of anyone or anything than his demolition of Donald Trump and his administration?
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Springsteen chose the UK — namely Manchester's cavernous new Co-op Live arena — to launch a stinging tirade for 'dangerous times'.
'My home, the America I love, the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,' he raged.
It seemed as if Springsteen was stretching every sinew in his 75-year-old frame to articulate his beef with the sandy-haired incumbent at The White House — by turns angry, confrontational, despairing, horrified and afraid.
On the first night of his 2025 European tour with The E Street Band — the third time in three years that he's visited these shores — he shell-shocked his 23,500 devotees with his stark political messages.
He continued: 'Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!'
Make no mistake, this was a pre-prepared, carefully worded exercise designed to achieve maximum impact.
Shortly after the two-and-a-half-hour show ended, a press release approved by Springsteen's manager Jon Landau was put out with full transcripts.
Rallying cry
There were three mini-monologues, serving as introductions to the opening Land Of Hope And Dreams, the solo acoustic House Of A Thousand Guitars, and the sombre My City Of Ruins.
Springsteen adopted an intimate, conversational tone for the second of these, directly addressing the sea of faces surrounding him.
'The last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people — you and me,' he said, hunching over his microphone, talking slowly and solemnly.
'It's in the union of people around a common set of values now — that's all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. At the end of the day, all we've got is each other.'
Backing up his stance was a setlist loaded with meaning — and ending with Bob Dylan 's 1964 rallying cry for the underdog, Chimes Of Freedom.
That song was written as Dylan turned his back on his unwanted role as the 'voice of a generation' protest singer — but here was a fellow music icon employing it to full protest effect.
Springsteen hadn't sung Chimes Of Freedom since 1988 but he made it abundantly clear why he revisited lines such as: 'Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight / Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight / An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night.'
In Bruce's autobiography — Born To Run, naturally — he talked about his humble childhood in Freehold, New Jersey, where he smelled the coffee from the nearby Nescafe factory and climbed to the upper branches of a 'monster' copper beech.
He remembered being 'near poor', and helping his beloved grandfather retrieve broken transistor radios from overflowing trash heaps. These, his grandfather — 'the radio man' — would repair and sell to migrant workers, who lived in camps on nearby farms, for five dollars apiece.
Springsteen's past helps explain why he's hard-wired politically, why he's always been the blue-collar rock star — and perhaps why Trump, a millionaire in inflation-adjusted dollars by the age of eight, has become such an adversary.
It should come as no surprise that Freehold featured in two songs last night — My Hometown, about his troubled father Doug's pride in the place despite its problems, and Death To My Hometown, a reflection on the devastating impact of the 2008/09 financial meltdown.
The third of Springsteen's speeches preceded another song about one of his early stomping grounds, My City Of Ruins, from his 2002 album The Rising.
It started out as an elegy for Asbury Park, the beachfront city where he made his first rock 'n' roll forays but later fell on hard times. However, it then took on a whole new meaning, appearing so soon after the 9/11 attacks on New York City.
Last night, Springsteen put My City Of Ruins into an even wider context, alluding to the situation in Gaza and Putin 's invasion of Ukraine — but mostly addressing matters closer to home.
'There's some very weird, strange and dangerous s**t going on out there right now,' he said in his rasping New Jersey drawl.
'Rogue government'
'In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now! In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world's poorest children to sickness and death.
"This is happening now! In my country, they're taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.
"They're rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society.'
And in a clear reference to Trump's 'new world order' — which raises questions about the US/UK Special Relationship — he added: 'They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom.'
Then came a salvo directly aimed at the Donald, as Springsteen claimed: 'A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.'
But Springsteen is also a man of hope. His concerts are (mostly) euphoric occasions — and he finished on a more optimistic note.
'The America I've sung to you about for 50 years is real and, regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people,' he said.
'So we'll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said: 'In this world, there isn't as much humanity as one would like, but there's enough.' Let's pray.'
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It should be noted Springsteen turned up the volume and the joy for large parts of last night's show.
Thousands of arms were aloft for crowd-pleasers including Badlands, Thunder Road, Born To Run and Dancing In The Dark. They mingled with welcome rarities like Murder Incorporated, Human Touch, and a live debut for Letter To You album song Rainmaker, dedicated to 'our dear leader'.
And he DID sing anti-war (specifically Vietnam) anthem Born In The USA — yes, the one he once banned Donald Trump's Republican Party from using!
SET LIST
1. Land Of Hope And Dreams
2. Death To My Hometown
3. Lonesome Day
4. My Love Will Not Let You Down
5. Rainmaker
6. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
7. The Promised Land
8. Hungry Heart
9. My Hometown
10. Youngstown
11. Murder Incorporated
12. Long Walk Home
13. House Of A Thousand Guitars (solo, acoustic)
14. My City Of Ruins
15. Letter To You
16. Because The Night
17. Human Touch
18. Wrecking Ball
19. The Rising
20. Badlands
21. Thunder Road
ENCORE
22. Born In The USA
23. Born To Run
24. Bobby Jean
25. Dancing In The Dark
26. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
27. Chimes Of Freedom
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