Bruce Springsteen's New Tour Is a Fiery Rebuke of the Trump Administration
Bruce Springsteen seems determined to use his newly launched tour as a fiery rebuke of the Trump administration. Just days ago, the New Jersey rocker announced he was rebranding the outing as the 'Land of Hope and Dreams Tour,' and during Wednesday's kickoff show in Manchester, England, he delivered several pointed speeches targeting Trump and his administration's actions during its early months.
In his first remarks of the night, delivered before even a single note was played, Springsteen said, 'The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll, in dangerous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring!' From there, Springsteen and the E Street Band launched into back-to-back performances of 'Land of Hope and Dreams' and 'Death to My Hometown.'
Later, Springsteen delivered another set of poignant remarks. 'There's some very weird, strange, and dangerous shit going on out there,' he said prior to performing 'My City of Ruins.' '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.'
'And in my country, they are taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on loyal American workers, they are rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and moral society. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom.They are defunding American universities that won't bow down to their ideological demands. They are removing residents off American streets and without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now.'
'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. The America l've sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. 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, he said 'in this world there isn't as much humanity as one would like, but there's enough.' Let's pray.'
The setlist was also littered with some of Springsteen's most politically-charged material, as he featured songs such as 'Rainmaker,' 'Murder Incorporated,' and 'Youngstown.' To close the show, he opted for a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Chimes of Freedom,' which Springsteen himself hadn't performed live since 1988.
Springsteen's 'Land of Hope and Dreams Tour' currently consists of dates across the UK and Europe running through early July — but it seems primed for a North American leg.
Setlist: Land of Hope and Dreams Death to My Hometown Lonesome Day My Love Will Not Let You Down Rainmaker (live debut) Darkness on the Edge of Town The Promised Land Hungry Heart My Hometown Youngstown Murder Incorporated (first time since 2017) Long Walk Home House of a Thousand Guitars My City of Ruins Letter to You Because the Night Human Touch Wrecking Ball The Rising Badlands Thunder Road
Encore: Born in the U.S.A. Born to Run Bobby Jean Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan cover) (first time since 1988)
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