A few days ago, Bruce Springsteen declared that his Land of Hope and Dreams Tour with the E Street Band was going to be political. The musician followed through on his promise during the U.S. run’s opening night on Tuesday, March 31, in Minneapolis.
Springsteen kicked off the concert with a rendition of Edwin Starr’s 1970 Motown smash “War.” (Notably, the song hit Number One at the height of the Vietnam War, and returned to the Top 10 in 1986 after Springsteen released his live cover as a single.) His setlist at the packed Target Center was loaded with his classics from “Born in the U.S.A.” to “The Rising.” As expected, his comments during the performance echoed his sentiments when he took the stage last weekend in Minnesota to perform “Streets of Minneapolis” at the flagship No Kings rally.
Mid-show, however, he ramped up his criticism of President Donald Trump and called on the audience to “fight for the America that we love.” According to Variety, Springsteen addressed the crowd and said, “We are living through some very dark times,” adding, “Our American values that have sustained us for 250 years are being challenged as never before. We’ve got our young men and women’s lives at risk In an unconstitutional and illegal war.”
The artist took aim at the Trump administration and said, “Our Justice Department has completely abdicated its independence, and our Attorney General Pam Bondi takes her marching orders straight from a corrupt White House.”
As her pressed on, he addressed the reshaping of American cultural and historical institutions by the administration. “Our museums are being told to whitewash American history of any unpleasant or inconvenient facts like the full history of the brutality of slavery,” said Springsteen. “You want to talk about snowflakes? We have a president who can’t handle the truth.” Throughout his robust speech, the artist repeated, “This is happening now.”
In an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune published last week, Springsteen, who has long been an outspoken critic of Trump and his policies detailed his intention for the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour: “The tour is going to be political and very topical about what’s going on in the country.”
“The E Street Band is built for hard times,” he said. “It always was. These are the moments when I think we can be of real value and real worth to the community.”
