‘Raise your voices against authoritarianism!,’ says Springsteen as tour starts in England

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed in Manchester, England, May 14.

As his Land of Hope and Dreams Tour began at the Co-op Live in Manchester England, today, Bruce Springsteen shared a political message that he had undoubtedly been thinking about for months. (This was his first show with the E Street Band since November.)

After taking the stage and welcoming fans, he introduced the show’s opening song, “Land of Hope and Dreams,” by saying:

The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n’ roll, in dangerous times. In 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. 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!

The show also included the live debut of “Rainmaker,” a song about a con man from Springsteen’s 2020 Letter to You album. He dedicated the song, which includes lines such as “Rainmaker says white’s black and black’s white/Says night’s day and day’s night,” to “our dear leader.”

In this song, Springsteen also changed the line, “they don’t care or understand what it really takes for the sky to open up the land,” to “they don’t care or understand how easy it is to let freedom slip through your hands.”

He also performed “House of a Thousand Guitars” — with its rather pointed line, “The criminal clown has stolen the throne/He steals what he can never own” — and said while introducing it: “The last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people. You and me. It’s in the union of people around a common set of values. Now, that’s all that stands between democracy and authoritarianism. So at the end of the day, all we’ve really got is each other.”

He made his most in-depth remarks before “My City of Ruins,” saying:

There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now. 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 that they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society. The abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They’re defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. They’re removing residents off American streets and, without due process of laws, 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 of what it means to be deeply American. The America that I’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.

He closed the show with Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom,” which he had not performed in concert since 1988.

Considering the presence of “statement” songs such as “Death to My Hometown” and “Long Walk Home” as well, this was a drastically more political show than the ones he and the E Street Band presented in 2023 and 2024.

Here is the show’s setlist.

“Land of Hope and Dreams”
“Death to My Hometown”
“Lonesome Day”
“My Love Will Not Let You Down”
“Rainmaker”
“Darkness on the Edge of Town”
“The Promised Land”
“Hungry Heart”
“My Hometown”
“Youngstown”
“Murder Incorporated”
“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 USA”
“Born to Run”
“Bobby Jean”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Tenth Avenue Freeze-out”
“Chimes of Freedom”

Here are some videos from the show: