WES ORSOSHKI
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band perform at The Prudential Center in Newark, April 20.
The dominant theme of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s 2023-2024 concerts was mortality, with key songs such as “Ghosts,” “Last Man Standing” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams” tackling the topic head-on. With their European Land of Hope and Dreams Tour, last year, though, politics started to play a greater role. And their current Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour is even more political. And more urgent.
“We never planned this tour, but we came out because I needed to feel your hope, your strength, and I needed to hear your voices,” Springsteen, 76, said near the end of his sold-out April 20 concert at The Prudential Center in Newark. “My wish is that we brought some hope and some strength for you tonight.”
WES ORSHOSKI
Bruce Springsteen performs at The Prudential Center in Newark, April 20.
“Ghosts,” “Last Man Standing” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams” are gone from the setlists on this tour. Meanwhile, Springsteen’s new anthem “Streets of Minneapolis” has been making nightly appearances, as have feverish covers of Edwin Starr’s “War” and The Clash’s “Clampdown,” and Springsteen’s own anguished statements on war (“Born in the USA”) and police brutality (“American Skin”). Also in these shows are “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” Springsteen’s “The Grapes of Wrath”-inspired pledge to fight for what is right; and “Long Walk Home,” which suggested in 2007 — and now boldly declares, in 2026 — that the country is on the wrong track, with Springsteen singing “Your flag flyin’ over the courthouse/Means certain things are set in stone/Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t.”
You will simply never see a classic-rock band, decades into its life together, play with more focused intensity. The peak of the show, for me, was the gospel-flavored “My City of Ruins.” Originally written about Asbury Park, it was included on Springsteen’s The Rising album and came to be associated with 9/11. At this show, though, Springsteen seemed to be singing about a country that has lost its way.
Standing out among the show’s many political speeches, the dire, enthusiastically received “My City of Ruins” introduction also felt like a centerpiece. Springsteen said, in part:
This White House is destroying the American ideal and our reputation around the world. To many, we are no longer looked at as an often imperfect but strong defender of democracy, standing for the global good. We are no longer the land of the free, the home of the brave. To many we are now America the reckless, unpredictable, predatory rogue nation. That is this administration and this president’s legacy. And this is happening now. Honesty, honor, humility, truth, compassion, humanity, thoughtfulness, morality, true strength, and decency — don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore! They do! They are at the heart of the kind of men and women we are, the kind of citizens we want to be, and the kind of country we’ll leave for our children. So many of our elected leaders have failed us that this American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people, by you. So join us and let’s fight for the America we love.
WES ORSHOSKI
From left, Max Weinberg, Jake Clemons and Bruce Springsteen at The Prudential Center in Newark, April 20.
The tour — which features an expanded version of The E Street Band, with 17 musicians joining Springsteen — started, as it needed to, in Minneapolis, on March 31. ICE’s widely protested Operation Metro Surge activities in Minneapolis, and in particular the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in January, spurred him to write and record “Streets of Minneapolis,” and then schedule the tour.
The Newark show was the tour’s first stop back in the band’s home territory, and while there must have been some audience members who occupy different parts of the political spectrum, when he emphasized a political point — or a line such as “ICE out now!,” from “Streets of Minneapolis” — he always got a big cheer. (Though no more New Jersey shows are scheduled, there will be four in New York, and one in Philadelphia, before the last stop, pointedly scheduled for Washington, D.C. on May 27.)
Joining the tour on some of the songs — 12, in Newark — is Rage Against the Machine co-founder Tom Morello, who previously toured as part of The E Street Band in 2013 and 2014. With his fist-pumping, rabble-rousing stage presence, he is a perfect fit for this tour’s mission, and he adds some wildly inventive solos to the tour’s embarrassment of guitar riches. (Has any rock tour, ever, brought more guitar firepower to one stage at one time than a tour featuring Springsteen, Morello, Nils Lofgren and Stevie Van Zandt?)
It should be emphasized that the show was not all politics; it may have seemed like a rally, at times, but it was much more than that. There was still room for some non-political signature songs such as “Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Hungry Heart,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out.” And while the Celtic-rock tune “American Land” did make a political point, about immigrants (“The hands that built the country, we’re always trying to keep down,” Springsteen sang), it was also a rollicking good time, with all the musicians except Weinberg joining Springsteen at the front of the stage — after switching to hand-held instruments, when necessary.
WES ORSHOSKI
From left, Max Weinberg, Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen at The Prudential Center in Newark, April 20.
Springsteen has stuck to a pretty static setlist for the first seven shows of the tour. While some fans, me included, would prefer it if he would shake things up a little more — I like surprises — it must be added that (1) he does tend to vary things more and more, deeper into his tours, and (2) the way he is sticking to a particular set of songs reflects the fact that he is using this tour to get a certain point across, and he wants to make sure the show does that, every night.
The first quote in this review (“We never planned this tour …”) is from Springsteen’s last speech of the night, before he closed with Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom.” Here is more of it, because I, too, want to make sure the point gets across.
These are hard times … but the E Street Band was built for hard times. So, I know that we’re gonna … we will make it through … The hardest part of it all for me was feeling the distance between you and your neighbors, you and your fellow citizens, that distance. If you let it, it can darken your soul. We have a president who says he wishes nothing but ill upon those who disagree with him. I don’t want to live that way. … From the beginning, America was born out of disagreement. It was built on argument, disagreement, how we could argue about what course we thought the country should take while still recognizing our common humanity, our dignity and, yes, our unity. I think back to a heartbreaking example of this. I will always remember that Renée Good’s last words before she died, to the man who she was protesting against, to the man who would raise a gun moments later and take her life, her last words were, “I’m not mad at you” … So when you go home tonight, hold your loved ones close. And in the morning, do as she did. Find a way to take aggressive, peaceful action to defend our country’s ideals. And as the great civil rights leader John Lewis said, “Go out and get in some good trouble.” Say something. Do something. Hell, sing something! That’s all I do!
WES ORSHOSKI
From left, Charlie Giordano, Nils Lofgren, Tom Morello and Jake Clemons at The Prudential Center in Newark, April 20.
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Here is the show’s setlist. Songs that featured Tom Morello are in bold. Below it is a photo gallery by Wes Orshoski, and some videos.
“War”
“Born in the U.S.A.”
“Death to My Hometown”
“Clampdown”
“No Surrender”
“Darkness on the Edge of Town”
“Streets of Minneapolis”
“The Promised Land”
“Two Hearts”
“Hungry Heart”
“Youngstown”
“Murder Incorporated”
“American Skin (41 Shots)”
“Long Walk Home”
“House of a Thousand Guitars”
“My City of Ruins”
“Because the Night”
“Wrecking Ball”
“The Rising”
“The Ghost of Tom Joad”
“Badlands”
“Land of Hope and Dreams”
Encore:
“American Land”
“Born to Run”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
“Chimes of Freedom”
Upcoming area shows include The UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York, May 5; The Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, May 8; Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, May 11 and 16; and The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, May 14.
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