Bruce Springsteen launches Land of Hope and Dreams tour
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened their 'Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour' Tuesday at Minneapolis's Target Center, playing 2 hours 54 minutes in what the Variety reviewer called the best rock show they'd ever seen
- The 76-year-old Springsteen characterized this as his first overtly 'political' tour, delivering four between-song speeches — one calling the current administration 'corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous'
- The 20-date run is structured as a 'pop-up arena tour' drawing 20,000 fans per night, with the 'No Kings' logo featured in initial advertising
- Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) rejoins as featured guitarist — his first E Street stint since the 2012 'Wrecking Ball' tour, where he also served in that role
- Springsteen released the anti-ICE single 'Streets of Minneapolis' as a companion piece and opened the tour in the Twin Cities specifically to spotlight that song's subject
- Despite the political messaging, the show balances fury with levity — Springsteen compelled non-singing drummer Max Weinberg to take lead vocals on 'Hungry Heart' and giggled at Nils Lofgren's guitar intro to the title track
Why it matters: The 76-year-old Springsteen's decision to mount an explicit protest tour drawing 20,000 fans nightly demonstrates that overtly political art remains commercially viable at arena scale, while his choice to name names and open in Minneapolis signals a deliberate escalation from his 2012 'Wrecking Ball' era's more abstract political framing.
Ask SkimNews
