All posts tagged: Springsteens

“Say something! Do something!”: Bruce Springsteen’s tour is a call to action

“Say something! Do something!”: Bruce Springsteen’s tour is a call to action

Published by Sam Flores

For the last two months, Bruce Springsteen has been staging a nightly protest rally in arenas across America. “The Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour” is part revival meeting, part homecoming and also simply a fine evening of music. But it is absolutely a protest rally, whether people know it going in or not. “Now they say they’re here to uphold the law, but they trample on our rights. If your skin is black or brown, my friend, you can be questioned or deported on sight. In our chants of ‘ICE out now!’…” Being surrounded by thousands of people yelling “ICE OUT NOW” has the opportunity to be transformative, or at least to make someone think. It is giving people a voice, and it is giving them a container in which to use that voice. This is the last verse of “Streets of Minneapolis,” Springsteen’s protest song about the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. When Springsteen sang “ICE out now!” during a show in Pittsburgh (as he had in the previous 15 …

Born to rage in the USA: Bruce Springsteen’s lifelong protest in song — from Vietnam to Trump

Born to rage in the USA: Bruce Springsteen’s lifelong protest in song — from Vietnam to Trump

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Bruce Springsteen is sending a message with his latest tour. When the 76-year-old New Jersey rock icon, known universally as The Boss, kicked off his Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour last week, he did so pointedly in Minneapolis to honor the city’s anti-ICE protests. “This tour is going to be political and very topical about what’s going on in the country,” he told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Minneapolis and St. Paul, that was the place that I wanted to begin it, and I wanted to end it in Washington.” From the stage, Springsteen paid tribute to “the power and the solidarity” of the people of Minnesota. Predictably, Donald Trump wasn’t happy. The president responded by labelling the musician a “dried-up prune” and urging MAGA supporters to boycott the tour. That won’t stop Springsteen. As longtime fans will know, he’s never been …

Bruce Springsteen’s new tour is ‘going to be political’ — and he’s ready for the ‘blowback’

Bruce Springsteen’s new tour is ‘going to be political’ — and he’s ready for the ‘blowback’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Bruce Springsteen is getting ready to embark on his Land of Hope and Dreams tour next week. The legendary “Dancing In the Dark” rocker, 76, and his E Street Band announced last month that they will be traveling to several major U.S. cities “in celebration and in defense of America.” Speaking to the Minnesota Star Tribune ahead of his first concert in Minneapolis, Springsteen promised that “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. It always was,” he added. “These are the moments when I think we can be of real value and real worth to the community. These are moments that fill the band with purpose, so I try to fill the set list around those ideas.” Springsteen is one of Trump’s staunchest critics …

Bruce Springsteen’s protest songs still hit where it hurts

Bruce Springsteen’s protest songs still hit where it hurts

Published by Sam Flores

On January 28th, 2026, Bruce Springsteen released “Streets of Minneapolis,” a protest song he’d written “in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis.” He continued, “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.” And he signed it, “Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.” On his website, Springsteen explained that he wrote the song on a Saturday, recorded it the next day, and released it the day after, probably the fastest he’s ever worked in the recording studio. That sense of urgency ties “Streets of Minneapolis” to the same lineage as Neil Young’s “Ohio,” a song written in response to the May 4, 1970 shootings of unarmed Kent State students by the National Guard. “Ohio” was written, recorded and released within weeks, something that was a lot harder to do in 1970 — part of the reason it made it out so quickly is that Atlantic label head Ahmet Ertegun happened to be in LA when CSNY were recording, and personally …