Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band launched their new Land of Hope and Dreams American tour last night (March 31) at the Target Center in Minneapolis, and having recently flagged up the fact that this new tour is going to be "political", Springsteen did not hold back on sharing his thoughts on Donald Trump's presidency.
Before a single note of music was played, and before the stage lights were illuminated, the 76-year-old New Jersey-born singer-songwriter stepped up to the mic in darkness and delivered an unambiguous manifesto for the 20-date campaign.
"I want to begin the night with a prayer for our men and women in the service overseas," he told his audience at the 20,00 capacity arena. "We pray for their safe return. 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. We are here in celebration and defence of our American ideals, democracy, our Constitution, and our sacred American promise.
"The America that I love, the America that I’ve written about for 50 years, that's been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous administration.
"Tonight we ask all of you to join with us in choosing hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over lawlessness, ethics over unbridled corruption, resistance over complacency, unity over division, and peace over war."
As if this mission statement were not emphatic enough, Springsteen and his band, augmented for the tour by guest guitarist Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), launched his 27-song set with a cover of The Temptations / Edwin Starr's anti-Vietnam War protest song War.
