Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Target Center, Minneapolis, Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House in November 2024 caught Bruce Springsteen off guard. On tour in Canada, explicit political commentary from The Boss was restricted to introducing Long Walk Home (a standout from 2007 album Magic) as “a prayer for my country”. In Manchester in May last year, however, he stunned audiences by kicking off one of the most political gigs of his career with an onstage tirade against a corrupt and corrupting administration.
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“My home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” he announced from the stage of the Co-op Arena. “Tonight, we ask all of you to believe in democracy and the best of our American spirit to rise with us: raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.”
A year later, Springsteen’s decision to open and close the North American leg of the Land Of Hope & Dreams tour in Minneapolis and Washington made a very clear statement. January’s Streets Of Minneapolis protested the killing of Renee Good and Alex Preti by ICE agents, and tonight Springsteen returns to the city to deliver a rallying cry against an administration waging war at home and abroad.
At the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, Springsteen announces from the stage that the E-Street Band had not planned to tour, but in the spirit of civil rights activist John Lewis, decided it was their duty to “go out and get into good trouble”. The message is underscored by an incendiary opening salvo of Edwin Starr cover War (performed for the first time since 2003), and Born In The U.S.A., so often erroneously co-opted by the reactionary right; in this context, it leaves little room for ambiguity.
Streets Of Minneapolis was debuted at an anti-ICE benefit organised by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello across the road at First Avenue in January, and Morello has returned the favour this evening, augmenting the triple guitar attack of Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren as the E-Street Band deliver one of their heaviest and – given the circumstances – surprisingly playful sets of recent times.
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Darkness On The Edge Of Town and a rousing group rendition of Streets Of Minneapolis (with full crowd participation on “ICE out now”) underscores Springsteen’s status as the political conscience of America, while the ensuing combo of The Promised Land, Out In The Street (during which Springsteen holds up ‘No Kings’ sign handed to him by the crowd) and Hungry Heart brings the capacity crowd to its feet for a celebratory house party.
“We are living through some very dark times. Our American values, that have sustained us for 250 years, are being challenged as never before. We’ve got our young men and women’s lives at risk in an unconstitutional and illegal war. This is happening now.” Springsteen announced before My City In Ruins, going on to detail a litany of wrongdoings, from the detention of immigrants and dismantling of USAID, to Trump’s abandonment of NATO, Pam Bondi and the whitewashing of US history imposed as part of the administration’s ongoing culture war. “Join us and let’s fight for the America that we love,” he concluded. “Are you with us?”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the location and occasion, there are no audible calls to get on and play the music, which this writer heard from some quarters in Manchester. Instead, a spirit of community, and also celebration, prevails as the crowd dance like it was 1979 or 1989 to classics like Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, during which Springsteen takes his traditional walk into the centre of the arena, or Dancing In The Dark (the closest he got to a number one hit, only kept off the top spot of the Billboard charts by When Doves Cry by local hero Prince).
Springsteen remains in impossibly good shape at seventy-six, even if his voice occasionally betrays the ravages of age, with signature hits like Badlands and Born To Run a smidgeon more restrained than in the past. His horseplay with saxophonist Jake Clemons (nephew of the much-missed Clarence) and musical director Van Zandt take more of a backseat than usual tonight, providing room for new addition Morello who joins for a number of songs. His guitar provides a blistering musical counterpart to the righteous indignation of the lyrics to American Skin (41 Shots) and The Ghost Of Tom Joad (a track that RATM covered in 1998) that were lacking in their previous studio and live renditions. Delivered midway through the set, the two tracks are greeted as if they were career-defining smashes, as opposed to politically committed deep cuts.
The decision to close with Bob Dylan’s Chimes of Freedom was familiar from last year’s European setlists, but tonight’s show reaches its peak with the inclusion of fellow Minnesotan Prince’s Purple Rain (last performed by Springsteen a decade ago following Prince’s death) as the penultimate song, Morello and Lofgren trading cascades of impressively Prince-like soloing as the crowd are bathed in purple light. It’s an emotional climax to a historic performance.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Target Center, Minneapolis, March 31, Setlist:
War
Born In The USA
Death To My Hometown
No Surrender
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Streets of Minneapolis
Promised Land
Out In The Street
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
Born To Run
Bobby Jean
Dancing In The Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Purple Rain
Chimes of Freedom