Bruce Springsteen condemns political violence and Trump at Austin show

You can stand against what you see as an “unwise and illegal war” and still support the troops. You can condemn political violence while still eviscerating what you see as a historically corrupt administration. You can raise a fist while still reaching out with an open hand. You can blend pop hits and protest anthems. And you can rock out with the energy of a 27-year old in the year that you turn 77. Well, you can if you’re Bruce Springsteen.

The living embodiment of the American songbook, the multimillionaire who somehow maintains the credible voice of the working man — even though few blue-collar earners could afford a $400 floor ticket to his show  —  preached, implored and inspired a near-capacity crowd Sunday night at Moody Center. With his Land of Hope and Dreams tour, he is giving voice to millions of frustrated, angry and distraught Americans, while proving that he has not lost a step despite being in his sixth decade of live performing. 

The Boss deviated slightly from what has been his standard show-opening monologue on the tour — which he started in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were killed by ICE agents — to address the events in Washington, D.C., Saturday night. 

“We begin tonight with a prayer for our men and women in service overseas. We pray for their safe return. We also send out a prayer of thanks that our president, nor anyone in the administration, nor anyone attending, was injured at last night’s incident at the press Correspondents’ Dinner,” Springsteen said standing solitary at center stage, his shadowy profile outlined in a spotlight.

“We can disagree. We can be critical of those in power, and we can peacefully fight for our beliefs, but there is no place in any way, shape or form for political violence of any kind in our beloved United States,” he continued to loud cheers. 

“The E Street Band is here tonight in celebration and defense of the American ideals and values that have sustained our country for 250 years, our democracy, our Constitution, our rule of law. I believe those ideals are being challenged right now by a radical administration as never before.

So 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, truth over lies, unity over division and peace over war.”

The final word of the opening monologue was punctuated by the E Street band blasting into a cover of The Temptations’ 1970 protest song “War,” with activist ax-wielder Tom Morello adding his own searing bit of rage. (Morello played on the first three songs and reappeared later for eight more tunes.) 

Any politician who has misappropriated “Born in the USA” might have been disabused of their patriotic misunderstanding of the 1984 hit had they heard it follow “War,” Morello’s fierce playing punctuating Springsteen’s righteous indignation. The Boss let it be known with the first two songs, and throughout the night, that he believes a corrupt dictator has his foot on the throat of the American people, but his voice will not be silenced. He will fight. 

Few American artists have made such a popular expression of the anger of the common man, the lament of the corrupt, the desire to escape the invisible hand of the powerful and undying resiliency as Springsteen. He did it throughout the night with 2012’s “Death to My Hometown,” a middle-finger-up Celtic rocker which evokes the New Jersey native’s Irish roots; the hoedown rebellion of “Wrecking Ball,” the indefatigable defiance of “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” with Springsteen sustaining the vocal on the chorus with the strength of a man half his age, and the gospel swell of “The Promised Land,” the Boss blowing wind into the crowd’s sails through his harmonica. 

He was obviously preaching to the choir Sunday night, and throughout the tour, but the choir very obviously longed for Springsteen’s words, a 2 1/2-hour blend of sermon, halftime speech and tender consolation in which Springsteen served as a vessel for his fans’ rage and grief. 

Steven Van Zandt coaxed beauty from a purple guitar during the mournful “Streets of Minneapolis,” Nils Lofgren spun theatrically while shredding like a hair metal legend during “Youngstown” and saxophonist Jake Clemons almost blew the roof off the place on solos while holding together the Memphis-style horns on “Murder Incorporated,” embodying Springsteen’s boast of his crew as the hardest working band in the business. 

The night featured pop hits like “Hungry Heart” and “Dancing in the Dark,” which appeared as part of a four-song encore, but the night, bookended by Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom,” was less about turning back the clock to radio bops and more about tuning into common cause. 

In a scene that would not have been out of place at the Democratic National Convention, Springsteen stood (and sat) alone at center stage late in his set and gave an impassioned almost five-minute speech criticizing the Trump administration, calling the president a snowflake and the most corrupt president in history who is “destroying the American idea and our reputation around the world” before releasing the aching lament “My City of Ruins.”

Springsteen, at 76 years of age, is as strong, vital and as vocal as he has been in his career — 2020’s “House of a Thousand Guitars” calls Trump a criminal clown on the throne, who steals what he can’t own — and if anyone doesn’t like what he has to say, there are plenty of other shows they’re welcome to spend their money on. 

By the time he reached the apex of “The Rising” two songs later, the crowd seemed ready to follow him anywhere, out of the church, into the streets, to the ballot box. And he still had 8 songs left in him. 

“War” (Temptations cover)
“Born in the U.S.A.”
“Death to my Hometown”
“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”

“American Land”
“Born to Run”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Tenth Avenue Freeze Out”
“Chimes of Freedom” (Bob Dylan cover)