“The America that I love, that’s been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world, is in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous administration,” Springsteen said. Before a single note of music was played at the opening night of the 2026 Land of Hope and Dreams Tour, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a typical Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert. In a break from decades of tradition, the band walked onto the stage in total darkness, visible to the crowd only in hazy silhouette. Springsteen came out last, and addressed the capacity crowd at the Target Center in Minneapolis, speaking much like he did at the city’s No Kings rally a few days earlier. (..) As final word “war” echoed through the arena, the stage lights flicked on. Springsteen and the band emerged from the darkness, and they ripped into Edwin Starr’s 1970 classic “War,” which they hadn’t played since America last started a Middle Eastern war in 2003. It was a fiery rendition featuring special guest Tom Morello on guitar, allowing Springsteen to roam the stage instrument-free, and it transitioned right into an impassioned “Born in the U.S.A.,” a song Springsteen recently allowed the ACLU to use in their battle to overturn Trump’s anti-birthright citizenship executive order. (In remarkable timing, the Supreme Court was a little over 12 hours away from hearing oral arguments in the landmark case about whether people born in the U.S.A. are citizens.)
via rolling stone: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN DECLARES ‘WAR’ AGAINST TRUMP AT DEFIANT TOUR OPENER IN MINNEAPOLIS