Bruce Springsteen hopeful and politically engaged in Germany
In the past two years, transience has been the recurring theme during Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s tours. Sometimes, you almost got the feeling that he was preparing for his farewell. But Bruce doesn’t know how to stop. He recently stated in a Rolling Stone interview that, following The Rolling Stones’ example, he doesn’t want to stop touring for a long time yet. Suddenly, the message of the current tour also changed to a more contemporary theme. The tour name was renamed ‘The Land of Hope and Dreams tour’, and Bruce had a politically engaged message again, expressing his concerns about the current American government under Trump. Much to Trump’s annoyance, who subsequently responded with a veiled threat on his social media platform. This is certainly not something that would knock The Boss off his stride. He repeated the message at every concert of this tour. Friday, the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, was visited. Unfortunately, without his regular companion and guitarist, Steven Van Zandt, who is recovering from appendicitis.
Bruce himself also had surgery for a stomach ulcer two years ago. There was also a noticeable difference in how motivated he was in 2023 compared to 2024. In Goffertpark last year, he seemed more energetic than the year before. Tonight he also seemed energetic and motivated from the opener “No Surrender”. After the deep cut “My Love Will Not Let You Down”, “Land Of Hope And Dreams” was introduced with a German-subtitled speech in which Bruce especially wanted to celebrate the other positive side of America. The fact that Bruce’s speeches ran synchronously with the subtitles on the big screen did take away some spontaneity, but there would be enough of those moments later. Like the times during “The Promised Land” when young children in the audience could count on receiving a harmonica from Bruce. The message came across stronger than during his previous tours anyway.
The setlist also seemed more adapted to the current state of his country. “The River” transitioned into “Youngtown”, which was the prelude to the fiercely played “Murder Incorporated”. “Long Walk Home” was introduced by Bruce as ‘a prayer for my country’. A goosebump moment followed during the completely acoustic “House Of A Thousand Guitars”, where the line “the criminal clown has stolen the throne” received much applause from the audience.
After the sober section with “My City of Ruins”, “I’m On Fire” was a beautiful transition to the victory march of classics like “Because The Night”, a fiery “Wrecking Ball”, “The Rising”, “Badlands” and “Thunder Road”. Nils Lofgren had to take over Steven Van Zandt’s part during the line ‘Well, I got this guitar and I learn how to make it talk,’ which came across somewhat less effectively. But the brass section that subsequently supported Jake Clemons’ saxophone solo was flawless.
The encore has been fairly fixed in recent years with “Born In The USA” (which didn’t suffer from too much reverb like two years ago in the Johan Cruijff Arena), “Born To Run”, “Bobby Jean”, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” (where a tribute to deceased E Street Band members Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici always appears on the big screen) and the cover “Twist & Shout” where the joy of playing always radiates. But whereas in previous years Bruce closed solo with the emotional “I See You In My Dreams”, he now closed with the entire band with the Bob Dylan cover “Chimes of Freedom”, which he has put back on the setlist for the first time since 1988 for this tour.
It was a fitting conclusion to show that America also has another side than what Trump wants to show the world. Nothing appeared from the new box set with seven previously unreleased albums that was released on the same day, but that wouldn’t have fit the theme of the tour either. It was refreshing to see a Bruce Springsteen who is politically engaged and speaks out again after years. No matter how much Trump may be annoyed by it. When you saw how energetic Bruce still was tonight at 75, you can assume that he can continue for several more years, and will still be there after Trump’s presidency in 4 years. As Bruce himself quoted American writer James Baldwin: “In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.” With someone like The Boss, there will always be some hope left for a better world.
