After a jubilant performance at the flagship No Kings march on Saturday in the Twin Cities — where fans got to hear “Streets of Minneapolis” on the streets of Minneapolis — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band officially kicked off the North American leg of their Land of Hope and Dreams Tour Tuesday night, still in Minneapolis. The first song of the night was Edwin Starr’s fantastic bombastic “War,” a hit Bruce covered in the 80s but hasn’t played on tour since. (Gee, I wonder why he brought it out now?) Up next was his own classic “Born In the USA,” another pointed song selection: last week Bruce lent the song to an ACLU ad defending birthright citizenship and the case went before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. After that hot start, Bruce and the band played a further 25 songs that included “Streets of Minneapolis” and “My City in Ruins.” Mixed in with the music were moments of impassioned political soliloquies delivered by The Boss. Here’s one:

“We are living through some very dark times,” he began. “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.

“There are immigrants being held in detention centers around the country and being deported without due process of law to alien countries and foreign gulags. This is happening now.

“Our Justice Department has completely abdicated its independence, and our attorney general, Pam Bondi, takes her marching orders straight from a corrupt White House. She prosecutes our president’s perceived enemies, covers up for his misdeeds and protects his powerful friends. This is happening now.

“The richest men in America have abandoned the world’s poorest children through death and disease, through their dismantling of USAID. This is happening now.

“We are abandoning NATO and the world order that’s kept us safe and at global peace for 80 years. This is happening now.

“We threaten our neighbors and our allies whose sons and daughters have fought alongside us in American wars with the predatory annexation of their land. This is happening now.

“Our museums are being told to whitewash American history of any unpleasant or inconvenient facts, like the full history of the brutality of slavery. You want to talk about snowflakes? We have a president who can’t handle the truth. This is happening now.

“While working Americans struggle, our president and his family enrich themselves by billions of dollars trading on the people’s office in corruption unmatched in American history. This is happening now.

“This White House is destroying the American idea and our reputation around the world. To many, we are no longer looked upon as an often imperfect but strong defender of democracy standing for the global good. We are no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are now, to many, America the reckless, unpredictable, predatory rogue nation. That is this administration’s and this president’s legacy. This is happening now.

“Honesty, honor, humility, compassion, thoughtfulness, morality, true strength, and decency — don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore. They do. They are at the heart of the kind of men and women we are, the kind of citizens we are, the kind of country we’ll be leaving to our children. So many of our elected leaders have failed us that this American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people. So join us and let’s fight for the America that we love.

“Are you with us?”

[From Variety]

And that, folks, is why he’s The Boss. The poetic prose just oozes out of this man! Morally speaking, Bruce is without a doubt the People’s President right now. And this stunning speech merits the title The Minneapolis Address, while the tour ought to be renamed the This Is Happening Now Tour. The cadence of that one line being repeated really is what makes this speech sing (music pun!), in my opinion. And I can’t help it — the way he easily slid in a “You can’t HANDLE the truth!” moment directed at he-who-shall-not-be-named brought a huge smile to my face! Bruce also had dynamite closing comments, in which he revealed that this tour was not even supposed to happen? Here’s what he said before they played their final song (Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom”): “If you’re feeling helpless, hopeless, betrayed, frustrated, angry, I know. I mean, that’s why the E Street Band is here tonight. This is a tour that was not planned. We’re here tonight because we need to feel your hope and your strength, and we want to bring some hope and some strength for you. I hope we did that. All I can say is God bless Alex Pretti, God bless Renee Good, God bless you and God bless America.”

And God bless YOU Bruce, and the entire E Street Band! Thank you for your unrelenting service to justice. And to answer your question: YES, we are with you.

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