Bruce Springsteen used the opening night of his Land of Hope and Dreams tour at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena to deliver a blistering political message aimed at Donald Trump and his allies.
In a series of impassioned remarks, the 75-year-old rock icon didn’t hold back, calling the former US president’s administration “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous” as he introduced the song Land of Hope and Dreams.
READ MORE: Not very punk! Sex Pistols legal threat forces spex shop to rebrand
“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n roll in dangerous times,” he told the Manchester crowd.
“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.
“Tonight we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!”
Later in the set, ahead of House of a Thousand Guitars, Springsteen added: “The last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It’s in the union of people around a common set of values now that’s all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. At the end of the day, all we’ve got is each other.”
READ MORE: Heart overtakes Radio 2 as commercial radio surges past BBC – key RAJAR takeaways
Before City of Ruins, the Boss, who has been staying at Gary Neville’s Stock Exchange hotel in the city centre for the past week, slammed what he described as the erosion of civil rights and the persecution of dissenters in modern America. He criticised wealthy elites “taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death,” and referenced forced deportations without due process.
“The America I’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real,” he said. “And regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment.”
The first of Springsteen’s three shows at Co-op Live later coincides with the one-year anniversary of the venue’s opening – and the venue’s owner says the design of the venue was even acoustically engineered based on feedback he received from Springsteen after the musician’s performance at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
READ MORE: The Prolific North Creative Awards 2025: The Shortlist
Tim Leiweke, the president and chief executive of Oakview Group – which owns Co-op Live and venues across the world – told the BBC: “[Springsteen] has literally influenced every building I’ve designed with my company since then.”
“He’s been running around my head for 20 years because of his dislike of the acoustics at Staples,” he added.
Mr Leiweke said Springsteen agreed to play the shows in Manchester after he encouraged him to check out what he described as “the most acoustically perfect arena ever built”.
Springsteen and the E Street band play the second night at Co-Op Live on Saturday and later move to Liverpool and then across Europe.
