Before he even plays a note at the first night of his “Land of Hopes and Dreams” tour, he shatters that notion. He opens his first show of 2025 – and first indoor UK concert in 12 years, at Manchester’s year-old mega-venue Co-op Live – with a furious monologue that excoriates the Trump administration, which he describes as “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous”.
Springsteen opened with a furious political monologue (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images)
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Joy is his primary act of resistance. For as much as his onstage pronouncements suggest that he sees this tour as an act of advocacy for the decent America he knows still exists, you also get the sense that on a selfish level, he plays live chiefly because he loves it – and who wouldn’t enjoy being swept along by the tide of the magnificent, 17-piece E Street Band? They’re a joy to behold: throughout this three-hour set, wherever you look on the stage, something exhilarating is happening – guitarists Nils Lofgren and Steven Van Zandt weave in and out of each other’s solos, timeless drummer Max Weinberg is on powerhouse form, and every time saxophonist Jake Clemons (nephew of the late, legendary Clarence) wanders centre-stage for another triumphant turn, you feel the roof about to lift off of the place.
The man himself appears ageless; like his contemporary, Mick Jagger, he has you wondering whether he might have made some kind of Faustian pact to still be this electrifyingly energetic long past his 70th birthday. His heartland howl is undiminished, and especially spine-tingling on the indefatigable likes of “Because the Night”, “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run”. His searing storytelling, meanwhile, remains as relevant as ever, particularly when he artfully paints portraits of the plight of America’s working classes on classics like “My Hometown” and “Badlands”.
The magnificent E Street Band were a joy to behold (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images)He closes, pointedly, with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Peace”, the first time he’s played it since 1988 – but it’s what he says mid-set, before “My City of Ruins”, that leaves the deepest impression. “I have hope,” he says, “because I believe in the truth of what James Baldwin said – in this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like. But there’s enough.”
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