Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band kick off politically charged Land of Hope and Dreams American tour

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band launched their Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour in Minneapolis Tuesday night, streaming the first two songs live on YouTube.

The Boss began the show with “a prayer for our men and women in service overseas,” before saying, “The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times.”

“We are here in celebration and defense of our American ideals, democracy, our Constitution and our sacred American promise,” he continued, noting America “is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous administration.”

The show kicked off with a performance of the Edwin Starr track “War,” which according to setlist.fm, was the first time the band had performed the song live since 2003. That was followed by “Born in the U.S.A.,” which was recently used for a ACLU ad about President Trump’s attempt to get rid of birthright citizenship. Both songs featured Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello on guitar.

Springsteen also performed “Streets of Minneapolis” for the first time with The E Street Band, “The Promised Land,” “My City of Ruins,” “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” “Badlands” and “Land of Hope and Dreams,” as well as classics like “Born to Run,” “Hungry Heart,” “Dancing in the Dark” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.”

Paying homage to Minnesota native Prince, the band performed “Purple Rain” for the first time since 2016. They ended the night with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom.”

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