Springsteen closes tour with E Street Band: “We’ll be back”
Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour”, an admittedly “political” tour, ended in Philadelphia: in the concert Springsteen, as he already did in 2025, takes a clear stand against the current American administration. The first date took place in Minneapolis, where the two deaths occurred caused by ICE, the government’s controversial anti-immigration force which has forcefully repressed protest demonstrations, and the city to which the Boss dedicated “Streets of Minneapolis”. The last date was supposed to be May 27th in Washington, the capital, the seat of government and administration: an equally symbolic ending – then the date of May 8th in Philadelphia was moved to last night due to the participation in the NBA playoffs of the 76ers, who had unexpectedly passed the first round by beating the favored Boston Celtics, thus requiring the use of the city arena on that day to play the second round.
The ladder
Even on the final date, the structure of the show remained that of the other dates: the classics of the repertoire, the new protest song “Streets of Minneapolis” with the “ICE Out Now” choir, and the monologues pronounced before “My City of Ruins”. Springsteen did not sing “Streets of Philadelphia”, as he sometimes does in the city: with no changes in the setlist, as has now been the case for several dates and with a rigid structure as had not happened since the end of the ’80s, for the “Tunnel of love” tour. Even in past years, from 2023 onwards, the Boss has introduced a “theatrical” structure with a fixed scheme and few variations. On the other tours, however, at least 2 or 3 songs per evening changed. In the “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour”, apart from the cover of “Purple rain” played in Minneapolis and that of “Clampdown” introduced after a few dates, there were practically no changes
Some changes instead in the speeches. “I think I first came here in 1973, at Main Point in Bryn Mawr. I was 23 years old,” the Boss said from the stage. “It’s been a while. So what I want to say to you in Philadelphia is: Thank you for a lifetime.” Springsteen also added a reference to the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in New Jersey. “There are immigrants being held in for-profit detention centers across the country, like Delaney Hall in my home state of New Jersey, where our governor has been denied access to meet with detainees and see the conditions they are in. This is happening now.”
The return to the stage
Before leaving the stage, Springsteen bid the audience farewell with one final message: “Stay alive, stay hungry and stay calm. We’ll see you again.” A promise of return, in short.
The Boss’ live activity will continue in the coming months even outside the tour. On June 4 and 5 he will be at the Center for American Music with a mega event entitled “Music America: The Songs That Shaped Us”, while on October 3 he will be among the guests of the “Power to the People Festival”, the political-musical event organized by Tom Morello in the Washington area, together with Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez, Brittany Howard, Dropkick Murphys, Killer Mike and other artists.
