{"id":9886,"date":"2026-04-01T08:53:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/bruce-springsteen-the-e-street-band-live-in-minneapolis-review-a-night-of-protest-and-power-153935\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T08:53:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:53:44","slug":"bruce-springsteen-the-e-street-band-live-in-minneapolis-review-a-night-of-protest-and-power-153935","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/bruce-springsteen-the-e-street-band-live-in-minneapolis-review-a-night-of-protest-and-power-153935\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band reviewed live in Minneapolis: a night of protest and power"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band<\/strong>
Target Center, Minneapolis<\/strong>
March 31, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band<\/strong>
Target Center, Minneapolis<\/strong>
March 31, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The opening of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band\u2019s newest American tour had a familiar ring. He debuted the Land of Hope and Dreams banner on last year\u2019s European dates, and this new leg continues in that spirit, again opening with a \u201ccall upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll in dangerous times.\u201d But the ICE invasion of Minnesota, as well as President Trump\u2019s illegal war against Iran \u2014 among much else \u2014 has amped Springsteen\u2019s indignation, not to mention that of the 20,000 people hanging on every word at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis on opening night of the tour\u2019s newest leg.<\/p>\n

In the Steve Van Zandt documentary\u00a0Believer, Springsteen noted that in the \u201880s, his confrere had \u201cgone from\u00a0no\u00a0politics to\u00a0allpolitics.\u201d Bruce didn\u2019t quite do that here \u2014 crowd-pleasers like \u201cDancing In The Dark\u201d and \u201cBecause The Night\u201d helped to effectively leaven things. But the first song set the tone. Edwin Starr\u2019s \u201cWar\u201d \u2014 short, sharp, and surging, with guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine shredding-not-soloing over the arrangement \u2014 followed hard by \u201cBorn In the USA\u201d, with Bruce hitting a piercing falsetto in the second verse and drummer Max Weinberg\u2019s drum rolls even more commanding.<\/p>\n

Three days earlier, at the No Kings Rally in St. Paul, just over the Mississippi River, Springsteen had already performed an acoustic version of his new single, \u201cStreets Of Minneapolis\u201d. It wasn\u2019t the first outing for the song, either: he\u2019d debuted it at an anti-ICE benefit put together by Morello at First Avenue in late January \u2014 literally across the street from Target Center. But this night\u2019s full-band version made those sound tentative; the sheer fury with which Springsteen delivered the third verse \u2013 \u201cthey killed and roamed \/ in the winter of \u201826\u201d \u2013 was bone-rattling. Accordingly, the guitar solos during \u201cMurder Incorporated\u201d and especially a towering \u201cGhost Of Tom Joad\u201d were suitably bloody. Guitarists Morello, Springsteen, Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren took turns stepping out \u2014 and making unfettered, unapologetic noise much of the time.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, there was still real playfulness on offer \u2014 the third time (of four) that he led the crowd in a chant of \u201cICE out now!\u201d during \u201cStreets Of Minneapolis\u201d, Bruce offered a cheerful, \u201cAlmost!\u201d During \u201cOut In The Street,\u201d someone in the front handed him their NO KINGS sign, which he held up for a verse before handing it back to its owner: what a gentleman. Played a dozen songs apart, \u201cDeath To My Hometown\u201d and \u201cWrecking Ball\u201d had a lighter cast to them, closer to the folky Seeger Sessions than E Street crunch, a welcome change of musical pace. \u201cBorn To Run\u201d was scheduled as an encore \u2014 only there really wasn\u2019t one, because the band just stayed on stage and kept playing without a break.<\/p>\n

But the underlying seriousness of the night wasn\u2019t lost on anyone. When \u201cAmerican Skin (41 Shots)\u201d began, the crowd went rapt. This quarter-century-old song, written about the murder of Ghanaian immigrant New Yorker Amadou Diallo, by police, didn\u2019t need to call attention to itself; the resonances were horribly plain for all to hear. It was an elegy, not a war cry, and the audience listened intensely. For all the volume the band (and audience) dealt, that relative quiet also made a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tour was not planned,\u201d Springsteen said near the finale, a grandiose \u201cChime Of Freedom\u201d. (The Dylan song followed a number from another Minnesota songwriter: \u201cPurple Rain\u201d, the fourth time the E Street Band has covered it.) \u201cWe needed to feel your hope and strength, and I hope we offered some hope and strength to you in return.\u201d There was no question \u2014 the energy had gone both ways, in a manner that nobody who was in the room is likely to forget.<\/p>\n

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band setlist Target Center, Minneapolis, March 31, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

War
Born in the USA
Death to My Hometown
No Surrender
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Streets of Minneapolis
Promised Land
Out in the Street
Hungry Heart
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
American Skin (41 Shots)
Long Walk Home
House of a Thousand Guitars
My City of Ruins
Because the Night
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Badlands
Land of Hope and Dreams
Born to Run
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Purple Rain
Chimes of Freedom<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band reviewed live in Minneapolis: a night of protest and power<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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