Bruce Springsteen’s politics, rock power on full display in nearly 3-hour show in Pittsburgh
Bruce Springsteen actually does not like President Donald Trump.
If that wasn’t clear earlier than Tuesday night time’s live performance at PPG Paints Arena, it definitely was after.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer began off his packed Pittsburgh show with an earningest (however scripted) speech, calling these harmful occasions for America, lambasting the present administration and calling for a celebration and protection of American beliefs, democracy and the Constitution. For the report, I added just a few extra of these prolonged diatribes all through the night time.
But Springsteen and his E Street Band did their finest to channel the “righteous power” of arts, music and rock ‘n’ roll for nearly three hours on the group’s Land of Hope & Dreams American tour.
“Tonight we ask all of you to join with us in choosing hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over lawlessness, ethics over unbridled corruption, resistance over complacency, truth over lies, unity over division and peace over war,” stated Springsteen, with the band launching on that final phrase right into a spirited cover of “War,” made in style by Edwin Starr.
The often-misunderstood “Born in the USA” — it is definitely not a flag-waving, patriotic music — got here subsequent, that includes a quick guitar solo tradeoff between Springsteen and particular visitor Tom Morello. The revolutionary guitarist, most generally recognized from his tenure in the politically charged steel band Rage Against the Machine, joined the band for a dozen of the 27 songs on the night time.
After the Celtic-tinged protest music “Death to My Hometown,” which had a heavy accordion affect, Morello shared lead vocals with Springsteen on a canopy of the Clash’s “Clampdown.” After Springsteen’s line of “in these days of evil presidents,” Morello tweaked the subsequent lyric to make it “but lately one or two will hopefully pay their due.”
For essentially the most half, the songs chosen for this set appeared curated particularly to emphasize the concepts and beliefs behind the tour’s launch, whether or not it was resilience (“No Surrender” and “The Promised Land”) or optimism (“Land of Hope and Dreams.”) The band performed loads of working-class anthems like “Youngstown” and “Badlands,” in addition to Sept. 11 reflections like “The Rising” and “Long Walk Home,” which introduced the choir up entrance.
But there have been additionally extra overtly political songs just like the melancholic “American Skin (41 Shots),” which described the 1999 deadly police taking pictures of Amadou Diallo in New York City, erupting after a pair of solos from Morello. The 2026 anti-ICE music “Streets of Minneapolis,” which had the group chanting “ICE out now!” a number of occasions, ended somberly with photographs of Renee Good and Alexi Pretti on the large screens.
Railing towards what he considers to be injustice is not precisely a brand new stance for Springsteen: He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 by President Barack Obama and, in 2021, the Woody Guthrie Prize, which is for artists who communicate out for social justice. That stretched to his band too, with guitarist Steven Van Zandt utilizing a yellow and blue guitar on “No Surrender” in solidarity with Ukraine.
Most of the group gave the impression to be on the identical wavelength of the political spectrum, cheering on traces like “the criminal clown has stolen the throne” on the spare “House of a Thousand Guitars,” which Springsteen performed solo.
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Beyond the politics, Springsteen’s gospel of rock ‘n’ roll spotlighted the numerous musicians of the E Street Band – Van Zandt, guitarist Nils Lofgren, drummer Max Weinberg, bassist Garry Tallent and keyboardist Roy Bittan plus violinist/vocalist Soozie Tyrell, accordionist/organist Charles Giordano and saxophonist Jake Clemons, in addition to the four-member E Street Horns and the five-member E Street Choir. All advised, when Morello joined on songs, there have been 19 performers on stage.
Most of them obtained an opportunity to shine, for instance:
• Van Zandt’s solo on “Murder Incorporated,” plus singing face-to-face with Springsteen on songs like “Two Hearts” and “No Surrender”
• Lofgren’s spinning guitar solos, particularly on “Youngstown” and “Because the Night”
Nils Lofgren solos on “Because the Night” throughout Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s show on May 19, 2026, in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/zcB1Vgih4z
— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) May 20, 2026
• Weinberg blasting away at his drum set close to the tip of “Born in the USA” and “Badlands”
• Clemons’ quite a few sax solos like “Hungry Heart” or “The Promised Land”
• Tyrell’s violin featured prominently in “American Land”
• The horns and choir teams every have been spotlighted on “My City of Ruins”
Morello’s largest second of the night time got here on “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” a music that Rage Against the Machine had coated in the late Nineteen Nineties. While sharing lead vocals with Springsteen once more, Morello additionally shredded via a goosebump-inducing solo lasting greater than two minutes, with shades of Rage’s “Guerrilla Radio” in there. Morello, by the way, seemed to be sporting a No. 21 shirt from the Roberto Clemente Museum.
The five-song encore started with “American Land” — “This is an immigrant song,” Springsteen stated — with the entire performers besides Weinberg lined up throughout the stage for the Irish jig/rocker that will be proper at residence on a Dropkick Murphys album.
A rousing model of “Born to Run” led to “Dancing in the Dark,” his largest business hit, which featured a quick glimpse of the shimmy recognizable from his 1984 music video. Band introductions adopted into “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” which noticed him strolling into the group, shaking palms and pausing for a selfie whereas singing.
With the undertones of a gospel organ sound, Springsteen gave yet one more speech earlier than borrowing a web page from one other of America’s nice songwriters, closing with a canopy of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom.”
“Thank you for supporting our band through all these years. It’s always a pleasure coming to Pittsburgh. Through good good times, through hard times. Hell, the E Street Band was built for hard times, and we will make it through these.”
What was lacking: With a profession spanning greater than 50 years, it is inconceivable to play the entire favorites, even with a nearly three-hour show. Notable omissions included “Thunder Road,” “The River,” “Atlantic City,” “Glory Days” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).” There was additionally no look from Pittsburgh rock icon Joe Grushecky, a longtime buddy of Springsteen who had performed on “The Promised Land” in January on the Light of Day WinterFest in New Jersey.
A take a look at the merch for Bruce Springsteen’s show at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/gjwAXeKOSP
— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) May 19, 2026
The merch: A wide variety of T-shirts, for Springsteen and his band in addition to Morello, have been accessible for $50 every. There was additionally a Land of Hope & Dreams flag with “No Kings” in place of stars for $90 in addition to posters, totes, buttons and patches.
Last show right here: In 2024, Springsteen performed a pair of concerts at PPG Paints Arenawith reveals on Aug. 15 and 18. Further again in time, he additionally performed on May 19 in Pittsburgh in 2009.
What’s subsequent: While Springsteen’s subsequent live performance is May 22 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, he is additionally making an look for the penultimate show of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band setlist
War (The Temptations cowl)
Born in the USA
Death to My Hometown
Clampdown (The Clash cowl)
No Surrender
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Streets of Minneapolis
The Promised Land
Two Hearts
Hungry Heart
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
American Skin (41 Shots)
Long Walk Home
House of a Thousand Guitars
My City of Ruins
Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cowl)
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Badlands
Land of Hope and Dreams
encore
American Land
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan cowl)
