Bruce Springsteen is getting ready to embark on his Land of Hope and Dreams tour next week.
The legendary “Dancing In the Dark” rocker, 76, and his E Street Band announced last month that they will be traveling to several major U.S. cities “in celebration and in defense of America.”
Speaking to the Minnesota Star Tribune ahead of his first concert in Minneapolis, Springsteen promised that “the tour is going to be political and very topical about what’s going on in the country.”
“The E Street Band is built for hard times. It always was,” he added. “These are the moments when I think we can be of real value and real worth to the community. These are moments that fill the band with purpose, so I try to fill the set list around those ideas.”
Springsteen is one of Trump’s staunchest critics in music. He’s taken aim at the president numerous times during live performances.
Asked if he ever worries that his anti-Trump stance might alienate a portion of his fanbase, he insisted: “My job is very simple: I do what I want to do, I say what I want to say and then people get to say what they want to say about it. Those are the rules of my game. That’s fine with me.
“I don’t worry about if you’re going to lose this part of your audience. I’ve always had a feeling about the position we play culturally, and I’m still deeply committed to that idea of the band. The blowback is just part of it. I’m ready for all that.”
In a new clip shared Wednesday on Instagram, Springsteen promoted his tour. “The E Street Band is coming your way,” he said, “and we are bringing hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over lawlessness, ethics over unbridled corruption, unity over division and peace over war.”
Surrounded by his band, the Grammy-winner listed off the cities they will be stopping in after Minneapolis, Minnesota, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, Chicago, Atlanta, New York City, Boston and Washington D.C.
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The forthcoming tour comes a month after Springsteen released his protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” which criticized Donald Trump after ICE agents invaded the city on his orders. The song was written in response to the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, two Minneapolis residents who were shot and killed by federal immigration agents earlier this year.
“We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times,” Springsteen said in a video last month. “But do not despair, the calvary is coming. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be taking the stage this spring from Minneapolis to California to Texas to Washington D.C. for the Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour.
“We will be rocking your town,” he added, pointing at the camera, “in celebration and in defense of America, American democracy, American freedom, our American constitution and our sacred American dream — all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C.”
He concluded: “Everyone, regardless of where you stand or what you believe in, is welcome. So come on out and join the united free republic of E Street nation for an American spring of rock and rebellion. I’ll see you there.”
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