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...I was watching the set list develop on line from the Manchester show last night. For old Bruce watchers like me it became very obvious quickly that this was an ‘on message’ show. Within the first 6 songs this was going to be a political message show. When Bruce plays certain songs you KNOW he’s got something on his mind. I won’t go into the setlist, but it’ll be up on Setlist.fm.

Waking up this morning I got to see the video of his speech(es) from the stage denouncing an unfit to serve president and a rogue administration and my suspicions were right, this was arguably the most ‘political’ tour show Springsteen has ever done. He spoke of people being disappeared off the streets without due process etc
The highlights can be found here in The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/15/bruce-springsteen-trump-manchester-rogue-government-siding-with-dictators

I’m glad he said what he said, likewise with DeNiro in Cannes (and every opportunity he gets, fair play). We’re beginning to see more and more high profile Americans starting to finally open their mouths (shout out too for Ben from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, who ended up in handcuffs for trying to denounce the atrocities of Gaza children being killed by Trumps administration while removing Medicare from children from the most vulnerable set of US citizens.

People will argue (Bruce has Republican fans who still misguidingly think Born The USA is a song about jingoistic patriotism, it certainly ain’t) that he should just sing his songs and shut up. I’m happy that he’s not. Ffs *someone* has to start/maintain an open conversation around the horror show that is America right now. We knew T2 was going to be bad but I don’t think many of us knew it’d be THIS bad. I’m not anti semitic, all religions are anthema to me. But f*** Israel too.

Let’s hope that more and more artists, and people who have a public platform keep the momentum going about denouncing that hideous man and his sycophants from every possible public forum available.

A highlight from one of Springsteens comments.

“There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.
In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now.
In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.
They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society.
They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands.
They are removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centres and prisons. This is all happening now.
A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.
The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, ‘In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’


Apologies, had to get that off my chest, the feelings of helplessness to change this are overwhelming.