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Before Bruce Springsteen sings a word on the opening night of his European tour, he has something to get off his chest. “The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock’n’roll in dangerous times,” he says. “The America I love is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.” The band then launch into a roaring, rousing version of Land of Hope and Dreams, as strings swoop, brass soars and Springsteen gives an impassioned take of the song he sang for Clarence Clemons on his deathbed. Followed by Death to My Hometown – with the titular lyrics delivered with venomous sting – it sets the tone for an evening that is bruised and angry yet also hopeful and filled with love.
The band – who Springsteen calls a “booty-shaking, lovemaking, Viagra-taking, history-making” outfit – are a hurricane force; so tight and in lockstep that they actually feel loose and relaxed. Darkness on the Edge of Town purrs along, almost grooving; The Promised Land is as potent as it is poignant.
There is an inescapable feeling of loss that permeates the evening, with Springsteen mourning the corroded spirit and erased freedoms of the country he loves so dearly. However, as political and polemical as much of it is – there are multiple speeches – it’s not all doom and gloom. Springsteen sings the line “hard times come and hard times go” in Wrecking Ball with such seething intensity it feels like a mantra.
The final stretch is bursting with joy though and its emphatic run exists as a symbol of love over hate and the power of unity over division, as ground-shaking, lung-busting versions of Badlands, Thunder Road, Born to Run and Dancing in the Dark ring out. But the choice to finish on a fiery yet emotional version of Bob Dylan’s Chimes of Freedom hits home a clear message tonight. And despite the hurt and despair that underpins much of it, there are few artists able to pluck hope from the darkest depths of the US, with such elegance and beauty, quite like Bruce Springsteen.
