Concert Reviews
“Thoughtfulness. Morality. True strength and decency. Don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore because they do,” Springsteen told the Boston crowd.
Bruce Springsteen, right, performs with guitarist Tom Morello at TD Garden. Ben Stas for Boston.com
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at TD Garden, Boston, May 24, 2026.
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Read what Bruce Springsteen had to say about Trump, ICE, and America in Boston Sunday
About three songs into Bruce Springsteen’s show at TD Garden, my wife turned to me and exclaimed, “I love angry Bruce!” And as with most things, she was dead on: Bruce Springsteen sure was angry — more on that later — and there was also so much to love about the most riveting and inspiring concert I’ve ever seen, by him or anybody else.
Famously advertised as part of Springsteen’s own “No Kings” outing, the show functioned as a political rally, a call to action, and a reminder about the civic responsibility we all share (or are supposed to share, at any rate). But mostly, it was a celebration of what our country can be if we’re vigilant about defending the principles it was founded on, told through 50 years worth of songs that have crystalized the American experience — each of them delivered with an awe-inspiring urgency.
Of course, I’m sure I wouldn’t have been as enamored of the show if I was a diehard fan of our current president (I’m told they’re out there). Springsteen started the show alone in a spotlight at the center of the stage, delivering what was essentially a manifesto for his “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour”:
“The E Street Band is here tonight in celebration and defense of the American ideals and values that have sustained our country for 250 years. We are here to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in these troubled times. Our democracy, our Constitution, our rule of law are being challenged right now as never before by a reckless, racist, incompetent, treasonous president and his ship of fools administration. So 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 …”
The next word was sung: “War,” kicking off an explosive rendition of Edwin Starr’s 1970 anthem of that name. From there, Springsteen and his E Street Band never looked back. I’m not sure what people were expecting from a show that was advertised as political from its inception, but it was no Ted Talk: Springsteen made his opinions crystal clear in four carefully placed short statements throughout the two-hour and 45-minute show, but it was the music — 27 exquisitely chosen songs, 24 of them from his own vast catalog — that really did the talking.
Bruce Springsteen addresses the TD Garden crowd at the start of his show Sunday night. – Ben Stas for Boston.com
The gruff power in Springsteen’s 76-year-old voice was apparent from the get-go, tearing through “War” before ripping into “Born in the USA,” a song that’s been vastly misunderstood but is every bit the anti-Vietnam war anthem that Starr’s song was. Coming from the older Springsteen, it resonates differently than it did back in 1984: It sounds more resigned at “40 years down the road,” but every bit as angry.
“Rage Against the Machine” guitarist Tom Morello is a special guest on this tour, and immediately made his presence known on that iconic number. I’ll admit that I was nervous that his presence might rob us of Stevie Van Zandt moments (and that poor second guitarist Nils Lofgren might be relegated to the back riser with a tambourine). But I shouldn’t have worried — this iteration of the E Street Band, which also features a horn section, an additional percussionist, and the four-person “E Street Choir,” made full use of all of its talented musicians. To a one, they were at their peak: Max Weinberg’s drum break on “Born in the USA” alone would have killed a lesser man.
From there, “Death to My Hometown,” from 2012’s criminally underrated “Wrecking Ball” album, was a perfect fit for this tour, with its booming accompaniment (including saxophonist Jake Clemons on what I’ll refer to as Big Drum) and its chilling evisceration of “robber barons” whose “crimes have gone unpunished now.” The Clash cover “Clampdown” was another ideal choice and an especially good showcase for Morello, with its militant gusto and derision of “evil presidentes”: “It’s the best years of your life they want to steal,” Morello spat out.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band perform “Death to My Hometown” at TD Garden. – Ben Stas for Boston.com
“No Surrender” carried with it a very different message from the last time Springsteen played it at TD Garden, in 2023. That time, it was about staring down mortality; on Sunday, the same lyrics conveyed nothing less than a battle for the soul of the country. And Bruce is up for the fight, even if it means starting from scratch. When he sang “I’m ready to grow young again,” it sounded like he never meant it more.
The show’s centerpiece, though, was the performance of “Streets of Minneapolis,” the song Springsteen released just days after ICE agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti there this past January. As he snarled about the events of the “winter of 26,” it immediately puts those atrocities in the context of the seemingly never-ending string of historical wrongs that people have been singing about since Woody Guthrie and long before.
Bruce started the song alone, bathed in a pale blue spotlight, with the band kicking in like an approaching army as he implored the audience to “remember the names of those who died.” And when the chorale’s voices rise, it comes with an unexpected emotional kick of remorse and anger. Lit phones accompanied an arena-wide chant of “ICE out now”: “Let ’em hear you in Washington,” Bruce implored.
By the time the band launched into a life-affirming take on “The Promised Land,” it was clear that Springsteen was taking a sharp detour from the nostalgia of his 2016 “River Tour” or the ruminations on mortality from his last time around. This show was about hope in the face of disappointment and despair — in particular, the relentless hard work it takes to sustain it, even when you might want to give up. In short, he was saying, you gotta believe: When he belted out “I believe in the promised land,” he sang it like he was daring you to make him not.
Bruce Springsteen, right, stomps along with drummer Max Weinberg at TD Garden. – Ben Stas for Boston.com
Not that there were no lighter moments to be found Sunday night: “Two Hearts” was a fun and glorious paean to solidarity (and a great showcase for Stevie’s unique vocal talents). “Hungry Heart” was definitely there as a crowd-pleaser, even if its bouncy opening singalong is actually the darkest one in all of popular music. (You know, the one about the guy who goes out for a ride and leaves his wife and kids forever.) And the requisite encore of “Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “10th Avenue Freeze Out” was as raucous as ever.
But most of the songs conveyed more of a striking seriousness. The downbeat “Youngstown” can be a little logy, but Bruce forced it into life with urgent vocals (“I pray the devil comes and takes me to stand in the fiery furnaces of HEEEEELLLLLLL!” etc.) and was buoyed by Lofgren’s furious virtuoso guitar solo. (Complete with a twirl on his not-that-long-ago replaced hips.) The band seared through a fiery “Murder Incorporated,” and “American Skin (41 Shots)” was positively haunting, underpinned by Gary Tallent’s gripping bass work as Springsteen held his hands up, singing of the Black or Hispanic mother telling her young son what to do if he encounters police: “Promise mama you’ll keep your hands in sight.”
But what was maybe missing from some recent Springsteen tours but was utterly apparent here was an incredible urgency. Even in a straight-ahead rocker like “Because the Night,” his collaborative effort with Patti Smith, his insistence that “they can’t hurt us now” came across with a desperate gravity that felt new. The crowd, ranging in age from teens to octogenarians but definitely generally gray, stood cheering for the entirety of the show; there must have been a lot of sore backs the next morning, but certainly no regrets.
One big surprise of the night came from Springsteen’s emotional solo take on “House of a Thousand Guitars,” which felt a little shmaltzy on 2020’s “Letter For You,” but shone here in its unadorned glory. (It helped that this approach pushed the lyrics front and center: “The criminal clown has stolen the throne, he steals what he can never own” got a big round of cheers.)
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Quiz: As Springsteen returns to the Garden, test your Bruce-in-Boston knowledge
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Review & setlist: Springsteen stares down death at intense and rollicking Gillette show
Later, when Springsteen sang of the “flag flying over the courthouse” in the stirring “Long Walk Home,” an American flag appeared on the screens, no doubt as a reminder that it stands for all of us, not just a certain party or movement that may have tried to co-opt it. And while the boos that greeted the mention of the N.Y. Giants in “Wrecking Ball” got a smile out of Springsteen, he was immediately back to business as he implored us to “hold tight to your anger and don’t fall to your fears,” which could be part of a guide book to navigating what sometimes feels like a crumbling society.
Bruce maybe said it best in his most impassioned speech of the night, before a chilling version of “My City of Ruins” in which the city in question had become an entire country struggling to come back from the brink. It was evident from his words that while he, and we, might be angry, there’s cause for hope if we’re willing to fight for it.
“Honesty. Honor. Humility. Character. Integrity. Truth. Compassion. Humanity. Thoughtfulness. Morality. True strength and decency. Don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore because they do,” Springsteen said, to the loudest ovation of the night. “They are at the heart of the kind of men and women we are, the kind of citizens we want to be, the kind of country we want to leave to our children.”
Much of this may sound heavy, but let’s face it: Springsteen fans have never come to his shows for a party, not really. They’re there to feel something. And the motivation to keep going, to speak up, to hold on to hope even when your country is not living up to its ideals, was very very much felt by the all-in Garden crowd. Springsteen may have been preaching to the choir, yes, but sometimes even the choir needs a little push to keep singing.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band perform at TD Garden. – Ben Stas for Boston.com
Setlist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at TD Garden, May 24, 2026:
- War (Edwin Starr cover)
- Born in the U.S.A.
- Death to My Hometown
- Clampdown (The Clash cover)
- 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
- 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 cover)
Peter Chianca
Peter Chianca, Boston.com’s general assignment editor since 2019, is a longtime news editor, columnist, and music writer in the Greater Boston area.
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