"...one last look..." - Letters To You's Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour Wrap-Up
- Letters To You
- 3 hours ago
- 11 min read
June 10, 2026
To paraphrase what was the tour's nightly closing song - Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" delivered in its Byrds-inspired arrangement - as we listen one more time and watch with one more look, here are additional observations and insights from some of Letters To You's contributing writers and friends on Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's 2026 Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, accompanied by some great photos from Rob DeMartin, Mark Krajnak, and Pam Springsteen:
----------
I saw the second stop on the Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour – Portland, Oregon – on April 3, and I still can’t get it out of my head. Nor do I want to. Springsteen’s shows with the E Street Band have always been spirit-lifting, life-giving and soul-stirring. But this show, this tour, was even more than that. As I wrote in my blog, "Incandescent with rage, defiance and passionate purpose, this show is as much a traveling No Kings rally as it is a Springsteen show. It is very much meant to be an intersection of music, progressive politics and patriotism..."
Bruce did something extraordinary on this tour. Within the context of a rock and roll concert,
he bore witness to the atrocities of the authoritarian Trump regime. And in doing that, he made sure everyone present at the shows or watching videos taken by fans at shows or reading the heavy media coverage of the shows could not look away. In the "This is happening now" speech with which he prefaced "My City of Ruins," Springsteen kept a running tally of the lawlessness of the Trump Administration, a list of unspeakable acts that grew daily as the tour made its way across the country. He called out the unlawful and illegal war with Iran, the genocidal consequence of ending USAID in Africa, the whitewashing of history, the ICE concentration camps, on and on. I’ve never seen a performer get a lengthy standing ovation for a political speech in the middle of a rock and roll show before. But, as Springsteen said in his opening speech, these are unprecedented and dangerous times.
How did he get away with this raw political fire? This tour was made possible by Springsteen’s fifty years of cultivating a career, a persona and a legacy based on authenticity, human connection, big emotions and, yes, social consciousness. Bruce has never shied from engaging in social and political activism, through his song subjects, his support of Vietnam Veterans of America, his participation in the No Nukes and Human Rights Now concerts, and his endorsements of Democratic candidates. But still, his sheer nerve and blistering anger, beginning with the late-January release of "Streets of Minneapolis" and continuing with this Spring 2026 pop-up tour, took me by surprise. Maybe he was heeding the advice of his friend and collaborator Tom Morello, that subtlety is fine but sometimes you have to kick them in the teeth. Or maybe it was simply that Bruce is an oldster, like many of his core fans, and he’s sick of lying awake at night worrying about the failing country we’re leaving our kids. Everything about the Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour grabbed you by the shoulders and screamed, "Wake up and do something!"
The setlist was crafted with blazing intentionality, starting with the stunning opening blast of
Edwin Starr’s "War”" followed by “Born in the USA” followed by "Death to My Hometown." (The E Street Band, choir, horns, and guest Morello on guitar created a mighty and joyful noise on this tour.) An example of how context is everything: "Death to My Hometown" was in the set of the San Francisco show I saw in 2024, where its message of income inequality and sending the robber barons straight to hell was sort of lost within the career overview structure of that tour. But, oh, how it slashed and burned here.
Watching videos of Springsteen nearly vibrating with anger on the "This is happening now”
speech during the Philadelphia tour closer, I realized what these shows reminded me of. On this tour, Bruce modeled exactly what historian Timothy Snyder wrote about in his indispensable book about taking concrete actions to resist authoritarianism, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.
Most of Snyder’s lessons were represented in this show. Springsteen reclaimed patriotism in
three nightly speeches (scripted, for the most part) extolling American ideals, democracy and
the Constitution, and in saying "God bless America" at the end of every show. (The lighting cues were also done exclusively in red, white and blue.) Exercising the right of free speech, he exhorted the crowd to shout "ICE Out Now!" on "Streets of Minneapolis," again and again. He told the plain truth about the only way out of this mess: "This American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people!" He sent us home with an action to perform, urging us to "take aggressive, peaceful action" as Renee Good did, to "get in good trouble," as Civil Rights icon John Lewis preached. Snyder’s final and shortest chapter is simply titled, “Be as Courageous as You Can.” With the Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, I believe Springsteen showed us what that looks like in practice.
-Joyce Millman, whose writing also can be found at her Joyce Millman Writes WordPress site
----------
I had been ambivalent about going to see Bruce after the last tour, which had left me disappointed and a little sad. Unfortunately, some of the reasons why I was disappointed then have not been completely assuaged by the LOHAD tour.
While the setlist overall tells a coherent narrative and is filled with the mood shifts that used to be second nature to Bruce–and in truth, one of his greatest strengths as a performer–I cannot get past the final third of the three-hour LOHAD set, which I find to be a bit rambling and incoherent. And I absolutely think he needs to re-think the length of the show. At one time, long shows packed a wallop, but now they just seem draining, both for him and for his audience, which though it includes young folks, skews toward Gen X. It just seems like he’s doing what’s expected by his audience, not pushing them outside their comfort zones and then pulling them back in again–something he used to do effortlessly.
Positives: I think the band works well together. The lineup is strong, and various performers integrate well into the overall story. The song selection generally supports the overarching themes of the tour: that the strength of America lies in its diversity and in the power of people to make positive change; that the future of this country lies in the willingness of its citizens to fight for the pluralistic republic envisioned in the Declaration of Independence; and finally, that it is critical in this time of crisis for them to get out and, as the late, great John Lewis once said, “make good trouble–necessary trouble–and redeem the soul of America.”
Negatives: I believe that although he’s excised some of the warhorses–which were sounding lethargic and a bit forced–from the set, there are several songs that do not fit the overall narrative and/or are by no means his best material. I think "The Rising" is a great song but because it’s reflective of a very specific time and place, needs to be used selectively. It seems out of place here. And I just cannot abide "Wrecking Ball." It’s a throwaway song about tearing down Giants Stadium, and I just do not accept that it’s metaphorical. (Even if you accept that it is a metaphor, it’s a clunky one at best.) I think the singalong ending to "Badlands" needs to be dropped. One of the good things about this tour is the speed with which one song flows into the next, and this particular audience participation number just drags. Finally, I think that although the last rap of the evening is powerful and necessary, it is a bit long, and that the set-closing "Chimes of Freedom" needs a little introduction.
Those are my comments. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.
-Lisa Iannucci, who in addition to contributing regularly to Letters To You, is also part of the state leadership/activism team for Moms Demand Action NJ
----------
The structure of the Land of Hope & Dreams Tour was closer to Springsteen on Broadway than some of Bruce’s freewheeling concerts, where the setlist was often determined in part by homemade fan signs. On this tour, Bruce mapped out the musical arc through a carefully curated set list, shaping the emotional journey of the show. This leads me to view the Land of Hope & Dreams Tour as a theatrical roadshow, rather than a concert. Having some sort of structure allowed Bruce to deliver a very specific message. Bruce’s order of songs had an effortless flow to honor both the good and the bad of present-day America. He confronted our country’s predisposition to brutal violence in songs like "Youngstown" and "Streets of Minneapolis," then celebrated the joy of community in songs like "Two Hearts" or "American Land." This balance was welcome and kept the show from becoming too dystopic. I did miss Bruce's spontaneous banter (and enjoyed the little I got of it at the Phoenix show, where he reminisced about performing there on a rotating stage), but his monologues from the teleprompter were still galvanizing. Bruce clearly knew what he wanted to say and was going to deliver it exactly as he needed to.
Unlike Springsteen on Broadway, this tour had the E Street Band being absolutely tight as a wire, to the point that I could have seen this same setlist over and over again and never tired of it. The opening one-two punch of Edwin Starr's "War" and "Born in the U.S.A." exploded like a rocket blast and the show kept soaring from there. While his style may not be for everyone, Tom Morello's screeching and jagged guitar was fitting. The discordant sounds are meant to make you uncomfortable. They sound like the moans of the oppressed that Bruce sings of. My only complaint about the Land of Hope & Dreams Tour is that the Magic album deserved more love. Songs like "Last to Die" and "Magic" would have fit well, considering the tensions with Iran.
I was pleased when Bruce performed parts of this tour and rallied against President Trump in Europe, but felt the message would be stronger on American soil. Now he finally had that chance to bravely speak out against the administration’s authoritarian policies and ICE. I'm still terrified for the future, but hearing the gorgeous E Street Choir resounding for the "aching ones," and Bruce reaffirming that the traits I value as an American—"honesty, honor, humility, character, truth, compassion, humanity, thoughtfulness, morality, true strength, and decency"—have not been entirely lost, I began to feel hope again for the first time.
-Caroline Madden, whose extensive writing and scholarship can be explored centrally via her website, CarolineMaddenWriter.com
----------
"Mister I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man... And I believe in a promised land." That is typically one of the few moments in a Springsteen concert where I am filled with the power of anger, a fierceness, a screaming intensity, fists pumping. More often my affect moves from joy and hope to sorrow and grief, often conjuring up lost Springsteen friends. But not at the Long
Island concert on May 5th. No, anger, rage even, ruled me, took me over, raised both fists, and it was such a relief, it was almost a joy to feel it with thousands of fans and Bruce himself, all of whom seemed enveloped in it, the personal fury many of us have been feeling for so long, each song digging in deeper, and bringing it to the collective, communal level, which is where it needs to be. In the next show, in Brooklyn a week later, the wrath had subsided and the sorrow washed over me, a larger societal loss and grief, all the damage done, in addition to the friends no longer dancing with me. Lots of tears... And prayers for our country, with "Long Walk Home," and the outstretched arms at "American Skin (41 Shots)", invoking a cross. In my last show, with my daughter and her best friend and her friend’s father in Boston, it all came together: the anger, the sorrow, the ecstasy and hope, maybe because it was the third one, maybe because we danced and harmonized so beautifully together, maybe because Bruce wanted us to feel it all. I think of the women fans in our Mary Climbs In book who see Springsteen intimately as a spiritual guide, teacher, therapist, healer, and now I see he has taken that on for the country as a whole.
"Made For This," a phrase my alma mater, Duke University, has used to speak of
confronting the challenges of our current world. That phrase has stuck in my head, that all of
Bruce’s work was "made for this," this moment, this destruction of democracy. Each song had
intense meaning and messaging when he wrote them, but, beyond our understanding, maybe beyond this world, they were all "made for this" and we desperately need them now.
Thank you, Bruce, especially, for naming USAID, and for bringing us (via the video-screens) Clarence.
-Lorraine Mangione, co-author of Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen's Women Fans
----------
The LOHAD tour was a great gift from Bruce to us and a rallying cry. For me, my two shows (Newark and Belmont Park) were a place to grieve and to hope. And a place to channel rage into the powerful antidote of community. Bruce’s ability to build community on a nightly basis, to help his audience become somehow unified, has never been more palpable, or more needed. Joy is something I’ve found hard to access of late, and there was plenty of that, too. The way his performance worked through the darkness while never losing sight of the light, indeed bringing back the light, brought tears to my eyes many times. I left both of my two shows uplifted, inspired, and convinced, as Bruce said, that the America I love still exists... if I continue to fight for it.
Expressions of gratitude from Bruce to his fans, and lately back from fans to Bruce, became a feature of the ending of the LOHAD shows. I have never felt more grateful and proud to be a Springsteen fan. In these difficult days, Bruce’s performances and music, my lifetime companions, sustain me more than ever. We, his fans, and his country, are blessed by his bravery.
-Donna Luff, co-author of Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen's Women Fans
----------
Philly, May 30th. Last show of the tour. But this one is different. The hopes that normally come with a final show of a tour are absent. The hopes that he will add to the set list, surprise us all with "Rosalita" or "Quarter to Three" do not exist. This time it’s a different kind of hope. For as exciting as the E Street Band was that night, what I will remember most is not the kickass, out-of-this-world rock-and-rolling I’ve grown accustomed to, but the spoken words that came from Bruce. The hope. The plea for help for our country. The call to "do something." The indictment of the current administration. All of it. That’s what I will remember from that night.
-Joe Amodei, filmmaker, whose latest film is Cold War in Philly: The Untold Story Behind Hockey's Greatest Upset
Click here (March 31 in Minneapolis through May 5 in Belmont Park) and here (May 11 in NYC through May 30 in Philly) for a complete listing of all of the non-profit organizations that were spotlighted and supported at each show on the 2026 Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, along with online contact information so you can get involved with the non-profit organization closest to your community and/or your heart.
Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive, and stay involved!