By Alliance President Terry Gips
There are some nights you’ll never forget. Bruce Springsteen’s March 31 concert was one of them.
Yes, it was another tour de force musically by the astoundingly fit, energetic and resolute 76-year-old Boss and E Street Band, but way beyond. He shared his 18-city tour was unplanned and only born by the bravery and courage of Minnesotans. Fittingly, the tour began where people rose up, and will end in Washington, DC, the source of the carnage.
Bruce’s Opening Call for Hope Over Fear, Democracy Over Authoritarianism
Bruce opened in darkness with a haunting guitar backdrop: “Good evening Minnesota! Welcome to the Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour. I want to begin tonight with a prayer for our men and women in service overseas. We pray for their safe return.” He then launched into a passionate, profound and powerful call:
“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call on the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times. We are here in celebration and defense of our American ideals: democracy, our Constitution and our sacred American promise.
“The America that I love, the America that I’ve written about for 50 years that’s been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous administration.
“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, unity over division, and peace over war” and launching into his rendition of “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.”
Three Hours of an Historical Musical and Prophetic Resistance to Power
So began three hours of pounding classic Bruce interspersed with three more excoriations of Trump and his devastation. Time encapsulated the depth well: “Historians may remember the performance as among the most unflinching acts of musical and theatrical resistance mounted against Donald Trump — or any president, for that matter — in the nation’s history.”
“Springsteen channeled a lineage of dissent that runs through the country’s cultural bloodstream, blending the moral clarity and populism of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie with the propulsive, confrontational energy of Rage Against the Machine, all carried forward by the full force of the E Street Band.”
Renee, Alex and The Streets of Minneapolis
In another of his “sermons”, Bruce poignantly spoke and sang his love of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as how he was inspired by how we stood up against the forces of evil that invaded us on The Streets of Minneapolis.
“This past winter, federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of Minneapolis. Well, they picked the wrong town. The power, the solidarity of the people of Minneapolis, of Minnesota, was an inspiration to the entire country. Your strength and your commitment told us this is still America and this will not stand. Minnesota, you gave us hope, you gave us courage.”
In the song, he asked us to join him in shouting, “ICE Out Now!”, but insisted he couldn’t hear us. He kept us chanting until we reached a thunderous, “ICE OUT NOW!”
He minced no words in speaking to Orange Hair and called on us to rise up as he held a No Kings sign high.
Bruce reminded us of the pride we can restore in being American as we sang Born in the USA, despite its reminder of how painfully and horribly we acted in Vietnam…and continue to act in the Middle East.
The Unforgettable Talk from the Mountain Top with a Call to Rise Up
Bruce sat for an intimate person-to-person final message before standing like a prophet and delivering one of the most searing, comprehensive, unforgettable and unscripted assessments of what is happening now:
“Here in the states we are living through some very dark times. Our American values that have sustained us for 250 years are being challenged as never before.
“We’ve got our young men and women’s lives at risk in an unconstitutional and illegal war. This is happening now.
“There are immigrants being held in detention centers around the country and being deported without due process of law to alien countries and foreign gulags. This is happening now.
“Our Justice Department has completely abdicated its independence and our Attorney General Pam Bondi takes her marching orders straight from her corrupt lawyers. She prosecutes our President’s perceived enemies, covers up for his misdeeds and protects his powerful friends. And this is happening now.
“The richest men in America have abandoned the world’s poorest children through death and disease through their dismantling of USAID. This is happening now.
“We are abandoning NATO and the world order that’s kept us safe and at global peace for 80 years. This is happening now.
“We threaten our neighbors and our allies whose sons and daughters have fought alongside us in American wars with the predatory annexation of their lands. This is happening now.
“Our museums are being told to whitewash American history of any unpleasant or inconvenient facts, like the full history of the brutality of slavery. Do you want to talk about snowflakes? We have a President who can’t handle the truth. This is happening now.
“While working Americans struggle, our President and his family enrich themselves by billions of dollars trading on the People’s office in corruption unmatched in American history. This is happening now.
“This White House is destroying the American idea of our reputation around the world. To many we are no longer looked upon as an often imperfect but strong defender of democracy standing for the global good. We are no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are now, to many, America the reckless, unpredictable, predatory rogue nation. That is this administration’s and this President’s legacy. And this is happening now.
“Honesty, honor, humility, compassion, thoughtfulness, morality, true strength and decency. Don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore. They do.
“They’re at the heart of the kind of men and women we are, the kind of citizens we are, the kind of country we’ll be leaving to our children.
“So many of our elected leaders have failed us that this American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people.
“So join us and fight for the America we love. Are you with us?”
He then launched into the pathos of My City in Ruins.
Closing with a Tribute to Prince
It was so fitting that Bruce chose to end with an ode to Prince, saying “For the Maestro”. The stage was bathed in purple for Purple Rain and filled with Prince’s energy by the unworldly wailing guitars of legends Tom Morello, Nils Lofgren and Stevie Van Zandt.
My Personal Reflections on the Church of Bruce and How It Prepared Me for Passover
Can you imagine 20,000 passionate Gospel church goers singing and dancing full-out with their choir led by a Prince-like minister giving four from-the-heart sermons about hope and standing up to overcome evil in our world, interspersed with driving, non-stop iconic anthems about love, loss, joy, hope and oppression he wrote and performed with some of the world’s greatest musicians giving every ounce of their virtuosity to reach such heights that the attendees never sat and together lifted the building to places unknown?
That was the night before Passover, which heralds our Liberation from the oppressive, sociopathic narcissistic Pharaoh as we crossed the Sea of Reeds and began our journey to the Promised Land with the help of God. This year, it was oh-so-aptly, fresh from the record-breaking No Kings Rally on Saturday where Bruce also sang The Streets of Minneapolis.
Normally, the night before Passover I participate in the Jewish ritual of cleansing my home of chameitz (leaven but also puffiness and ego). It’s a profound experience to search the home you know so well but now completely darkened, using a single candle to seek the last 10 pieces of bread you earlier had placed in each room, then having to find them with a single candle and the help of kids and your dog.
It’s more intriguing than an Easter egg hunt, and though there is a certain element of competition between human and dog to find the chameitz, it still allows the searching of the soul in shadows and light to uncover and remove those last vestiges of ego and puffiness.
Last night brought that level of purity in preparation for Passover. The next morning is normally the burning of the chameitz, usually the 10 pieces of bread (but our canine companion Teddy usually finds and devours half! No, he’s not completely gluten-free!) that were placed in each room throughout the home for the symbolic final cleansing and purification before Passover — on a physical and personally spiritual level.
What made that night different from all other nights? I feel like my home and soul were purified with the help of “Almighty Bruce” (a fabulous movie) and 20,000 other “found” souls.
This was my most revelatory Passover purification and preparation ever. Thank you Bruce!