The Boss strikes back!

I’m going to do some cheerleading tonight, and let me tell you right now that I am not ashamed of it.

Bruce Springsteen announced today that he and the E Street Band will begin a “Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour” in March through seventeen cities, making a total of twenty appearances. The tour follows the release of his first protest song in decades, “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he wrote and recorded following the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis last month.

The way Springsteen announced the E Street Band Tour was overtly political: “We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times, but do not despair — the cavalry is coming! Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will be taking the stage this spring from Minneapolis to California to Texas to Washington, D.C. for the Land of Hope And Dreams American Tour. We will be rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America — American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution and our sacred American dream — all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C. Everyone, regardless of where you stand or what you believe in, is welcome — so come on out and join the United Free Republic of E Street Nation for an American spring of Rock ‘n’ Rebellion! I’ll see you there!”

The tour opens in Minneapolis on March 31 and closes on May 27 in Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Springsteen has been outspoken in his opposition to the presidency of Donald Trump, describing his administration “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous” on the first night of the band’s European tour last summer. He called on his European audience “to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”

Springsteen’s announcement comes on the heels of the wonderfully inclusive Super Bowl halftime show by Bad Bunny that drove the MAGA right-wing faithful to distraction and mania on February 8. It also follows the announced closure of the Kennedy Center in Washington, supposedly for “repairs and renovation,” but everyone knows the real reason was the cancellation of musical, dance, and theater performances after Trump pasted his name above that of John F. Kennedy on the center.

Springsteen has drawn a line under a fact of life in this country that has not been adequately acknowledged. The creative community in the United States, from literature, art, dance, theater, classical music, jazz, rock and roll, blues, rhythm and blues, rap, and pop is dominated if not wholly owned by people of the Left. Country is the only form of popular music that is dominated by the Right, with more than a few performers endorsing Trump during his election campaign in 2024. Every other president who has occupied the White House in recent times, including Ronald Reagan and both Bushes, were able to call upon performers from various parts of the arts community to appear at the White House, and nobody refused to appear at the Kennedy Center over the past several decades.

No prominent performers appeared at the White House in Trump’s first term in office. This time around, the people Trump was able to get to perform to celebrate his inauguration were Carrie Underwood, Kid Rock, the Village People, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Lee Greenwood, Billy Ray Cyrus, and the Liberty University Praise Choir. No prominent performer appeared at the White House last year.

During Barack Obama’s term, many prominent artists appeared at the White House, including Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Mick Jagger, who appeared in celebration of Black History Month in 2012 alongside B.B. King and Jeff Beck. Bob Dylan appeared in 2010 as part of a White House celebration of the Civil Rights Movement.

The appearances of major talents at the White House in years past has been taken for granted. Of course, performers such as Dylan and B.B. King and many, many others including famous opera singers and jazz musicians would appear at the White House! It was the people’s house, and it was an honor to be invited to entertain presidents and their guests. That came to a screeching halt in Trump’s first term, and the absence of talent from the White House has continued in his second term.

Springsteen appears unafraid that his overt criticism of Trump will affect his standing with his fans and the public at large. The rest of the music community should take note. Think about what could happen during this year leading up to the midterm elections if performers joined Springsteen and the E Street Band on the road, taking a pro-democracy, anti-Trump and anti-ICE message to arenas and theaters around the country. They wouldn’t have to endorse individual candidates or even raise money for the Democratic Party. All they would have to do is go out on stage and tell audiences where they stand: Trump’s authoritarianism NO, democracy and freedom YES.

Springsteen’s stand also follows the outrageous act of censorship by CBS and the FCC of Stephen Colbert following his announcement that he would have Texas senate candidate James Talarico on his show last night.

This shit will not stand if the arts community stands up and stands together. They’re afraid of Bad Bunny. They’re afraid of Bruce Springsteen. They’re afraid of Stephen Colbert. They’re afraid of Jimmy Kimmel. They’re afraid of The View. They’re afraid of anybody who is not afraid of them.

They would be flattened with fear if other popular music acts stood up and took a stand alongside Colbert and Springsteen and Kimmel and Bad Bunny. They can try to censor individual performers, like they did with Colbert yesterday. But he put his interview with Talarico online where millions of viewers, far more than his CBS audience, saw it.

There is strength in numbers. There is strength in talent. Put both together, and we can turn these assholes and their hate inside out with their jealousy and anger. We have something they don’t – belief in what this country stands for and the willingness to stand up and sing out against Trump’s oppression.