Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band Bring Land of Hope and Dreams to PPG Paints Arena

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band brought their Land of Hope and Dreams Tour to a sold out PPG Paints Arena Tuesday night. Springsteen has ratcheted up his social justice activism more in recent years and, while always a spiritual leader of sorts, he has been firing “aural ammunition” at the current administration’s illegal activities, corruption, and inhumanity. The concert program for this tour features many of his protest and social justice songs over his career, including many top hits that fit the theme.

Springsteen sat on the front edge of the stage several times—dressed in a dark vest, pants, and white shirt with tie—and gave thoughtful commentary to the audience regarding the current bleak conditions, all while inspiring his fans to positive action. At one point he even said, “No one is coming to save us, we have to save ourselves.” Both Springsteen and the audience seemed very fired up to proclaim their desire for a better country. Springsteen also said that we’ve never been a perfect country, although we strive to be better. “America was founded on disagreement, but respectful disagreement, and we need to get back to that.”

The concert opened with a cover of the song “War” by Edwin Starr and “Born in the USA.” The latter was seen by some politicians as a patriotic anthem, while in actuality it was a realistic look at some of our failings. “Death to My Hometown” and The Clash’s “Clampdown” saw Rage Against the Machine frontman and guitarist Tom Morello join the band on stage that evening. “No Surrender” was followed by “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”

“Streets of Minneapolis” saw Springsteen talking about the I.C.E. killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti and how inspirational it was that Minnesotans stood up for their fellow citizens. Springsteen led the band and crowd in “I.C.E. out now!” chants several times during the song. Following was “Two Hearts” and “Hungry Heart” which featured an audience sing-along to start the song, a swirling organ piece by Charlie Giordano and some fat horn parts by the E Street Horns: Eddie Manion (Pittsburgh area resident and saxophonist), Barry Danielian (trumpet), Ozzie Melendez (trombone), and Curt Ramm (trumpet). Jake Clemons (nephew of the late E Street Band saxophonist, Clarence Clemons) brought the song solidly home with a fantastic sax feature. “Youngstown” saw the stage accented with red lights, much like the song details. Pittsburgh rocker Joe Grushecky normally plays with Springsteen on this song, but didn’t this time. Nils Lofgren contributed a blazing run on his Stratocaster. The hard rocking “Murder Incorporated” followed and saw an equally killer guitar run by Stevie Van Zandt who played his black Stratocaster with purple paisley pickguard. 

One of the most intense protest songs of the night was “American Skin (41 Shots)” about the killing by New York City Police officers of an unarmed man, Amadou Diallo, suspected of committing a crime when he reached into his pocket for his I.D. The song featured a fantastic intro by pianist Roy Bittan. The E Street Chorus (Ada Dyer, Curtis King, Lisa Lowell, and Michelle Moore) sang a protest chorus of “41 shots.” One of the lyrics speaks of a mother asking her child to promise to be polite to any police officer that stops them, not run away, and keep their hands where they can be seen. Springsteen called “Long Walk Home” a prayer for our country. Then came “House of a Thousand Guitars” which saw Springsteen performing an acoustic solo set with guitar and harmonica. The lyrics speak of “The criminal clown has stolen the throne; He steals what he can never own.”

“My City in Ruins” had another beautiful piano intro by Bittan and solid bass play by Garry Tallent. “Because the Night,” a song written by Springsteen and Patti Smith, was a tasty treat in the set list. The song featured even more beautiful piano by Bittan and had E Street violinist Soozie Tyrell playing acoustic guitar and singing vocals. “Wrecking Ball” was followed by a bit of inspiration with “The Rising.”

Next Springsteen summoned “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” which draws inspiration from Woody Guthrie’s ballad about the iconic central character in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Springsteen’s “Ghost of Tom Joad” is a social justice equalizer. Usually performed as a folk song, Springsteen sometimes revs it up as was the case this night. Morello added a lot to the song with his Stratocaster which had “Arm the Homeless” emblazoned on it. He rocked the song with a variety of pedal effects and strong licks. He also proudly sported a t-shirt with the number 21; a nod to the Pirate’s great humanitarian, Roberto Clemente. 

“Badlands” saw Springsteen and Van Zandt singing vocals on a shared mic for part of the song. Springsteen played his light brown Telecaster to make a low and steady growl. Clemons performed another dynamic sax piece. And Max Weinberg, a most amazing drummer, had fantastic fills and made powerful use of his tom toms, especially on songs from Darkness on the Edge of Town. Songs like “Badlands,” “Promised Land,” “Prove It All Night” and the title track. Some drummers have a large kit with all the accoutrements, but Weinberg keeps his mostly modest. Drummers by the nature of their task are perpetual motion machines and Weinberg lives up to that. His extremities in constant motion hitting a skin or pressing a kick pedal. Ending the set was the title song for the tour, “Land of Hope and Dreams.”

The first song of the encore set was “American Land,” an old time sounding song about the myth of America to those who desired to come and the sad reality they often encounter. During the song, Van Zandt played an electric mandolin, percussionist Anthony Almonte played a drum that was strapped around his neck, and several other band members played accordions.”Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” sent the night into hyperdrive. During “Freeze-Out” the video screen showed a tribute to Clarence Clemons playing sax. The encore ended with the Bob Dylan song “Chimes of Freedom.” Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” played while the audience filed out.

Seeing Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band live is a wondrous experience. Each performer, or unit, plays together like a well-oiled machine, and each also gets their turn to shine in the limelight. Tuesday’s show was another top notch Springsteen concert in Pittsburgh.

Rick Handler is the executive producer of Entertainment Central.

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