{"id":646550,"date":"2026-05-04T05:26:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T05:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/646550\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T05:26:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T05:26:28","slug":"review-chimes-of-freedom-flashing-thoughts-on-seeing-bruce-springsteen-at-the-united-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/646550\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: “Chimes of Freedom”\u2014Flashing Thoughts on Seeing Bruce Springsteen at the United Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday night at the United Center<\/a>, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band<\/a> came to town as part of their Land of Hope & Dreams\/No Kings tour. I have seen Springsteen perform many times over the years\u2014according to memory and rough mathematics, this is my 19th time. I have seen him at muted acoustic shows (The Ghost of Tom Joad tour at the Rosemont Theatre), at a joyful Seeger Sessions show in Tinley Park, and at his wondrous one-man show on Broadway. The Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour, dubbed the No Kings shows, ranks with the best of them.<\/p>\n

I first saw Springsteen <\/a>in November 1978 at McGaw Hall in Evanston, an intense and intensely fun show. At that point, I was aware of him from the recordings that I bought and the reviews in newspapers and magazines. Even though I thought I knew what to expect I was still blown away by the fire and fury of his performance. I saw him a few more times in the 1980s and then nothing until the release of The Rising in 2002, although I always followed his career and purchased his records.<\/p>\n

Springsteen <\/a>is one of the greatest performers in music and what made this latest show special for me wasn\u2019t the perennial crowd-pleasing songs, but rather the thoughtful detail that he brought to the setlist; a combination of some of his most political songs and carefully chosen covers. Indeed, the No Kings tour is the most political of Springsteen\u2019s long career. During their three-hour set and nearly 30 songs, Springsteen and the band performed selections representing the span of his long career, including cuts from Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Born in the USA, The Ghost of Tom Joad, The Rising, The Seeger Sessions, Magic, Wrecking Ball, and Letter to You. Wearing his customary uniform of white shirt, black vest, dark tie and jeans, he sang protest songs, anti-war songs, and odes to friendship, camaraderie, and community.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by June Sawyers.<\/p>\n

He opened with a cover of Edwin Starr\u2019s \u201cWar,\u201d setting the template for the rest of the evening. Springsteen <\/a>has been performing this protest song about Reagan\u2019s Central America policy since 1985 during the final leg of his Born in the USA tour. \u201cWar\u201d segued perfectly into a searing rendition of \u201cBorn in the USA\u201d with Springsteen and guest artist, the great Tom Morello, sparring off each other on guitar. Another cover, the Clash\u2019s \u201cClampdown\u201d from London Calling (\u201cIn these days of evil presidentes\u201d) led to Springsteen and Morello sharing vocals. A stomping \u201cDeath to My Hometown,\u201d an Irish-tinged protest song about industrial decline caused by modern-day robber barons, got most everyone on their feet.<\/p>\n

The order of the songs not only meant something, but it also gave them added weight and a tinge of poignancy. The teenage anthem \u201cNo Surrender\u201d led to the very adult concerns of \u201cDarkness on the Edge of Town.\u201d A new song, \u201cStreets of Minneapolis,\u201d about the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti earlier this year by ICE officers, shifted into the resilience of \u201cThe Promised Land,\u201d as the narrator vows to keep the faith despite the obstacles placed in front of him. To lighten up the mood a bit, Springsteen turned to that tribute to companionship, \u201cTwo Hearts,\u201d singing heart to heart with his musical wingman, Steve Van Zandt, which then led to another search for connection, the restless if upbeat \u201cHungry Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the mood turned dark again with an absolutely magnificent rendition of \u201cYoungstown,\u201d his bleak and angry, account of industrial decline in the American heartland, followed by an equally powerful \u201cMurder, Inc.\u201d, \u201cAmerican Skin (41 Shots),\u201d about the deadly shooting of an immigrant in New York, took on additional shades of complexity, and timeliness, with Morello on lead guitar. Calling the idealism of a \u201cLong Walk Home\u201d \u201ca prayer for my country,\u201d Springsteen <\/a>paused for a moment. \u201cListen,\u201d he said, before singing the song\u2019s final verse about the importance of maintaining values in a changing world. On \u201cHouse of a Thousand Guitars,\u201d the stadium lights dimmed as he sang solo on guitar and harmonica, a response to dark times and the power to be found in friendship and the balm of creativity where \u201cthe music never ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by June Sawyers.<\/p>\n

For the next song he sat down and addressed the crowd. \u201cWe are making our way through troubled times,\u201d he began before listing a litany of concerns, including the dismantling of USAID, the undermining of NATO, and the incongruous antagonism towards Canada\u2013\u2013\u201cWhat the fuck did they ever do to us?\u201d\u2013\u2013the latter line received tumultuous applause. <\/p>\n

The gospel-like \u201cMy City of Ruins,\u201d where his adopted hometown of Asbury Park acted as a stand in for the entire country, was especially moving. It was followed by a rendition of \u201cBecause the Night,\u201d the rock classic he co-wrote with Patti Smith, followed by an especially rousing \u201cWrecking Ball,\u201d one of the many highlights of the evening.<\/p>\n

The rebirth and resurrection imagery of the \u201cThe Rising\u201d led to a searing \u201cThe Ghost of Tom Joad,\u201d his musical interpretation of John Steinbeck\u2019s The Grapes of Wrath, with Springsteen and a smoking Morello taking turns on vocals and guitars. The show ended on a hopeful note with the invigorating \u201cBadlands\u201d followed by the redemptive and rollicking secular gospel of \u201cLand of Hope and Dreams,\u201d his modern take on Curtis Mayfield\u2019s \u201cPeople Get Ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Frank Biletz.<\/p>\n

During the encore, Springsteen <\/a>turned to his Seeger Sessions-era \u201cAmerican Land,\u201d a song in praise of immigrants complete with a faux Irish accent. With the trio of \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d \u201cDancing in the Dark,\u201d and \u201cTenth Avenue Freeze-out,\u201d the stadium became a place of frenzied joy. During the opening moments of the latter, Springsteen removed his vest and walked among the audience as videos of Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici appeared on the monitors serving as reminders of E Street Band members who have passed on.<\/p>\n

Looking exhausted, and rightly so, but grateful, Springsteen <\/a>sat down one last time. \u201cDamn Chicago,\u201d he said, responding to the overwhelming applause. \u201cThank you. Thank you. Thank you.\u201d He talked about the first time he performed in Chicago. It was in 1974, he recalled (actually it was in January 1973) at the old Quiet Knight on Belmont Avenue when he opened for the street corner a cappella band the Persuasions. \u201cI was 24,\u201d he said. \u201cOh, good lord. Thanks for a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his final song Springsteen <\/a>turned to Bob Dylan\u2019s sublime \u201cChimes of Freedom.\u201d He recorded a live version of it in 1988 to benefit Amnesty International but tonight it felt especially right to hear it in this place, at this time as much for its generosity of spirit as for its empathic appreciation for outcasts, those down on their luck, and \u201cevery hung-up person in the whole wide universe.\u201d It gave me goosebumps.<\/p>\n

The No Kings show was a seamless, magnificent combination of dark and light. As the crowd left, the unmistakable voice of Woody Guthrie\u2019s \u201cThis Land Is Your Land\u201d rang out throughout the stadium.<\/p>\n

It was a perfect way to end the evening. <\/p>\n

Support arts and culture journalism today.<\/a> This work doesn’t happen without your support. Contribute today and ensure we can continue to share the latest reviews, essays, and previews of the most anticipated arts and culture events across the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday night at the United Center, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band came to town as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-646550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}