Recommendations of the Editorial team
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band stopped off at the Kia Forum in LA on Tuesday evening with their politically charged Land of Hope and Dreams tour. Four songs into the show, they surprised the audience with a real rarity: For the first time in twelve years, they pulled out “Clampdown” by The Clash.
All six previous versions of “Clampdown” were created in April and May 2014, when Tom Morello represented the E Street Band – Steve Van Zandt was filming the TV series “Lilyhammer” at the time. Morello is currently back on tour with the band, and he shared lead vocals with Springsteen as they ripped through the 1979 Clash classic together. When Springsteen sang the line “in these days of evil presidents,” the music paused briefly – so that each individual word could unfold its full force.
The “Clampdown” cover was the only departure from the setlist from the previous show in Portland, Oregon. At the opening night in Minneapolis they only varied with a cover of “Purple Rain” as a tribute to Prince.
Springsteen’s Clash repertoire
The only other Clash song in Springsteen’s live repertoire is “London Calling.” He played it at the 2003 Grammys alongside Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello, Steve Van Zandt, Pete Thomas and Tony Kanal as a tribute to Joe Strummer – and then three more times in 2009.
“Clampdown” found its way into the set during 2014’s legendary “Stump The Band” phase, in which Springsteen drew song requests from signs in the audience and came up with surprising covers like the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” Van Halen’s “Jump” and even Lorde’s “Royals.”
With his Springsteen on Broadway residency in 2017, Springsteen from then on relied on tighter sets that tell a thematic story through his song catalog. The 2023/24 Letter to You Tour revolved around mortality, losing friends and what we do with the time we have left. The ongoing Land of Hope and Dreams tour is an angry response to the Trump administration – sparked by the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE officers.
Tour ends in Washington
The tour continues on April 9th with a second show at the Kia Forum and ends on May 27th at the National Park in Washington, DC. It is the only stadium appearance of the entire tour – and will probably be an evening for the ages.
