Recommendations of the Editorial team
Before a musician played a single note at First Avenue, a chant echoed through the iconic club in the heart of Minneapolis on Friday afternoon: “fuck ICE.” It was a concert by Tom Morello, but even more than the music, everyone present was united by the motto of the event: “A Concert of Solidarity & Resistance to Defend Minnesota”.
The concert was the start of a larger demonstration just a few blocks away and was also a benefit for the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The mood was already heated – so the room exploded when Morello revealed that his surprise guest was none other than Bruce Springsteen.
Two days after releasing his protest song “Streets of Minneapolis,” which very specifically addresses the killings of Good and Pretti by federal immigration agents under the Trump administration, Bruce Springsteen stood alone on the stage of the club that Prince had made world famous. After the screaming crowd calmed down, he talked about the rapid creation and release of the song – and then played it live in front of an audience for the first time.
Creation of a protest song
“So I wrote this song, recorded it the next day and sent it to Tom Morello,” Springsteen said. “Now I know that Tom is an easily enthused person. I said, ‘Tom, what do you think? He’s a bit of a soapbox.’ And he said, ‘Bruce, nuances are wonderful, but sometimes you have to kick them in the teeth.'” He dedicated his performance to “the people of Minneapolis, the people of Minnesota and the people of our good country, the United States of America.”
Springsteen’s solo acoustic performance was noticeably more subdued than the studio version, but backup singers or a full band would have detracted from the central truth of the moment. Arguably the world’s greatest rock star made a surprise appearance in an occupied and pressurized city and sang the names of her murdered neighbors – over blood on ice-covered asphalt.
In a moment of political disorientation at the highest level, the boss clearly pointed the finger at those responsible. This was solidarity in action, and when he sang the words “Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” the audience cheered loudly. When the song ended, the shouts turned into a chant led by Springsteen himself: “ICE out now!”
Shared anger, shared moment
It was an exceptionally generous moment that marked the afternoon. But afterward, Morello and his band returned to the stage to crank up the energy again. Springsteen and his sometime bandmate shared verses and sprawling guitar solos on 1995’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” a song the two have played together many times. Midway through the solo, Morello lifted his guitar, turned it around, and revealed the words “arrest the president,” while Bruce Springsteen grinned and laughed next to him. Every single person in the room seemed to agree.
All the musicians who had previously performed returned to the stage for the closing performance with John Lennon’s “Power to the People” – not without Morello first declaring that they had just experienced the largest brunch concert in history. Springsteen, Morello and the others stood on stage smiling while “Let’s Go Crazy” played over the speakers.
Protest, resistance and clear words
The entire afternoon was dominated by protest and resistance. Morello’s own set consisted of union anthems and Woody Guthrie classics – and, above all, sharp rhetoric. “Brothers and sisters, thank you for welcoming us to the Battle of Minneapolis,” he opened. “Minneapolis is an inspiration to the entire nation. You stood courageously against ICE, against Trump, against this horrifically growing wave of state terror. You stood up for your neighbors, for yourselves, for democracy and for justice. No one is coming to save us – but ourselves. And brothers and sisters, you show the way.”
With a nod to the great revolution that made this room famous, Morello turned the microphone and invited the audience to scream along to “Killing in the Name.” Even before the surprise guest was revealed, this was the most ecstatic moment of the concert: a room full of people screaming “fuck you, I won’t do what you told me.” With all due respect to the collaborative version of “This Land Is Your Land,” Al Di Meola’s solo acoustic thunderstorm, and Rise Against’s cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Morello’s greatest gift to this audience was an outlet for their deeply relatable anger.
Morello took to the street
“I heard the Trump administration claimed that outside agitators came to Minneapolis to cause trouble,” Morello said between songs, drawing boos. “I want to confirm: We are these outside agitators – and we are going to cause a hell of a lot of trouble.” The concert ended shortly after 2 p.m., and Morello himself later joined the demonstration on the street. Even before the musicians grabbed their jackets and left the building, an audience member shouted at the freezing crowd outside First Avenue to follow him and protest. A large group followed his call – tangible evidence that the principles of the resistance had not gone unheard.
Setlists
Tom Morello set list:
- “Killing in the Name”
- “Soldier in the Army of Love”
- “Hold the Line”
- “One Man Revolution”
- “Keep Going”
- Instrumental medley
- “Like a Stone”
- “This Land Is Your Land” (with Rise Against, Al Di Meola and Ike Reilly)
Bruce Springsteen set list:
- “Streets of Minneapolis”
- “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (with Tom Morello)
- “Power to the People” (with Tom Morello, Rise Against, Al Di Meola and Ike Reilly)
