What happens when the show is over?
On each night of Bruce Springsteen’s short-but-impassioned Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour, he has declared: “We are here to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ’n’ roll in these dangerous times.”
But Springsteen has brought more than the incendiary performances of the E Street Band to what he has called this “celebration and defense of the American ideals and values that have sustained our country for 250 years.”
This time, as he has throughout his career, he has brought in boots on the ground.
During this tour, Springsteen has partnered with more than 20 activist organizations working on the front lines of the battle for democracy and human rights in the cities around the country where he and the E Street Band have performed since March. He has welcomed the groups into each venue to do outreach and solicit support, while publicizing their efforts before tens of thousands of his fans.
In Washington D.C. Wednesday (May 27), the penultimate show of this tour, which closes Saturday (May 30) in Philadelphia, Springsteen took the stage of Nationals Park, less than three miles from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with the Washington Monument visible on the horizon.
“Let them hear you at the f—- White House,” he shouted, as the crowd chanted “Ice Out Now!” during his performance of “Streets of Minneapolis.”
Later, during his show-closing call to action, he ad-libbed, “call the White House switchboard!”
The call to action ending each show on this tour counts. The music is an inspiration — not a substitute — for activism.
“When you go home tonight, hold your loved ones close. And in the morning … find a way to take aggressive, peaceful action to defend our country’s ideals,” says Springsteen on each tour stop.
“And as the great civil rights leader John Lewis said, go on out and get into some ‘good trouble.’”
At the D.C. show, Springsteen announced he was partnering with the American Civil Liberties Union.
“The ACLU is the courts and in the streets defending the rights of all people nationwide,” said Springsteen. “They have been at the forefront of almost every major legal battle on behalf of immigrants’ rights for the past 25 years.”
Here are all of the activist organizations that Springsteen has partnered with during the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour.
