Bruce Springsteen just played Los Angeles on his Land of Hope & Dreams tour, which is featuring Tom Morello (formerly of Rage Against the Machine) on guitar along with The E Street Band.
And while he’s covered it before, Springsteen broke out his first performance of The Clash‘s “Clampdown” in 12 years. Singing the first verse, letting Morello take the second before the two trade off lines in the bridge, the performance very much invokes the line in the song, “anger has a power if you know how to use it.” Springsteen has opened shows with a speech about the importance of standing up for what’s right and fighting those with anti-American ideas, namely President Trump. (He adds the line “in these days of evil El Presidente” to the song, so it’s not hard to figure out what he’s lashing out at.)
The anger and fury that has made the shows on this tour so affecting continues in this performance. You have zero doubt that Springsteen and Morello strongly believe in standing up for what is right. If this performance doesn’t get you up and energized, I don’t know if anything else will.
Springsteen’s “Land of Hope & Dreams” tour runs through the end of May.
. (He adds the line “in these days of evil El Presidente” to the song, so it’s not hard to figure out what he’s lashing out at.) What d’you mean adds?
In these days of evil presidentes
Working for the clampdown
But lately one or two has fully paid their due
For working for the clampdown