{"id":2259065,"date":"2026-01-31T00:29:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2259065"},"modified":"2026-01-31T00:29:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:29:24","slug":"bruce-springsteen-performs-at-anti-ice-benefit-in-minneapolis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/bruce-springsteen-performs-at-anti-ice-benefit-in-minneapolis\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen Performs at Anti-ICE Benefit in Minneapolis"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tBruce Springsteen<\/a> brought his protest song \u201cStreets of Minneapolis\u201d to the actual streets of Minneapolis Friday afternoon, making an unadvertised appearance at a daytime benefit concert organized by Rage Against the Machine\u2019s Tom Morello<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the noontime concert, billed as \u201cA Concert of Solidarity & Resistance to Defend Minnesota!\u201d and taking place place at Minneapolis\u2019 famous First Avenue club, Springsteen appeared solo to offer the first live rendition of \u201cStreets of Minneapolis.\u201d He was then joined by Morello and band for an eight-minute version of his \u201cGrapes of Wrath\u201d-themed \u201cThe Ghost of Tom Joad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe crowd loudly shouted along with \u201cICE out now!\u201d in the final verse of the new Springsteen song, as it ends with the lines, \u201cIn our chants of \u2018ICE out now\u2019 \/ Our city\u2019s heart and soul persists \/ Through broken glass and bloody tears \/ On the streets of Minneapolis.\u201d The audience also spontaneously broke out into just such a chant between songs.<\/p>\n

\n\tIntroducing the new song, Springsteen said, \u201c\u201cI wrote this song and I recorded it the next day, and I sent it to Tom Morello. Now I know Tom is an excitable man\u2026\u201d He said he told Morello, \u201c\u2018I think it\u2019s kinda soapboxy.\u2019 He says, \u2018Bruce, nuance is wonderful, but sometimes you have to kick them in the teeth.\u2019 So this is for the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the people of our good country, the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t(Watch the full performance here: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reels\/DUJd_KiCRsk<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n\tPromotion for the concert noted that 100% of proceeds would go to \u201cthe families of those murdered by ICE,\u201d naming slain activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti.<\/p>\n

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\n\tAmy Klobuchar, the U.S. senator from Minnesota who is running for governor, posted a clip from the concert, writing, \u201cBruce Springsteen singing his new song \u2018Streets of Minneapolis\u2019 at our very own First Avenue. A place where amazing artists like Prince got their start \u2013 this venue means so much to our state and it\u2019s incredible to see Bruce bring our community together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bruce Springsteen singing his new song “Streets of Minneapolis” at our very own First Avenue. A place where amazing artists like Prince got their start \u2013 this venue means so much to our state and it’s incredible to see Bruce bring our community together. https:\/\/t.co\/DCvN7JStvO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\n\tThe official headliners were Morello and Rise Against, with additional performances by Al Di Meola, Ike Reilly and the promised \u201cvery special guest\u201d that turned out to be Springsteen.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe performance came days after Springsteen released his \u201cStreets of Minneapolis\u201d song, in which he sang about how \u201ca city aflame fought fire and ice \u2018neath an occupier\u2019s boots,\u201d with descriptions of \u201cKing Trump\u2019s private army from the DHS,\u201d \u201cTrump\u2019s federal thugs\u201d and \u201cbloody footprints where mercy should have stood\u2026 two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a social post touting the First Avenue benefit, Morello wrote: \u201cIf it looks like fascism, sounds like fascism, acts like fascism, dresses like fascism, talks like fascism, kills like fascism and lies like fascism, boys & girls it\u2019s f*cking fascism. It\u2019s here, it\u2019s now, it\u2019s in my city, it\u2019s in your city and it must be resisted, protested, defended against, stood up to, exposed, ousted, overthrown and driven out. By you and by me. We are coming to Minneapolis where the people have heroically stood up against ICE, stood up against Trump, stood up against this terrible rising tide of state terror. Where the people have stood up for their neighbors and themselves, for democracy and justice. Ain\u2019t nobody coming to save us except us and it\u2019s now or never.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe Minneapolis show coincided with a general strike being called by activists across the country that caused many workers and students to walk out in protest of the ICE abductions continuing to happen nationally.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn response to Springsteen\u2019s initial release of \u201cStreets of Philadelphia,\u201d the White House called Springsteen\u2019s headline-making song \u201cirrelevant\u201d and \u201cinaccurate.\u201d The president himself has not responded to the song, although he engaged in a war of words with Springsteen last year, reacting to the rock superstar\u2019s comments during live performance overseas and calling him \u201cdumb as a rock\u201d and \u201ca dried out prune.\u201d<\/p>\n

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