Before a musician played a single note at First Avenue, the iconic venue in the heart of Minneapolis, seemingly every voice in the room on Friday afternoon was chanting the words “fuck ICE.” This was a Tom Morello concert, but even more than music, everyone was unified under the show’s banner: “a concert of solidarity & resistance to defend Minnesota.” This was a prelude to a larger protest just blocks away and a benefit for the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Everyone was already plenty fired up, so naturally, they came unglued when Morello revealed that his surprise guest was none other than Bruce Springsteen.
Two days after the release of his protest song “Streets of Minneapolis,” which very specifically references the killings of Good and Pretti by federal immigration agents under the Trump administration, Springsteen stood alone in the venue that Prince made famous. When the screaming fans finally got quiet, he discussed the song’s rapid creation and release before playing it for the first time in public.
“So I write this song, and I recorded it the next day, and I sent it to Tom Morello,” he said. “Now I know Tom is an excitable man. I say, ‘Tom, what do you think? It’s kind of soapbox-y.’ And he says, ‘Bruce, nuance is 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 of the United States of America.”
Springsteen’s solo acoustic performance of the song was understated compared to the production heard on the studio version, but back-up singers or a full band would’ve gotten in the way of the essential truth of the moment. Arguably the biggest rock star on the face of the planet made a surprise appearance in an occupied and embattled city, and here he was singing the names of their murdered neighbors — about the blood on the ice-covered pavement. Amid a vacuum in leadership at the highest level, here was the Boss pointing a finger directly at the responsible parties. This was certainly solidarity, and when he sang the words “Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” the crowd cheered emphatically. As the song wound down, cheers gave way to a chant spurred on by Springsteen himself: “ICE out now!”
It was an unbelievably generous moment that certainly defined the afternoon, but Morello and his band returned to the stage to rev up the power once again after that. Springsteen and his sometime bandmate traded verses and massive guitar solos on 1995’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” a song the pair have performed together numerous times. Morello lifted and inverted his guitar mid-solo to reveal the words “arrest the president” while Bruce beamed and laughed next to him. Every single person in the room seemed to be on the same page.
All the musicians who’d graced the stage earlier returned for a closer of John Lennon’s “Power to the People,” but not before Morello proclaimed that we’d all experienced the greatest brunch-hour concert in history. Springsteen, Morello, and the rest stood smiling onstage as the house speakers blasted “Let’s Go Crazy.”
Jesse Roberson for Rolling Stone
It was an afternoon hinged entirely on the topics of protest and resistance. Morello’s own set featured union anthems and Woody Guthrie classics, and more importantly, fiery 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 have heroically stood up against ICE, stood up against Trump, stood up against this terrible rising tide of state terror. You have stood up for your neighbors and for yourselves and for democracy and for justice. Ain’t nobody comin’ to save us except us, and brothers and sisters, you are showing the way.”
With a mention of the capital-R Revolution who made the room famous, Morello turned the mic stand around and urged the crowd to scream along to “Killing in the Name.” Prior to the special guest reveal at the end, this was the most ecstatic moment — a room of people screaming “fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.” With all respect to the group performance of “This Land Is Your Land,” Al Di Meola’s solo acoustic shredding, and Rise Against’s cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Morello’s greatest gift to this crowd was an outlet for their deeply understandable rage.
“I heard the Trump administration has claimed that outside agitators have come to Minneapolis to stir up trouble,” Morello said between songs, eliciting boos from the audience. “I would like to confirm that we are those outside agitators, and we’re gonna stir up a shit-ton of trouble.” The show wrapped up just after 2 p.m., and later, Morello walked out into the streets to join the protest. Well before any of the musicians grabbed their coats and made it out of the building, though, one audience member called out to the crowd that was freezing outside First Avenue to follow him and protest. A horde of people followed that dude’s lead — concrete evidence that the tenets of resistance didn’t fall on deaf ears.
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)
