Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance this afternoon (Jan. 30) in Minneapolis during a Tom Morello-organized daytime benefit concert for the families of slain protestors Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during which he live debuted his just-released protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” and then dusted off his 1995 track “The Ghost of Tom Joad” for a guitar-solo filled electric version backed by Morello and other musicians.
In Springsteen’s most full-throated rebuke yet of the Donald Trump administration, “Streets of Minneapolis” found him blasting the “federal thugs” who killed Pretti and Good and vowing, “we’ll remember the names of those who died on the streets of Minneapolis.” “Citizens stood for justice / Their voices ringing through the night,” the 76-year-old rock legend sang. “And there were bloody footprints / Where mercy should have stood / And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets / Alex Pretti and Renee Good.” See fan-shot footage below.
Morello only announced the Concert of Solidarity & Resistance To Defend Minnesota at the 1,550-capacity First Avenue two days ago, dovetailing with Springsteen having released “Streets of Minneapolis” that same day despite having only written it last Saturday. The event also featured performances by Rise Against, Ike Reilly and jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, while Morello played songs from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave such as “Killing in the Name” and “Like a Stone.”
It concluded with an all-hands-on-deck run through of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Power to the People,” after which hometown hero Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” blared over the house speakers.
“This is a celebration of resistance, and that one day we’ll create a little bit of the world we want to see,” Morello told the crowd. Earlier this week when announcing the show, he said, “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’t nobody coming to save us except us and it’s now or never.”
Springsteen and Morello have worked together frequently over the past two decades, with the latter subbing for E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt during tours in 2013 and 2014. Morello and his Rage Against the Machine bandmates frequently covered “The Ghost of Tom Joad” in concert and eventually released their version on the 2000 album Renegades.
