Bruce Springsteen kicked off his 2025 Land of Hope and Dreams Tour in England on Wednesday (5/14) with a renewed setlist shining the light on some forgotten songs from his deep catalogue and even a live debut. 

The electric show was held at Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena, the 23,000 seat modern venue that in its inaugural year has hosted such stalwarts as Sir Paul McCartney, the Eagles, Rick Astley, and now a three-night run by The Boss.

At 75 years old, Bruce may have substituted some gentler tunes into the set, but the fire in his heart still burns bright.

One of the songs he brought back to the fold was "Murder Incorporated," the dark rocker originally written during the Born in the USA sessions but was never released until a decade later as part of the 1995 Greatest Hits collection.

Any other artist would have a mighty beast of a song like this in their heavy rotation, but Bruce has performed, according to our stats, over 900 different tracks on stage, poor "Murder Inc." has only been rocked 265 times over the last 30 years.

The majority of that time it was performed during the 1999-2000 reunion tour. Now with a full horn section it's a literal blast.

Another song Bruce lifted from the margins for the first night in Manchester was the gentle Letter to You tune, "House of a Thousand Guitars."

Despite being five years old it has only been performed live a handful of times. Yet the crowd cheered as the Boss sang this vaguely political verse:

The criminal clown has stolen the throne
He steals what he can never own
May the truth ring out from every small town bar
We'll light up the house of a thousand guitars

When he introduced the live debut of "Rainmaker," also from 2020's Letter to You, he dedicated it to "our dear leader," using the nickname of Kim Jong-il the former North Korean dictator as a sarcastic nod to the current U.S. president.

Springsteen kicked off the show by announcing to the crowd an idealistic mission statement.

It tied into an ongoing progressive theme for the rocker since the late '70s when he caught the activist bug while performing at the No Nukes Concert at Madison Square Garden.

"It's great to be in Manchester and back in the UK. Welcome to The Land of Hope and Dreams Tour," he said beneath a sole spotlight.

"The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism, and let freedom ring."

Springsteen then lead the band into the title track of the tour, followed by "Death to My Hometown" and "Lonesome Day."

Not exactly what you'd call an upbeat return to the stage upon first glance, but one must pay attention to the entirety of "Lonesome Day" to hear the hopefulness within the crappy shell.

"It's all right. It's all right. It's all right," he sings, sort of convincingly, flanked by Little Steven to his left and Nils Lofgren to his right.

But when he got to "My City of Ruins," it was clear that no, not everything was all right.

“There’s some very weird, strange, and dangerous shit going on out there right now," Bruce told the Brits, while taking a seat on the edge of the stage.

"In America they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now. In America the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening right now. In my country they're taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers," Bruce continued.

"They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands."

"They are removing residents off American streets and without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now."

"They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American. The America I've sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people."

After he got that off his chest, the second half of the show was upbeat, anthemic, and the dance party people also go to rock shows for. But because it's Bruce, at the root of those songs, there's still a social dynamic of idealism and hope that is striving for something better for all people.

And even across the pond, that message, once delivered, was received with thunderous applause and approval.

Springsteen concluded the show with the Bob Dylan cover, "Chimes of Freedom," but before he got into it he acknowledged the butterflies he had that no one saw.

"I always feel a little nervous on that first night," he admitted. "Takes a little getting used to, even after all this time."

And then he left the crowd with the sage words of The Bard, who wrote the tune 61 years ago.

Far between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside a doorway as thunder went crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing

Bruce and that mighty E Street Band have two more shows in Manchester, then they enjoy France, come back to Liverpool - home of his heroes the Fab Four - and then bring their message to stadiums across Europe until the beginning of July.

Get your tickets on Bruce's website.

2025 Land of Hope and Dreams European Tour

May 17 – Manchester, England – Co-op Live
May 20 – Manchester, England – Co-op Live
May 24 – Lille, France – Stade Pierre Mauroy
May 27 – Lille, France – Stade Pierre Mauroy
May 31 – Marseille, France – Orange Vélodrome
June 4 – Liverpool, England – Anfield Stadium
June 11 – Berlin, Germany – Olympiastadion
June 15 – Prague, Czech Republic – Letňany Airport
June 18 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
June 21 – San Sebastián, Spain – Estadio Anoeta
June 27 – Gelsenkirchen, Germany – Veltins-Arena
June 30 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium
July 3 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium