The star has been outspoken in his criticisms of US President Donald Trump
21:31, 07 Jun 2025Updated 22:30, 07 Jun 2025
Bruce Springsteen on stage at Anfield on Saturday, June 7
Bruce Springsteen returned to Anfield Stadium tonight for his second, and final, night in Liverpool as part of the Land of Hope and Dreams tour. The Boss is known for his energetic live shows, which often feature politically charged speeches to his audience.
The star has been outspoken in his criticisms of US President Donald Trump, using his live shows to encourage fans to organise peacefully to resist the current American administration. He has used his platform during his live shows to speak about ‘the America he knows and loves’ and to call out perceived threats to democracy and justice within the country.
Tonight’s show was no different, with a number of political statements shared with fans in between songs. ECHO reporter Ryan Paton is at tonight’s show providing live updates from inside the stadium.
This is every word he said to the Liverpool crowd during his show on Saturday, June 7:
After stepping out onto the stage to be greeted by whoops, cheers and applause, as well as cries of ‘BRUCE!’, The Boss said: “Hello Liverpool! We are so glad to be here because without this town, there would be no E Street Band, let me tell you. A mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times.
“The America that I love and the America that I have sung to you about for so long, it’s 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 of you who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices, stand with us again authoritarianism and let freed ring.”
Before performing Rainmaker, Bruce said: “When conditions in a country are ripe for a demagogue, you can bet one will show up. This is for America’s dear leader.”
Before performing House of a Thousand Guitars, Bruce said: “The last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people. It’s in the union of people, around the common set of values – that’s all that stands between democracy and authoritarianism. Now, in America right now we must organise at home, at work, and peacefully in the street. We thank the British people for their support because, at the end of the day, at the very end of the day, all we’ve got is each other.”
And before My City of Ruins, Bruce said: “I spent my life singing about where we have succeeded and places where we have come up short in living up to our civic ideals and our dreams.
“But things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of my country’s democracy and they are too important to ignore, so first let me thank you for indulging me.
“Our homes all have their own problems but in America, in my home, 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 now.
“In my country they are taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They are rolling back historic civil rights legislation, that’s led to a more just society and was so hard fought for. They are abandoning our great allies and they are 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 centres and prisons. This is all happening now.
“The majority of our elected representatives have utterly failed to protect the American people from the abuses of a unfit president and a rogue government.
“They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American, the America that I have sung to you about for 50 years is real and, regardless of its many faults, is a great country with great people and we will survive this moment.
“Now I have hope because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said ‘in this world there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there is enough’. Let’s pray.”
During his encore Bruce was joined on stage by Sir Paul McCartney for a special duet of Can’t Buy Me Love. Speaking to fans as he introduced the Beatles star, Bruce said: “We are lucky tonight we have a young man, a local young man from Liverpool who is going to guest for us tonight. I think he’s got a lot of talent and I believe he’s going to be going places. So let’s bring out Sir Paul McCartney.”
The stadium erupted into cheers of excitement and disbelief as Sir Paul stepped on to the stage to join friend Bruce for a duet of Can’t Buy Me Love. Bruce said: “Being in Liverpool and playing with a Beatle – that’s one of my dreams come true, right there.”
The 75-year-old’s shows in Liverpool have been the realisation of a long held dream to perform in Merseyside.
The Born To Run singer has made no secret of how much his musical tastes were shaped by The Beatles. The New Jersey native was in his teenage years when the Fab Four announced themselves to America with their fabled performance on the Ed Sullivan show.
Bruce addressed how his tastes were forged in Merseyside during his first show in Liverpool on Wednesday. He said: “It is great for us to be in Liverpool where, for us, it all began.”
He was spotted with one of his heroes as he reunited with Sir Paul McCartney in Liverpool yesterday. The legendary Beatle returned home for an incredibly special visit to Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), the city centre school he co-founded.
The 82-year-old was greeted by cheering crowds at the main entrance of the school on Friday. Bruce was ushered in via another entrance but was spotted exiting the building later that afternoon.
The Born in the USA singer interacted with fans as he signed autographs and posed for selfies. It’s not just Bruce that felt privileged to be in Liverpool this week.
The E-Street band drummer Max Weinberg revealed how the whole group have felt honoured to be in the city. At his Jukebox show at the Cavern Club on Thursday, he said: “This has been a 55 year dream to play in the Cavern. Even the new Cavern, which is incredible.
“As Bruce said last night, literally before we went on stage, we couldn’t believe we were playing in Liverpool. I’m not kidding.” He added: “Driving to the stadium last night, we passed a sign that said Aintree. A very famous Beatles show was at the Aintree Institute.
“In any case, for us, seeing all these names was very magical. I just wanted to say what a pleasure it’s been to be in your city.” Bruce shared his excitement to be in Liverpool in an interview with Simon Mayo last year.
He likened our city to some of the biggest landmarks in his home state of New Jersey, adding: “It’s like people come from all over the world, and they want to see Freehold [Township] or they want to see Asbury Park… I have never been to Liverpool and I want to see it.”
Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band are renowned for their legendary live shows and have inspired a devoted following of fans from all over the world. Fans from all corners of the globe have descended on Merseyside this week and created a festival atmosphere that will live long in the memory.
Saturday’s Liverpool show is the final UK date on the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour. The show will next be performed at Berlin’s Olympiastadion in Germany on June 11.
Other cities left to play on the tour include Prague, Frankfurt, San Sebastian and Gelsenkirchen, before the tour comes to an end in Milan on July 3.
Bruce is not the only superstar to play at Anfield this summer. Dua Lipa will play at Liverpool FC’s stadium on June 24 and 25 before Lana Del Rey rounds off the summer shows with a performance on June 28.