Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s politically-charged Land of Hope and Dreams tour touched down at L.A.’s Kia Forum on Tuesday night. Four songs into the show, they threw the crowd a big surprise by dusting off the Clash‘s “Clampdown” for the first time in 12 years.
All six previous renditions of “Clampdown” took place in April and May of 2014 when Tom Morello was touring with the E Street Band in the place of Steve Van Zandt, who was busy filming the television show Lilyhammer. Morello is back on tour with the E Street Band right now, and he traded off lead vocals with Springsteen as they tore through the 1979 Clash classic. When Springsteen delivered the line “in these days of evil presidents,” the music briefly stopped to really emphasize each word.
The “Clampdown” cover was the only deviation from the setlist of the previous show in Portland, Oregon. And the only different song they played on opening night in Minneapolis was a cover of “Purple Rain” as a tribute to Prince.
The only other Clash song in Springsteen’s live repertoire is “London Calling.” He played it at the 2003 Grammys alongside Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello, Steve Van Zandt, Pete Thomas, and Tony Kanal as a tribute to Joe Strummer, and then an additional three times in 2009.
“Clampdown” entered the set during the wild “Stump The Band” era of 2014, where Springsteen pulled song requests from signs in the audience, and broke out surprising covers like “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee-Gees, “Jump” by Van Halen, and even “Royals” by Lorde.
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Starting with his Springsteen on Broadway residency in 2017, Springsteen has preferred a more rigid set that tells a thematic story through his song catalog. The 2023/24 Letter To You tour was about mortality, losing friends, and making the most of our remaining time. The ongoing Land of Hope and Dreams tour is a furious reaction to the Trump administration following the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE officials.
The tour continues on April 9 with a second show at the Kia Forum. It wraps up May 27 at the National Park in Washington, DC. It’s the only stadium show of the run, and it’s likely to be one for the ages.
