Pearl Jam covered Bruce Springsteen‘s ‘My City of Ruins’ after Donald Trump attacked him on social media.
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The Seattle band are currently in the middle of an extension of their ‘Dark Matter’ world tour, which saw them perform in Pittsburgh on Friday (May 16).
During the encore portion of the show, which typically opens with Eddie Vedder performing solo, acoustic tracks, he began playing a slowed version of The Boss’s 2002 hit.
Though Vedder didn’t directly address Springsteen’s ongoing conflict with Trump, fans in the audience quickly interpreted the performance as a show of solidarity with the musician, chanting “Bruuuuuuce!” when the song ended.
See the cover below.
It comes as Springsteen uses the track during his current tour to introduce political speeches criticising the current US president. Kicking off the UK leg in Manchester earlier this week, he decried Trump’s actions and his administration’s “corruption” and “incompetence”.
“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 now.”
Trump subsequently attacked the musician online, declaring that he “never liked” his music, adding that The Boss was “dumb as a rock” and a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker”.
The President wrote: “I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK.”
Since then, The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) has issued a statement defending Springsteen, as well as Taylor Swift, who Trump also criticised this week.
“[We] will not remain silent as two of our members—Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift—are singled out and personally attacked by the President of the United States,” reads the statement from AFM President Tino Gagliardi. “Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift are not just brilliant musicians, they are role models and inspirations to millions of people in the United States and across the world.”
Springsteen has long been a staunch critic of Donald Trump. He publicly endorsed Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election and performed at one of her rallies, and has previously described Trump as “mentally ill”.
In addition, he opened a show just after the election with a “fighting prayer” for the US following Donald Trump‘s victory.
