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Bruce Springsteen tour: The Boss bites back with a political setlist for the ages

David Prestipino

If the first show of Bruce Springsteen's much-anticipated Summer '17 tour in Australia is anything to go by, The Boss and his E Street Band have something very special up their sleeves for their Australian fans.

Just days after the inauguration of Republican Donald Trump as America's 45th president, it was no surprise the setlist for Springsteen's opening show at Perth Arena carried an obvious and very strong political theme.

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The Boss is back in Australia

Bruce Springsteen sets the scene of his 2017 tour of Australia

The first of 12 performances Springsteen will play down under and in New Zealand was a mind-blowing treat and will be universally regarded as one of the best setlists he and the E Street Band have ever put together, here or anywhere.

It was a show for the fans - here, abroad and back in America, where the nation is divided on several lines after the forced exit of Democrat Barack Obama after eight years as commander-in-chief and controversial installation of Trump, a man Springsteen referred to as a "demagogue" at a sound check in Perth earlier on Sunday afternoon.

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Springsteen, 67, said recently it would take him some time to articulate Trump leading America via song but insisted the catalogue he has right now still very much connects with the themes and issues dividing his hometown.

And boy did it prove so on Sunday night, with every song he and the E Street Band belted out carrying deep meaning and a deliberate theme of human rights and equality.

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What did you think of Springsteen's opening show? Let us know here

Heavily influenced by the anti-Vietnam War album Born in the USA (1984) and post-9/11's The Rising (2002), the setlist also treated fans to some Springsteen gems rarely played live, including Incident on 57th Street from 1973's The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, as well as American Skin (41 Shots) - a haunting song based on the fatal police shooting of a black street vendor sprayed 41 times with bullets by four white police officers, and which includes today's relevant line "you can get killed just for living in your American skin".

Indeed the night was a mixture of songs for fans and for the current mood gripping and dividing America and the world in the wake of Trump's rise, with seven songs from his first two albums, and six from Born in the USA making up almost half of the 30 Springsteen and E Street Band played over the almost four-hour, poignant performance.

From Darkness on the Edge of Town and No Surrender, to Land of Hope and Dreams (the song played at Barack Obama's farewell speech), Promised Land, My Hometown and Lost in the Flood, all were tracks intentionally chosen to tie in with those themes of fairness and opportunity.

Then there was Growin' Up, complete with a personal interlude that was classic Springsteen, telling the story of how as a young teen he saved up $20 to buy his first guitar in Jersey, showing the crowd his rock side and geeky one by simulating moves he made back then with his new instrument in front of the mirror (ala his then-hero Elvis) because he didn't yet know how to play one chord, all the whlie appealing and connecting to all in the audience, just like he always does at his concerts around the world.

There was also the rare Blood Brothers, off Springsteen's B-side album Tracks, which didn't have much to do with the night's themes but was dedicated to "Mattey", the love of the woman's life who held up the sign request from the standing room pit, and a song he hadn't played live since 2008 (it took Bruce some time to recall the chords) but one that will go down in memory.

We're a long way from home and our hearts and spirits are with the hundreds of thousands of women and men that marched yesterday.

While some of the band understandably seemed a little flat, Stevie Van Zandt in particular, saxophonist Jake Clemons, the nephew of legendary original E Street Band member Clarence Clemons, seems to have really stepped up as a member of the band, with he and Bruce bringing most of the energy on the night, while "The Professor", pianist Roy Bittan - the only member Springsteen took with him during his solo years (Human Touch and Lucky Town) - showed how unbelievable he is in driving the energy and emotion on some of The Boss's more complex arrangements such as New York City Serenade and Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).

Springsteen clearly has politics on his mind as well as his adoring Australian fan base as he embarks on a third tour down under in three years after recently playing the US and Europe as part of The River tour. The active Democrat, who also played a private show for Obama at the White House last week, is clearly fired up by Trump's post-inauguration antics, and he told the Perth crowd as much.

But first he lit the eyes of his long-time adoring fans, opening the 220-minute show with a stringed rendition of his very personal New York City Serenade, a gem rarely played live and one kept up his sleeve for only special occasions, before setting the scene with Lonesome Day - no doubt how Springsteen, the E Street Band, many Americans and most around the world have felt every day since the shock US election result, before saying what was on the minds of most at Perth Arena.

"The E Street Band is so glad to be here in Western Australia," the evergreen 67-year-old told the sell-out crowd.

"We're a long way from home and our hearts and spirits are with the hundreds of thousands of women and men that marched yesterday in every city in America, and in Melbourne.

"Who rallied against hate, and division, and in support of tolerance, inclusion, reproductive rights, civil rights, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, the environment, wage equality, gender equality, healthcare, and immigrant rights.

"On E Street we stand with you.

"We are the new American resistance..."

It was as powerful a message The Boss could say... the rest came via song, from the very first and right through the epic setlist Springsteen and the E Street Band belted out, with their usual joy, dedication and passion ... but no doubt heavy hearts too.

SETLIST
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Sunday, January 22, Perth Arena
New York City Serenade
Lonesome Day
Darkness on the Edge of Town
No Surrender
Out in the Street
Land of Hope and Dreams
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
Growin' Up
Spirit in the Night
Lost in the Flood
Kitty's Back
Incident on 57th Street
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
The Ties That Bind
Darlington County
Working on the Highway
The Promised Land
American Skin (41 Shots)
My Hometown
Candy's Room
She's the One
Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover)
The Rising
Badlands
Blood Brothers (Sign Request - first time live since 2008)
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Shout (The Isley Brothers cover)
Bobby Jean

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