With The Boss making noise, US may finally see Glory Days again

I WENT to watch Bruce Springsteen this week and was blown away. Not just by the talent and energy the 75-year-old poured into a three-and-a-half hour set at Anfield.

- BRIAN READE

But his unflinching humanity, uncompromising principles, undying passion for the underdog, and unquenchable optimism in his fellow humans. All articulated in his utter despising of Donald Trump.

"The America I love and have sung to you about for so long, a beacon of hope 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 against authoritarianism, and let freedom ring."

That was how he opened the show, and throughout it, to much cheering and applause, he peppered his rousing back catalogue with fierce attacks on "an unfit President" and a "demagogue".

It felt more like a political rally than a pop concert, and, magnificently, it dropped by a venue for fear of a MAGA backlash.