Bruce Springsteen brought his current tour to State Farm Arena and the Atlanta room handled it like a singalong. Atlanta Magazine published a photo essay from the night, and the AJC's review framed the show as Springsteen tackling Trump while weaving joy and resistance into a Atlanta crowd that was happy to follow him there.
Springsteen's recent run has been the most overtly political of his late-career arc. Between songs, he has been telling audiences that the country is in a moment when standing still is its own kind of political act. He carried that framing into the Benz, leaning on E Street Band staples like Born in the USA, The Promised Land, and The Rising, then pivoting into the newer, more pointed material from the current record. The crowd, by every photo and review out of the night, never lost the thread.
Atlanta has a complicated relationship with Springsteen, in the best way. He has played the Omni, Phillips Arena, and now State Farm Arena across decades, and Atlanta is one of the cities where the E Street Band has historically shaped its setlists in real time based on crowd response. Monday night fit that history. The setlist included the room favorites and a couple of deeper cuts that drew some of the loudest singalongs.
The Atlanta Magazine photos and AJC review both noted how the political material landed. Springsteen, at this point in his career, is not subtle about his views, and Atlanta as a touring market is one of the more politically mixed audiences he plays. The crowd's response, by every account from the floor and the upper bowl, was less divided than rapt. State Farm Arena hosted the show as part of the venue's spring tour calendar, with the building running close to capacity.
