Bruce Springsteen makes major Liverpool change as show first for Anfield spotted - Liverpool Echo

Bruce Springsteen makes major Liverpool change as show first for Anfield spottedThe Boss addressed the crowd on the first night of his Anfield Stadium shows as part of his The Land of Hope

and Dreams tourCommentsWhat's OnHolly Clarke, Ryan Paton SEO Writer and Emilia Bona Content Editor20:58, 04 Jun 2025Fans were patiently waiting for Springsteen to take to the stage at

Anfield(Image: Andy Teebay/Liverpool ECHO) Bruce Springsteen has made wholesale changes to his setlist during the first night of his Anfield Stadium shows as part of his The Land of Hope and

Dreams tour. His inaugural show at the home of Liverpool FC tonight will be followed by another performance on Saturday, June 7.

He arrived on stage to rapturous applause and a standing ovation, accompanied by loud shouts of "Bruce". He told fans at Anfield: "Good evening. It is great for us to be in Liverpool where,

for us, it all began."

‌ The Boss has traditionally opened shows on the tour so far with Land of Hope and Dreams, which is the name of the tour. However, he opened his Anfield gig with My Love Will Not Let You

Down before moving on to Lonesome Day. Land of Hope and Dreams was the third song to be played on the setlist tonight.

‌Bruce Springsteen performed in Liverpool for the first time(Image: Liverpool ECHO) For the majority of shows on the European leg of the Land of Hope and Dreams tour, Springsteen has opened

with the eponymous song. However, he changed this to No Surrender for the final show in Manchester and the first show in Villeneuve-d'Ascq in France.

The show in Liverpool is the first time on the European leg of the Land of Hope and Dreams tour that Springsteen has opened the set with My Love Will Not Let You Down. The Liverpool crowd

was thrilled as The Boss entered the stage and performed the 2001 song.

Article continues below Having sold out countless arenas and stadiums around the world during his incredible career, tonight's show is the first time Bruce has ever played in Liverpool.

Gates for tonight's show opened at 4.30pm, but fans started queuing from 9am today in the hopes of being among the first fans to access to rear area of the pitch standing section of the

stadium.

The front section was already allocated in the days before the show, as part of a system organised among Bruce's super fans. Hundreds of ticketholders have been seen gathering outside the

stadium in recent days at a meeting point in the park across from Paisley Square.

Fans who arrived days in advanced were given a number, which corresponds to how close they were able to get to the stage tonight. The number was written on their hand their names taken on a

register.

‌ Ticketholders had to turn up at 10am, 3pm and 7pm each day at roll calls to maintain their place. When gates opened tonight they were walked in first by Bruce’s security team. This

practice has been commonplace for fans going to Bruce’s gigs since 2009, who always liaise with the gig’s organisers for these events - and the Anfield shows have been no different.

The Anfield shows follow Bruce and the band’s three-night residency in Manchester's Co-op Live Arena.

The rock legend has had a hugely successful career. He has released 21 studio albums in this time and earned many awards in the process including 20 Grammy Awards and 140 million records

sold worldwide.

‌ Liverpool has had a huge impact on the life and career of Bruce Springsteen. The New Jersey-born singer-songwriter, 75, credits our city's most famous sons with inspiring him to become a

musician.

He was a teenager when The Beatles made their all-conquering arrival in the United States in 1964. Having taken the UK and Europe by storm in 1962 and 1963, the band were already among the

world’s biggest stars, but their first trip to the United States took matters up a level.

Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon arrived at New York’s JFK Airport on February 7 and 5,000 fans were there to greet them. They then made their legendary debut on

The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, which was watched by more than 73m people across the United States.

‌ Paul believed it was of vital importance that The Beatles got their first trip to America absolutely right. He told manager Brian Epstein that they should not travel there until they had a

number one hit in the US charts.

'I Want to Hold Your Hand' became that hit. It was released on November 29, 1963 in the UK and then on Boxing Day of that year in the USA, hitting number one on February 1, 1964 - less than

a week before The Beatles arrived in New York.

The Fab Four's debut on The Ed Sullivan Show was then a cultural watershed moment watched by more than 73m people in America. It cemented The Beatles as a cultural phenomenon on both sides

of the Atlantic.

‌ A young Bruce was among those impacted by them. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2020, 'the Boss' explained how The Beatles inspired him.

He said: "'I Want To Hold Your Hand' came on the radio in 1964. That was going to change my life because I was going to successfully pick the guitar up and learn how to play.

"I saw Elvis on TV. When Elvis first hit I was nine or something, I was a little young and I tried to play the guitar but I didn’t work out. I put it away, but the keeper was 1964 and 'I

Want To Hold Your Hand' on South Street, with my mother driving.

‌ "I immediately demanded she let me out, I ran to the bowling alley, ran down a long neon-lit aisle, down the bowling alley, into the bowling alley, ran to the phone booth, got in the phone

booth, immediately called my girl and said ‘have you heard this band called The Beatles?’. After that, it was nothing but rock and roll and guitars."

In an interview with Simon Mayo for Greatest Hits Radio last year, Bruce shared his anticipation about coming to Liverpool.

Simon said to him: "When I spoke to you in 2016, I had a listener's question which was when are you going to play Liverpool? And you said, 'well, I guess I should do."

Article continues below Bruce admitted it was a long-held dream for any American to visit Liverpool, thanks to The Beatles. He said he was looking forward to laying his eyes on Merseyside

for the first time.