Springsteen and Morello at Minneapolis Benefit, Plus: Cartoons Friday!

Plus the latest on "Melania" flop and music from Bruce and Dolly and Willie.

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UPDATE: As rumored, Tom Morello’s “extra special guest” for his concert in Minneapolis this afternoon, a benefit for the families of Renee and Alex, and it did turn out to be his good friend Bruce S. I will post what I learned about it here.

So far I know that Bruce played the new hit protest single and Morello now has “Arrest the President” on his guitar much like our hero Woody’s “This Machine Kills Fascists.” They also played “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” which will be featured in my upcoming film about Woody. Tom did a set with Rage and Audioslave songs. And there was also a “This Land Is Your Land” singalong. About 1500 in sold out crowd. Jazz guitarist Al DiMeola also did a set. A few more notes and videos here.

Here’s Bruce doing acoustic “Streets of Minneapolis” today.

Here’s the end of “Tom Joad” and “Power to the People” (John Lennon anthem) finale…

Stephen and Jimmy on ICE, Melania, Springsteen song, etc.

BTW, Bruce Springsteen’s song “Streets of Minneapolis” is currently #1 on iTunes in 19 countries. Yesterday he released a new video for it, this time with lyrics, street scenes and him singing.

What a world. Some headlines from this a.m.

Federal Agents Arrest Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Protest

Greenlanders Watching Turmoil in the United States Say ‘No Thanks’

Pizza Cutter and a Fork: A Bizarre Bid to Break Luigi Mangione Out of Jail

Yes, Amazon and MAGA are in such a panic over “Melania” flop they are now giving away tix—and even paying people to go see it. Here’s a Craiglist post in Boston. Seems like good deal until you get to the part where you must stay in your seat for the entire two hours.

We noted yesterday that it was the 78th anniversary of the plane crash that inspired Woody Guthrie to write “Deportees.” Of course the focus of the song is on press accounts IDing the pilot and three crew members who died but leaving nameless the 28 Mexican farm workers being deported. So there was outrage in some quarters yesterday when ICE in social media posts honored the federal agent on board that flight—while again referring to the migrants merely as “illegal aliens.” That link takes you to a story that quotes a fellow I know, Tim Hernandez, who has written two books on the crash and is now completing a documentary. I’ve posted several versions of the Woody song in the past and today I will add one by Dolly Parton.

And don’t miss, just out today, new song from Willie Nelson from upcoming series “The Gray House,” titled ”Heart of America.”

Fascinating piece at NY Times today as two actors now also known for concerts in which they perform Springsteen (Hank Azaria) and R.E.M. (Michael Shannon) classics) interview each other about their obsessions.

From Tunes to Toons

Luckovich:

Next week’s cover:

Steve Brodner:

Sheneman;

Clay Bennett:

Wuerker:

Photo Finish

From my camera to you, “Taos Mountain.”