Rock icon’s cover band fired from hometown show over Trump insults: We ‘won’t tolerate this bulls—’
A Bruce Springsteen cover band’s upcoming show in the legendary rockstar’s old stomping grounds has been canceled over The Boss’ criticisms of Donald Trump.
Guy Fleming, bassist for No Surrender, posted Wednesday to Facebook that the owner of Riv’s Toms River Hub on the Jersey Shore canceled his band’s May 30 show because “Bruce made comments that upset him.
“The owner told us he didn’t want us playing in his club,” Fleming wrote, adding that the band was hired as a Springsteen tribute act.
“I can’t really believe this happened, but it did. I’m slightly reluctant to share, however I feel it’s in the best interest of my friends and fellow musicians in New Jersey, especially the Toms River area,” Fleming’s post stated.
Springsteen and his E Street Band got their start on the Jersey Shore, specifically at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
No Surrender offered to play different music, and told owner Tony Rivoli that “he wasn’t hurting Bruce, but he was hurting nine New Jersey musicians he booked to play at his club.”
Rivoli’s response, according to Fleming?
“He said, ‘his clientele and Toms River is red and won’t tolerate his bull—,’” Fleming wrote.
While kicking off his latest European tour last week in Manchester, England, The Boss criticized the president and his administration as “treasonous.”
“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” Springsteen told the crowd as he opened his set, according to the tour’s website.
“Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!” the rocker continued.
Springsteen, who is known almost as much for his politics as his discography, railed against what he claimed are the ills of the current administration while introducing “My City of Ruins.”
“There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now,” he said. “In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.
“In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now,” he went on to say.
The bassist called for the band’s supporters to boycott the venue.
“Think about spending your money there,” he said.