Bruce Springsteen’s long-running feud with Donald Trump has sparked plenty of headlines over the years—but now it’s starting to hit people beyond the political battlefield. A New Jersey-based Springsteen tribute act, No Surrender, has had a show pulled due to backlash from conservative fans after The Boss’s latest anti-Trump tirade.
The nine-piece group, which has been performing Springsteen’s catalog for over two decades, was scheduled to play Riv’s Toms River Hub on May 30th. But following Springsteen’s onstage political comments in Manchester, the venue’s owner pulled the plug—citing concerns about upsetting his Trump-supporting clientele.
According to NJ.com, No Surrender frontman Brad Hobicorn started receiving messages from venue owner Tony Rivoli shortly after Springsteen’s May 14th speech in the UK, where he called Trump’s administration “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”
By May 18th, Rivoli officially canceled the show, telling Hobicorn it was “too risky at the moment” to host a Springsteen-themed act. In a text reportedly sent to the band’s bassist, Rivoli elaborated: “Whenever the national anthem plays, my bar stands and is in total silence, that’s our clientele. Toms River is red and won’t stand for his bullshit.”
Rivoli didn’t just scrap the show—he also rejected the band’s offer to perform a Springsteen-free set, refusing to pay their $2,500 fee for anything other than a tribute show. “Unfortunately it’s just too much money,” he allegedly texted. “I wanted to do the Springsteen tribute… but now because Bruce can’t keep his mouth shut, we’re screwed.”
No Surrender says the decision is unfair and purely political. “This is not political for us at all,” said Hobicorn. “We’re just a cover band that’s trying to make some money and people rely on it financially. We’re the ones really getting hurt.”
The cancelled gig is just the latest ripple effect from Springsteen’s ongoing feud with Trump, who fired back on Truth Social: “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK.”
Trump has since gone further, claiming he will launch a “major investigation” into whether Springsteen was paid by Democrats to perform at campaign events last year.
For No Surrender, the controversy isn’t about politics or partisanship—it’s about losing a paycheck. But as Springsteen continues to speak out, it seems even tribute bands aren’t safe from the fallout.
