Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Brittany Howard and Joan Baez will headline a star-studded protest festival set for the Washington area a month before the US midterm elections.

Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello announced the festival on Wednesday while performing together at Nationals Park in Washington as Springsteen winds down his Land of Hope and Dreams American tour.

At the concert on Wednesday, Springsteen played many of his most political songs, including “American Skin (41 Shots)” about a fatal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shooting and “Streets of Minneapolis”, in response to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents.

“The Gestapo tactics of this president and this administration will not stand here,” Springsteen said.

“This American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people: you. There is no one coming to save us. We’ve got to do it ourselves,” he said. “So join us and let’s fight for the America that we love. Do you hear me, Washington?”

The one-day, two-stage Power to the People festival is set for October 3 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, and is being billed as about “freedom, justice, equality and rock ’n’ roll”. A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will benefit the organisations VoteRiders and HeadCount.