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October 12, 2004
Vote for Change Concert
Well, my ears are still ringing.
I got a call early yesterday from a friend of mine wanting to know if I wanted to go to the hottest ticket in town, America Coming Together's Vote For Change concert. This thing sold out in about 30 mins. Seats were $175 and down. And the talent on display was pretty amazing. Of course I wanted to go. And for free, too.
Our seats were great, just to the right of the stage and about 14 rows up. I could see the artists on stage without the need to squint, look through binoculars or at the big screens. And the speakers were right on top of my head.
It was, no doubt, the best assemblage of talent I've ever seen on one stage. I'm not the biggest fan of music out there, and, in fact, I dislike some of the bands that were to play. I was really there only for R.E.M.
The concert started at 7p with John Mellencamp, who really really rocked. He was quite strong and really brought the crowed up to cheering and chanting. He was followed by Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds who had the shortest set of the evening, singing "If I Could Change the World".
Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt and Keb' Mo' did a trio of songs together and were followed by hip-hopping Jurassic 5.
R.E.M. then hit the stage and just brought down the house. At one point they had Eddie Vedder come up and play a song with them, and followed that up with Bruce Springsteen singing along to "Man on the Moon". This was a great set and I was thrilled to see it and would have been happy to go home at this point. But there was more. Much more.
Pearl Jam, and their brand of grunge, was up next -- they had Tim Robbins (yeah, him) up on stage to sing. I am not a fan of Pearl Jam, but they did rock. I can't say I'll go out and buy any of their albums, but they were pretty damn good. Keb' Mo' on the other hand...
James Taylor came out for a couple of songs, but was not as good as I would have expected. He brought the Dixie Chicks up for a couple of duets, and then they took over solo. They were pretty good.
The Dave Matthews Band, another band that I'm not big on, blew the roof off the joint. They really rocked, and I was impressed by the quality of the musicians with him. Matthews was a bit drowned out and incomprehensible.
So, the concert is supposed to be over at 11.30, but around 11.10, the Boss came along. Springsteen and the E Street Band. Holy shit is he good. Still. I've always liked Springsteen, but never enough to be into his music or go to his concerts. I can see now why some people think him god-like. He did do a funny televangilist bit, exhorting people to "change". It was very good. He brought out John Fogarty for a couple of songs and then Michael Stipe. Amazing.
The concert finally ended a little after 12.30. It was broadcast on the Sundance channel, live, and will supposedly be run again. Worth catching if you have Sundance. If not, Rob Glaser was apparently kind enough to host it all on RealNetworks: vfcfinale.com
Not sure if it still plays, but it is worth watching if you like some of the musicians.
As a final note, Joe Lockheart, former Clinton spokesman, was sitting behind me and had a married woman hanging all over him (her husband did not seem to mind too much). And I ran into, literally, Ben Stiller as I was leaving the men's room and he was going in.
Thanks, PT!
Posted by Samer at October 12, 2004 08:52 PM
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