I could be, Centerfield
Oct. 6th, 2004 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lollardfishProbably the best moment occurred when John Fogerty stepped to the microphone and shouted, "I've got a final score for you. Minnesota Twins 2 Yankees 0!" The crowd of 15 to 20 thousand (close to capacity) roared, and he launched into his distincive opening lick of America's most popular baseball (sports?) song. "... and rounding third and heading for home is a brown-eyed handsome man ...."
Ok, so, probably the best moment ocurred when Neil Yong led the throng (they were four bands by then. A throng of bands?) in ... no, wait, it was.
Anyway, yesterday was a pretty good day. It began on a "date" with Shannon. We headed to the Pantages Theater (in Downtown, Mpls) to hear Al Franken do a live broadcast of his show. The theater was packed, and the broadcast was both funny and informative. Highlights included some sketches with his old partner in crime, Tom Davis, Walter Mondale's sober, damning, assessment of Dick Cheney, Michael Stipe's bantering with Al, and a rather sparkling appearance by Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak. He really caught my attention, and I wonder what his future political plans are. He explained how the federal govt. under Bush is letting the cities down, and letting issues of Homeland Security in America's cities go untended. The best line came when Franken, sparkling, observed to Rybak that he should know that "homeland security is hard work, don't you want to do hard work?" Rybak laughed, and came back with (paraphrasing) "I'm all in favor of hard work, but unfortunately we've already cleared all the brush out of Minneapolis ..." Images of Crawford, Texas danced in our heads, a theater-full of Rybak's liberal constituents roared with laughter. Anyway, the whole experience was a lot of fun, and a set up for the night.
Next came baseball and work, writing slowly but a decent paragraph or two, and watching the Red Sox crush the Angels. Then ...
A friend had an extra ticket to the Vote for Change tour concert in Minneapolis. The concept of the tour is that a lot of liberal musicians would perform in bunches of two or three, the same nights, in different battleground states. In Iowa City, The Dixie Chicks and James Taylor. Pearl Jam in Madison. I think Bonnie Raitt and someone in St. Louis. And in Minneapolis, REM and Bruce Springsteen.
What can I say about the concert? The bands were fired up. Not too much "speechifyin" (as the Boss says), but plenty of fire in their songs, and their political purpose definitely informing their setlist. I'm not a huge REM fan, but they are a major band, with major fans, and Michael Stipe is quite the freak on stage. But Bruce and the E-street band: Springsteen is a major American songwriter. He's not quite Dylan, but he's one of the defining voices of this era in American culture, and he's really quite up to the task. His post 9-11 songs are both inspiring and haunting. His ability to do ballads, rabble rouse, and just pure rock songs is inspiring. His band is /perfect/. Tight, creative, energetic, large. And then the surprise guests. Neil Yong having a grand time just playing lead guitar on some of Bruce's work, and then sharing "All along the watchtower" with him. The aforementioned John Fogerty moment, followed by some new song of his (not so grand), followed by "Fortunate Son" (quite grand). And then the hour and a half of encores, which devolved or evolved into a grand jam session among all the bands. Final songs were, "Keep on Rocking in the Free World," and "What's so Funny bout Peace, Love and Understanding," and such. Wheeee.
Ok, so, probably the best moment ocurred when Neil Yong led the throng (they were four bands by then. A throng of bands?) in ... no, wait, it was.
Anyway, yesterday was a pretty good day. It began on a "date" with Shannon. We headed to the Pantages Theater (in Downtown, Mpls) to hear Al Franken do a live broadcast of his show. The theater was packed, and the broadcast was both funny and informative. Highlights included some sketches with his old partner in crime, Tom Davis, Walter Mondale's sober, damning, assessment of Dick Cheney, Michael Stipe's bantering with Al, and a rather sparkling appearance by Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak. He really caught my attention, and I wonder what his future political plans are. He explained how the federal govt. under Bush is letting the cities down, and letting issues of Homeland Security in America's cities go untended. The best line came when Franken, sparkling, observed to Rybak that he should know that "homeland security is hard work, don't you want to do hard work?" Rybak laughed, and came back with (paraphrasing) "I'm all in favor of hard work, but unfortunately we've already cleared all the brush out of Minneapolis ..." Images of Crawford, Texas danced in our heads, a theater-full of Rybak's liberal constituents roared with laughter. Anyway, the whole experience was a lot of fun, and a set up for the night.
Next came baseball and work, writing slowly but a decent paragraph or two, and watching the Red Sox crush the Angels. Then ...
A friend had an extra ticket to the Vote for Change tour concert in Minneapolis. The concept of the tour is that a lot of liberal musicians would perform in bunches of two or three, the same nights, in different battleground states. In Iowa City, The Dixie Chicks and James Taylor. Pearl Jam in Madison. I think Bonnie Raitt and someone in St. Louis. And in Minneapolis, REM and Bruce Springsteen.
What can I say about the concert? The bands were fired up. Not too much "speechifyin" (as the Boss says), but plenty of fire in their songs, and their political purpose definitely informing their setlist. I'm not a huge REM fan, but they are a major band, with major fans, and Michael Stipe is quite the freak on stage. But Bruce and the E-street band: Springsteen is a major American songwriter. He's not quite Dylan, but he's one of the defining voices of this era in American culture, and he's really quite up to the task. His post 9-11 songs are both inspiring and haunting. His ability to do ballads, rabble rouse, and just pure rock songs is inspiring. His band is /perfect/. Tight, creative, energetic, large. And then the surprise guests. Neil Yong having a grand time just playing lead guitar on some of Bruce's work, and then sharing "All along the watchtower" with him. The aforementioned John Fogerty moment, followed by some new song of his (not so grand), followed by "Fortunate Son" (quite grand). And then the hour and a half of encores, which devolved or evolved into a grand jam session among all the bands. Final songs were, "Keep on Rocking in the Free World," and "What's so Funny bout Peace, Love and Understanding," and such. Wheeee.
