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Music Makes (Some of) the People Come Together:
The smart and hip folks at Move On PAC and America Coming Together (ACT) have come up with a grand scheme for (1) reaching lots and lots of young voters, (2) raising lots and lots of $$$, and (3) filling the void left by the cancelled Lollapalooza tour.
Vote For Change, a concert series of epic proportions, is officially out from under wraps. In no uncertain terms, some of the biggest bands and most influential musicians in modern American music - we're talking Springsteen, we're talking Vedder, we're talking Raitt - will participate. On the heels of the Republican National Convention, they will embark on an ambitious battleground tour, performing in at least 34 shows, in 28 cities, in nine states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, and North Carolina. Concerts begin Oct. 1 and run over the course of eight to 10 days, in venues varying in size from large indoor arenas to smaller "intimate" theaters.
Tickets go on sale (to the public) through Ticketmaster on Aug. 21.
The roster of more than 20 artists - talent spanning generations, geography and musical genre - will appear on separate bills on the same night in selected cities. While some of the artists' music may inspire the listener to go home and write a letter to your long lost high school love rather than to start a revolution - Move On has managed to line-up an enviable host of talent without a Millie Vanilli in the bunch.
Preliminarily, the tickets may look something like this:
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band/REM/Bright Eyes/John Fogerty
- Dixie Chicks/ James Taylor - Pearl Jam/Death Cab for Cutie - Dave Matthews Band/Ben Harper/Jurassic 5/My Morning Jacket - Bonnie Raitt/Jackson Browne/Keb Mo - John Mellencamp/Babyface
The Note has yet to figure out the Mellencamp/Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds pairing - but the groovin' Matthews/Harper/J-5/MMJ ticket makes such perfect sense - it has to trust.
The tour is being organized by MoveOn's political action committee, MoveOn PAC LINK with all funds fueling the voter education and mobilization efforts of ACT LINK.
While it's no secret the tour is ultimately an effort to oust George W. Bush - the illusion is apparently going to be maintained that it is not a pro-Kerry jihad. Meaning, bands like Pearl Jam won't have to do as much backpedaling from there support for Ralph Nader's presidential candidacy in 2000.
No word yet on the Club For Growth's Ted Nugent tour.
In sum: if you're a Neil Young fan, check out My Morning Jacket. If you are Eddie Vedder - and you are reading these words - you should call Sarah Leonard as she's such a nice girl and says she Can't Find A Better Man. And if you're a Bruce Springsteen fan, tune in to Nightline tonight . . .
And the political media promises not to let our artistic sensibilities and love of "Candy's Room" impact our coverage of the Bush-Kerry race.
And we also promise to stop panting and figure out what political impact all this might have.
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