Adventures of a Swing-State Voter - "I Go To Rallies" edition
Election Day Eve, I made it downtown to watch The Boss.
He had Springsteen with him.
We got there about four hours early and the people in front of us got interviewed with radio.
Things were fairly civil though and it was either warmer or I prepared better, but I didn't shiver like I did outside for Kerry and Edwards eight years ago.
It wasn't the greatest of set ups, and it ended up we were roped into a section that put us a ways away. we jumped the ropes like a few others which bought us about thirty feet (We had confirmation #s and rsvp'd so it was a bit hard to figure out which sectio nwe were supposed to be in the first place (tickets or non-tickets).
Oh, yeah, and I already had voted early, so if Obama finally revealed his socialist Muslim plan, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
A rockabilly band opened. I have no idea who they were (bad job out of them). I would assume local trio Rumble Seat Riot, but their website doesn't mention it (nor does any of the other prominent local rockabilly acts) .
This was my first time seeing Springsteen, and it wasn't like I could yell out "Badlands" or was going to get a two hour set.
Still, Bruce is amazing. He played four songs, and then one of them was a goofy campaign song. I had mentioned it in an earlier blog post that was based on the Des Moines Register's coverage of Bruce and Barack's Ames stop. The thing is that it doesn't translate well to print.
Bruce was funny, personable, and his voice was amazing. It was an acoustic set, and so there was no Max or no 'guy from Sopranos' (He did say Patti was was in attendance).
He opened with "No Surrender", an okay enough song that sounded like an American folk classic the way Bruce delivered it that night. He followed with "The Promised Land" (from Darkness on the Edge of a town). I wasn't expecting an album cut. Of course, he closed with "Land of Hope and Dreams". "Land.." (like much of the new album) didn't really grab me right away when I listened to it on the radio. However, in a live version, it is as good as any of Bruce's big hits.
There was also an invocation (What? No Jeremiah Wright?) and American flags everywhere (but my Facebook friends say there's never any American flags at Obama rallies?).
Michelle spoke followed by Barry. There is no doubt that Barack may be the best orator we have had in the White House (Clinton may be better on camera, but I have seen both live, and in that atmosphere, listening to Barack can gives you chills).
His speech was very similar to the one he gave when I saw him the other time five years ago when he was running a close second to Hillary.
Still, it was an amazing event to attend. Because of my location and the positioning of the lights, there is a lot of blur on the pictures I took. Additionally, as I said, I wasn't the closest, but we did end up win a decent spot (We actually could have got really close to Bruce, but because of the angling wouldn't have been able to see Barack very well.
I will post photos soon.
He had Springsteen with him.
We got there about four hours early and the people in front of us got interviewed with radio.
Things were fairly civil though and it was either warmer or I prepared better, but I didn't shiver like I did outside for Kerry and Edwards eight years ago.
It wasn't the greatest of set ups, and it ended up we were roped into a section that put us a ways away. we jumped the ropes like a few others which bought us about thirty feet (We had confirmation #s and rsvp'd so it was a bit hard to figure out which sectio nwe were supposed to be in the first place (tickets or non-tickets).
Oh, yeah, and I already had voted early, so if Obama finally revealed his socialist Muslim plan, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
A rockabilly band opened. I have no idea who they were (bad job out of them). I would assume local trio Rumble Seat Riot, but their website doesn't mention it (nor does any of the other prominent local rockabilly acts) .
This was my first time seeing Springsteen, and it wasn't like I could yell out "Badlands" or was going to get a two hour set.
Still, Bruce is amazing. He played four songs, and then one of them was a goofy campaign song. I had mentioned it in an earlier blog post that was based on the Des Moines Register's coverage of Bruce and Barack's Ames stop. The thing is that it doesn't translate well to print.
Bruce was funny, personable, and his voice was amazing. It was an acoustic set, and so there was no Max or no 'guy from Sopranos' (He did say Patti was was in attendance).
He opened with "No Surrender", an okay enough song that sounded like an American folk classic the way Bruce delivered it that night. He followed with "The Promised Land" (from Darkness on the Edge of a town). I wasn't expecting an album cut. Of course, he closed with "Land of Hope and Dreams". "Land.." (like much of the new album) didn't really grab me right away when I listened to it on the radio. However, in a live version, it is as good as any of Bruce's big hits.
There was also an invocation (What? No Jeremiah Wright?) and American flags everywhere (but my Facebook friends say there's never any American flags at Obama rallies?).
Michelle spoke followed by Barry. There is no doubt that Barack may be the best orator we have had in the White House (Clinton may be better on camera, but I have seen both live, and in that atmosphere, listening to Barack can gives you chills).
His speech was very similar to the one he gave when I saw him the other time five years ago when he was running a close second to Hillary.
Still, it was an amazing event to attend. Because of my location and the positioning of the lights, there is a lot of blur on the pictures I took. Additionally, as I said, I wasn't the closest, but we did end up win a decent spot (We actually could have got really close to Bruce, but because of the angling wouldn't have been able to see Barack very well.
I will post photos soon.