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Hail to The Boss: Springsteen Plays Politics
By
Sean Daly, Washington Post
How's this for a sign of the times? None other than Bruce Springsteen, the gruff-voiced
bard of the working class, stormed a sold-out MCI Center last night in the hopes of sending one man straight to the unemployment
line.
Yep, and the Boss wasn't alone in voicing his displeasure with our country's other notable boss, either: Thirteen
of the New Jersey star's fellow pop-music heavy hitters showed up in the nation's capital to try to help rock George W. Bush
right on out of the White House.
At the start of the raucous finale of the Vote for Change tour, Springsteen, Dave
Matthews, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Dixie Chick Emily Robison walked onstage together to the sound
of loud boos -- oh, wait, sorry, the crowd actually was screaming "Bruuuce!" (Talk about a guy who was born to run for office.)
"We're here to raise our voices loud and clear," said Springsteen. "We want to change our government."
"We
want government that's open, rational, responsible for the citizenry, and humane," added Vedder.
There was no mention
of Bush in the opening statements. No mention of John Kerry, either. Instead, the musicians went on to unload (and unload
and unload) their arsenal of hits and keep their political views to gritty little sound bites and pleas to vote.
Perhaps
the most rousing set of the night was the first one: John Mellencamp gave his roots-rock a bluesy, acoustic grit. "This next
song is about what the Devil can do if you don't keep your eye on him," said the midwestern icon before launching into the
fiddle-fueled "Walk Tall." Backed by a four-piece band, Mellencamp stayed seated on a stool for "Paper in Fire" and "The Authority
Song" but jumped to his feet to put extra oomph into the blue-collar anthem "Pink Houses."
The tour, a much-publicized
38-show road trip that since Oct. 1 has covered 33 cities in 11 swing states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio, was
presented by MoveOn, a liberal political action committee. All proceeds ("millions and millions" is all organizers will say)
will go to America Coming Together, an independent group created by Democratic Party supporters. Tickets for last night's
show, which sold out in 30 minutes, ran as high as $175. Most of the previous Vote for Change shows -- aimed at undecided
voters but drooled over by music geeks -- also were reported as sellouts. People who were shut out could watch the show live
on the Sundance Channel or hear the broadcast on more than 60 radio stations.
Last night's five-hour-plus exhaust-athon
was more a call to guitars than a call to arms -- and it proved sensational for donkeys and elephants alike. In fact, things
were a lot more divisive across the street from the arena.
The D.C. chapter of the pro-Bush organization Free Republic,
led by Kristinn Taylor, waved signs that read "Saddam-Aid 2004," "Tunes for Terrorists" and "Shut Up and Sing."
"I've
been a Springsteen fan since '78," said Taylor, 42, of Washington, "but I'm boycotting the Boss until after the election.
. . . The problem I have with these artists is that they have been on the wrong side of freedom."
Next to the Free
Republicans was David Lytel, 46, also of Washington. A staunch Democrat, he's the founder of the Committee to ReDefeat the
President. But it wasn't just his protesting neighbors who were mad at him. "When I invited the ReDefeat the President team
today, I misspelled Springsteen," Lytel said with a grimace. "There was outrage."
Considering the number of acts that
had to be shoehorned in -- and all-star evenings can be clunky affairs -- last night's show zipped along. R&B smoothie
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds strummed out the sweet melody to his big hit "Change the World," then gave way to SoCal folk-rocker
Jackson Browne, slide-guitar queen Bonnie Raitt and neo-bluesman Keb' Mo', all of whom teamed for a sexy, sinister cover of
Buffalo Springfield's Vietnam War-era rallying cry "For What It's Worth." Adding hip-hop swagger to the night, rap outfit
Jurassic Five rattled the rafters with the bass-tastic "Freedom."
Dressed in a blinding white suit and jittering around
as if he had fire ants in his pants, smooth-pated oddball Stipe led R.E.M. through an all-together-now version of "The One
I Love," his pleading howls of "Fire!" echoed by the equally writhing masses. Pearl Jam's Vedder then hopped onstage to help
out on "Begin the Begin," the two singers bouncing and throwing playful punches. The biggest singalong of the night -- and
proof that perhaps no one has merged art and pop better than R.E.M. -- was "Losing My Religion," which also garnered the biggest
ovation.
No, scratch that. Before Stipe could even get out the words "Please welcome to the stage . . . Bruce Springsteen,"
the fans erupted (and erupted and erupted) and flashbulbs popped. The night's main man helped out on R.E.M.'s "Man on the
Moon," punctuating the chorus of "Are we losing touch?" with one of those silly little leg kicks that Springsteen -- a great
talent, a horrendous dancer -- busts out when he's feeling giddy.
The superstars -- and, uh, actor Tim Robbins --
just kept on coming. Robbins, who makes Springsteen look like Tommy Tune, joined Vedder and his grunge progenitors Pearl Jam
for some really bad dancing but rather rousing punk-rock, including the howler "Grievance."
"We got the message out,
and almost everyone here is going to vote," said Vedder, who quizzed the crowd about when Election Day is -- and everyone
held up the peace sign. It was a nice moment that turned appropriately chilly when Vedder spat out the words to Bob Dylan's
caustic antiwar critique "Masters of War."
James Taylor took the stage next. "I hate it when they say, 'You shouldn't
changes horses midstream.' I hate it 'cause if your horse can't swim . . ." he said. He opened with the bittersweet ballad
"Never Die Young" and invited the Dixie Chicks to assist him with sob-inducing takes on his "Sweet Baby James" and "Shower
the People," Taylor and Natalie Maines delicately trading off on vocals.
Speaking of that troublemaking Chick, Maines
-- who became a public relations nightmare last year when she said she was ashamed of fellow Texan George W. Bush -- received
a prolonged standing ovation.
"Gosh, I hope y'all show up to our next tour," she said during her band's short but
playful set. "After the incident, people asked me if I wanted to take back what I said. Well, no, 'cause after that Bush would
just call me a flip-flopper."
After a hoedown take on Dylan's "Mississippi" -- a typical Bob puzzler that doesn't
seem to be about politics at all -- the Chicks gave way to the Dave Matthews Band. The trippy jazz-pop jammers wailed away
on "Don't Drink the Water," an incendiary number that built to a messy but creepy finish, and the hippie stomps "Ants Marching"
and "What Would You Say?"
"Bruuuce!" they cried.
And after four hours of going bonkers, Bruuuce they finally
received. After opening with a gooseflesh-rippling steel-string rendition of the national anthem, Springsteen led his venerable
E Street Band straight into the bittersweet belly of a raging "Born in the U.S.A.," a hard indictment of the powers-that-be
that is often misinterpreted as a pure patriotic stomp.
The Boss then did what the Boss does best: sing for the working
stiff in all of us. He played "Badlands" and "No Surrender," each anthem a chance for crowd members to throw jubilant fists
in the air -- no matter where they sat on the political spectrum.
Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty came
on to sing with Springsteen on a blistering "Fortunate Son." (Who didn't see that coming?) Stipe serenaded the Boss on "Because
the Night," the song miraculously tight for being essentially unrehearsed. Springsteen, in hellzapoppin' preacher mode, urged
everyone watching at home to take off their clothes and celebrate. "A change is coming!" he cried. And then, of course, he
did "Born to Run" -- with the house lights on, no less.
With the concert past the midnight mark, all the Vote for
Change acts headed back to the stage for a sloppy but energetic cover of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love
and Understanding?" It's a bipartisan song and a really nice thought.
Loose Change
Acts ranging from the Dixie Chicks to Springsteen rocked
on the final night of the Vote for Change mega-tour. Here's a rundown of the sharpest and flattest moments by
Brian Hiatt., Entertainment Weekly
Can a concert instantly become a ''documentary'' if it's broadcast live? Sure, if the Sundance Channel really, really wants
to convince itself that the all-star finale of the anti-Bush Vote for Change Tour, which took place Monday night in Washington,
D.C., fits into its movies-only format. And, to be fair, in between sets by acts including the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, R.E.M.
and John Mellencamp, there were some actual documentary clips, courtesy of director D.A. Pennebaker (of the Bob Dylan documentary
Don't Look Back). We sat through the five-hour-plus broadcast (which marked the official end of a 10-day blitz that
hit multiple venues per night in swing states) and picked out some moments worth remembering:
BEST OPENING PUNCH Ignoring Dave Matthews' botched introduction —''Please welcome Bruce Springstreet'' —
Springsteen and the E Street Band came out breathing fire. After Springsteen's solo-acoustic-guitar instrumental version of
''The Star-spangled Banner,'' they burst into ''Born in the U.S.A.,'' which was finally recognizable as a furious protest
song. They moved straight into two other rockers, ''Badlands'' and ''No Surrender,'' played at a reckless clip, with none
of the careful pacing that's marked Springsteen's recent three-hour shows.
MOST LIKELY TO MAKE NEW FANS The Dixie Chicks charmed when they joined James Taylor on stage and brought his usually
dull ''Sweet Baby James'' to life with sweet countrified harmonies; they also worked wonders with their sassy version of Dylan's
''Mississippi.'' And frontwoman Natalie Maines came up with a priceless explanation for her refusal to take back her infamous
comment about being ashamed that President Bush is from Texas: ''He'd just call me a flip-flopper, and I know he doesn't like
flip-floppers.''
LEAST LIKELY TO MAKE NEW FANS Pearl Jam has spent many years trying to shrink its audience, and Monday was no exception.
The band's odd, hit-free set was highlighted by a straight-faced duet with actor Tim Robbins on a cover of the punk band X's
''New World'' — a song that no one who wasn't on stage seemed to recognize. And while concluding with an impassioned
version of Dylan's ''Masters of War'' was appropriate, it wasn't exactly crowd-pleasing.
MOST TEPID RENDITION John Mellencamp kicked off the show with a curiously tame, mostly acoustic set that largely
found him perched on a stool. The low point came with a wimped-out, over-orchestrated version of his once rebellious ''Authority
Song'' that made its chorus (''When I fight authority/Authority always wins'') sound resigned instead of defiant.
QUICKEST SET Kenneth ''Babyface'' Edmonds knew the rock-oriented audience wasn't his crowd, so he wisely came out
and played one song: Eric Clapton's thematically appropriate ''Change the World.'' Then he left the stage. Smart guy.
MOST TEPID RENDITION (RUNNER-UP) The adult-contemporary supergroup of Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and folk-blues
singer Keb Mo' played a sleepy, pointlessly bluesy version of Buffalo Springfield's '60s tune ''For What It's Worth.'' In
the process, they effectively changed its refrain from ''there's something happening here'' to ''take a nap, nothing's happening
here.''
BEST MICHAEL STIPE IMITATORS Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder sounded surprisingly at home duetting with Stipe on an amped-up
version of R.E.M.'s ''Begin the Begin,'' his baritone roar blending in almost perfectly with Stipe's. Bruce Springsteen's
voice was far more incongruous as he sang verses of ''Man on the Moon'' with R.E.M., but his energy — and squalling
guitar solos — somehow made him a near-perfect fit.
BEST DOCUMENTARY Many of the between-set documentaries were snoozy political blab-fests. But R.E.M.'s clip showed
us the band giddily learning to play ''Born to Run'' in preparation for a guest spot with Springsteen. It also offered the
strangely fascinating sight of Michael Stipe brushing his teeth.
MOST OVERUSED INSTRUMENT The violin is usually a rare instrument in rock. But not Monday night, with Mellencamp,
the Dixie Chicks, the Dave Matthews Band, and the E Street Band all fiddling about. Enough already — how about a cello
or something?
BEST ''WE ARE THE WORLD'' IMITATION Everybody came out for a version of Patti Smith's ''People Have the Power''
that wasn't nearly as embarrassing as most all-star finales are at these things. Even the rap group Jurassic 5 sang a verse
without sounding silly. But Stipe (who had just sung an impressive ''Because the Night'' with the E Street Band) might have
been better off standing at a microphone instead of running around the arena showing people his Kerry T-shirt.
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