NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 4, 2004 - 5A
Cl
(G r__n
-IN(G PDOR
CONCERTS
Continued from page 1A
The artists were not playing their
standard sets, either. Instead, their
play lists were infused with more
political songs and messages. Jurassic 5
infused several of their songs with ill
words toward the president but failed
to make any bold or angry declara-
tions. Springsteen opened his set
with a solo rendition of "The Star
Spangled Banner," before segueing
into his politically charged "Born in
the U.S.A."
Folk-rocker John Fogerty was also
politically charged, with his iconic ,
anti-war ballad "Fortunate Son" and
a new song "Deja Vu," which drew
comparisons between the govern-
ment during Vietnam and the cur-
rent administration.
During a lull between songs,
Matthews stepped to the mic
and welcomed to the stage "a good friend of ours,'
shocking the audience when legendary rocker Neil'
Young strapped on an electric guitar and
stepped to the front. With Young
leading, the crowded stage
launched into a 15 minute
performance of Bob
Dylan's "All Along they
Watchtower."
"I'm here on behalf of Cana-
dians for Kerry," Young dead-
panned between songs. "The
rest of the world couldn't be here,
but they say hi." Young then ded-
icated the next song to Spain and
launched into the iconic "Cortez
the Killer" and soon afterwards
the roof-tearing "Rockin' in the
Free World."
Overall, bothcrowds expressed
mixed reasons for the ultimate
purpose of the shows. Kathy
Costello, who drove in to Detroit
with her husband from Rochester,
N.Y., to see Springsteen, said the show was so politi-
cally daunting that some Republican acquaintances
wouldn't pay money for it because of the cause.
Canadian resident Karen Blanchfield noted, "If I
was going to vote, I'd vote for Kerry. The debate was
really what swung me, I'm just here for the concert."
The mindset behind the Vote for Change tour isn't
without precedent. Both Dave Matthews and John
Mellencamp are board members and avid support-
ers of Farm Aid, Willie Nelson's annual concert
series targeted at raising funds for America's
farmers. Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen
and James TLylor took part in the historic
"No Nukes" concerts in the late '70s
and the momentous Live Aid concert
in 1980
| thathelped
9%NI$ raise
awareness
about the spread
of HIV/AIDS.
Across the state, Pearl Jam and Death
Cab for Cutie played the Deltaplex in
Grand Rapids, Jackson Browne head-t
lined the Wharton Center at Michigan
State University with Bonnie Raitt and
bluesman Keb' Mo', the Dixie Chicks and Taylor played the
Fox Theatre in Detroit and Mellencamp performed
with Babyface at the State Theatre in Kal-
amazoo. All of the shows were sold out.
The deadline for voter registration is
today.
The concerts were organized by
the group America Coming Together,
which puts together a voter-mobilization
effort, and are presented by the liberal
MoveOn political action commit-
tee. The tour will reach 11 states
and 33 cities in just 15 days.
Vote for Change will come to its
grand conclusion in Washington on
Oct. 1l1th with a four-hour long per-
formance at the MCI Center. The
show will be televised on
the Sundance cable chan-
nel.
- Daily Arts Writers
Brandon Harig and Forest Casey contrib-
uted to this report.
TREVOR CAMPELL AND FOREST CASEY/Daily
LEFT: Michael Stipe. CENTER: John Fogerty RIGHT: Bruce Springsteen. BOTTOM: Stipe and Springsteen perform last night at Cobo Arena TOP, FROM LEFT: Stipe plays with the audience, Fogerty performs with Springsteen.