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Rock the Kasbah: Obama's Pravda

By Kat on May 22, 2008 | | Comments (10)

[Kat]

Reading over at HotAir, I caught this little gem: Obama's 75k crowd was a rock concert.

I heard about this all day and then some. People were crowing at the "largest political rally, evah". The media...oh, heck, let's just call them what they are...Pravda kept hyping this huge turn out as if it was the harbinger of doom for not only Hillary, but for all those who might oppose the great and mighty Obama.

Well, it turns out that a very popular band gave a free concert...er..played for an hour before the rally began up there in Oregon. The group called The Decembrists are, what might be called, "alternate pop". According to Wikipedia, the Decembrists have played:

In July 2007, the band embarked on a five-date tour with a full orchestral accompaniment. On July 7, the tour put the band on the stage of the historic Hollywood Bowl for the first time, pairing them with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.[9] On July 15, the band performed with The Mann Festival Orchestra at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they debuted a new song.[10] The band then played a free concert in Chicago at the Millennium Park with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.
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So, how many no name bands have you heard of that play with the LA Philharmonic ar at the Mann Center for Performing Arts in Philly? The band was big enough for a short European tour and 28 shows in the US. And, have their last album noted on Billboard

On October 6, 2007, the band announced the cancellation of the remainder of their European tour, citing the ill health of a band member. On November 1, 2007, the band further canceled the remaining 28 shows of their "Long and Short of It" tour.[14]

And, to get around those pesky details of in kind contributions per the McCain-Feingold (spit) act, the band had themselves billed as performing individually as opposed to "the Decembrists" who are under contract with Capitol records and would have to declare the value of their rock concert to be much bigger than they would as individuals at a rally:

The members of The Decemberists appeared, individually billed (as "Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query, and John Moen"), to perform in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at a rally at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon, on May 18, 2008 that drew a crowd of 75,000 people. [15]

Unlike Pravda and Obama's campaign (wait, isn't that the same?), the band recognizes that, yes, indeed, their performance, after having to cancel a big tour last year due to illness, releasing a new album and signing on to Capitol, drew the crowd.


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10 Comments

By fdcol63 on May 22, 2008 7:02 AM
We've come to expect this from the Lame Stream Media, but it's still scary every time we learn just how deeply they're shilling for one side over the other.
 
By Jason on May 22, 2008 8:00 AM
Yeah, no doubt none of the 75K participants even knew that Obama was going to be there. I'm sure they all came out for a relatively unknown West Coast alt rock band who probably wouldn't be even known to the general public except for the Colbert Show. Don't worry though, I'm sure that John Sidney McCain will have his chance to get a country-western band to front one of his political rallies. Then maybe he'll get more than just a few thousand disaffected Repubs to show up.
 
By kat-missouri on May 22, 2008 9:29 AM
Dude, nobody said no one came to see Obama, but lets be real. 75k people didn't show up to see Obama in the Park. That's why the most you can say to defend it is "no doubt none of the 75K participants even knew that Obama was going to be there." And, now I laugh about your "relatively unknown" band. Even I had heard of them and I live in the "clingy, bitter" midwest and rarely listen to alternate rock. The Alternate Rock scene is the Northwest Coast thing. Nirvana? I still remember back in the day when they were drawing in huge crowds and I was saying "who's Nirvana?" For these folks, add in Pitchfork, the west coast music paper with several big adds promoting the Obama rally and free concert, along with multiple radio stations and local TV news coverage promoting the event? I'm sure somebody came to see Obama. And, I hadn't noticed any concerts for McCain as yet, though I recall last election with a few country music stars providing entertainment at some events. They were paid for it, too. However, even those events were limited to specific locations and number of potential attendees and largely for fund raising among a specific crowd. Now, if Toby Keith showed up and gave a free concert in the park with mcCain speechifying afterwards, I'm sure we'd get a nice crowd going, but I sure wouldn't say they came to see McCain. A WELL known alternate rock band from the West Coast gave a free concert in the Park. People came. They got a politician's speech afterwards. The Obama crowd tried to claim it was the Messiah's presence. Sorry, in the bitter midwest, we know BS when we see it.
 
By John of Argghhh! on May 22, 2008 9:30 AM
Hee! All we have to do to get Jason to drop from lurking in the rafters is to poke his fella. Jason - do I take from your silence on my "Dem Military Credentialing" post you didn't find too much to quibble about - at least not enough to make it worth the effort? Or did Argent carry your water on that post? Or did you just not (sniff, sniff) read it? 8^ )
 
By John of Argghhh! on May 22, 2008 10:00 AM
Oh, and Kat, that's *clingy* and bitter. Stick to the meme, womyn!
 
By ry on May 22, 2008 2:10 PM
Um, J, Portland is a west coast city with major ties to the alt rock world, homey. But, Kat, having listened to them (their kind of emo sounding, but not, in an odd way kind of reminds me innocence mission, but they're a lot like many of the other critic faves the last two years. Folky, emo-ish, and the kind of stuff you can play in a working office nicely) anyone who'd be into them hardcore enough to go to a concert is likely to be an Obama backer anyway. Well, that or a die hard cynic who hates pols anyways. So, 45k show up without the band. The remaining 30k show up because it is Obama AND the band. 5k show up for band only. That's this WC alternative(not alternate. (Joke deleted because the potential for misunderstanding was waaaay to high.)) rock kid thinks knowing what he knows about the scene and the region. Sure, it's the legacy media laying it on thick for Obama, but it's also an overeaction to think that the crowd would be like 12k, in PORTLAND(liberal mecca), for Obama.
 
By Jason on May 22, 2008 2:33 PM
Well I don't do alternative but my wife does, she's heard of them, I stick to classic rock and metal bands myself. Just suggesting it's a bit snappish to try to take away from Obama's very evident popularity (outside Apalachia that is) by sniffing "well, there WAS a rock band there..." John I must have missed your post. I have to say that having to face that horrible cartoon "daybyday" is a factor in my reluctance to come over here and spar with you all... it's like liberal repellant...
 
By ry on May 23, 2008 2:39 AM
YOu've got to be kidding me. DBD is repellent? You can scroll past it in less than 3 seconds(more if you use dial-up from home, like me). That's weak sauce. And, yeah, I'm not having a good time with your commentors. You guys are hooked on the 'I hate republicans' song too much it would seem. I'm not saying that they should agree with me, but when the core of a dude's arguement is the assumption that the other side is stupid and evil, well, he's not playing with a full deck.
 
By John of Argghhh! on May 23, 2008 6:33 AM
Day by Day is uneven, I admit. But yeah, I'm with Ry, "Just scroll on by..." like the song said. Wait, that was walk - but hey, same meaning in context. I promise - you can start post Ted Rall and I'll just scroll on by... Ry - I suspect Jason is like most of us, who try to read "the other side" - when they stick to what they know and do best, we can stick to policy discussions on the merits. When they go full partisan, especially as in the tank for Senator Obama as Jason is, well, it's hard not to wince. Samey-same from his side. I'm just not in the tank for anyone, in that I'm inspired by the choices. I suppose in that vein, I envy Jason his fevered frenzy for the Senator. Me, I know I'm going to vote for McCain, absent something tectonic happening... because the only issue I have left that is usefully affected by this race is Judges. I'm resigned to the fact that Jason and his boys and girls are going to open up my piggy bank and give the money to anyone but me, tell me how warm or cool I can keep my house, and how much food to eat. And that's just from last week's speechifying by Senator Obama.
 
By Maggie on May 23, 2008 6:45 PM
I'm not saying that everyone there was about the Decemberists, but they are bigger than Jason and even Ry are making out. Their last album peaked at 35 on Billboard. Think about that. We're talking about a generation that is very adept and *not* paying for their music, yet they are popular enough to rise to 35 and spend over a dozen weeks on the chart. I knew who they were (at 47) because they had been on the Colbert report. I agree with Ry - there would be a lot of cross pollonation between Decemberist fans and Obama supporters. Although I think Kat's main point was that the main stream media totally hyped Obama's drawing power by leaving out the Decemberist angle. Sin of ommission........it's spin and she's calling them on it. I think she's right on the money.