Pre-Inauguration Concert

[JWBear]

Anybody else watch it?

[CoasterMatt]

bad job on the audio from HBOHD - only watched a couple minutes, so Rose could see Jon Bon Jovi.

[Alex]

I did not. I saw five minutes of CNN watching an empty trains station yesterday and decided I was burned out on inauguration activities. The next time I want to see Obama will be when he is apologizing for having disappointed me after I put on a display of manufactured outrage over something or other.

[Snowflake]

Yes, I watched it and enjoyed it. Does anyone know which Gay Men's Chorus performed, I wish they'd been singing the main and not merely the backup to Josh Groban.

Bon Jovi was terrific, I thought. I think I even saw some faces I recognized in various crowd shots. That was cool.

I thought it was interesting to note that the second largest ovation from the crowd after Barack Obama was the roar that went up for Tiger Woods. :D

I loved Usher and Mary J. Blige and Herbie Hancock riffing Bob Marley

[CoasterMatt]

I loved the kid that was asleep behind Obama. :D

[Snowflake]

I loved the kid that was asleep behind Obama. :D

Me too, that was I believe his niece.

[Stan4dSteph]

Sound was bad at the beginning. I watched the whole thing, and loved the two songs by U2. I was excited because I thought it was only going to be Bono!

[JWBear]

Does anyone know which Gay Men's Chorus performed, I wish they'd been singing the main and not merely the backup to Josh Groban.

The Washington DC Gay Men's Chorus.

[JWBear]

I just realized the HBO edited-out Bishop Robinson's Invocation!!! BASTARDS!!!

[bewitched]

Sound was bad at the beginning. I watched the whole thing, and loved the two songs by U2. I was excited because I thought it was only going to be Bono!

Tsk, tsk Steph on not keeping up with your U2 fandom ;) ...(I was thinking of you while I was watching Mr. Mullen Jr. :D )

I was very proud that they (Bono) included the Palestinians in their invocation of freedom being a universal desire:

"Let freedom ring...This is not just an American dream, also an Irish dream, a European dream, an African dream … an Israeli dream ... and also a Palestinian dream."

That aside, I absolutely loved Jon Bon Jovi's duet with the amazing Betty LaVette. Also impressed with Garth Brooks rendition of American Pie.

[Moonliner]

Am I the only one that finds using "Pink Houses" a bit ironic given that it's about the inequalities in America?

[JWBear]

Here is the text of Bishop Robinson's censored invocation:

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

[JWBear]

...And here is a video (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWAnitUCw4).

[Nephythys]

hmm-

link (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=6680531&page=2)

While hundreds of thousands of Americans spent hours in the cold to enjoy the "We Are One" inaugural concert Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial, a clutch of Obama's top donors could watch from a heated tent near the performers, courtesy of the president-elect's Inaugural Committee.

Visitors who hadn't raised hundreds of thousands of dollars couldn't get closer to the performance. "Excuse me! You got tickets? If you don't have tickets, you have to go to 'General Population,'" shouted a guard at an entrance near the memorial, gesturing with her arms to turn around and head back away from the show.


The concert was supposed to be part of "the people's party," said Shawn Paterniti, who had come with his wife Mia from Columbia, Md., to see the show. "But still, you have the VIPs who want their front-row seats. So I guess they get their tickets no one knows about," he said, as he and his wife headed to join the "general population," far away from the performances.

"It seems odd to have a VIP section for a concert about unity," quipped the local blog DCist.com. The blogger, Kriston Capps, suggested a new name for the event: "We Are One, but Some Are More One Than Others."



Poor planning IMO-no, Obama is not to blame for it (in case anyone thinks that is my intent)

[Moonliner]

The way the concert was setup it there was very little space available to the general public from which they could see the actual stage.

Poor show.

[madmonkeygirl]

I watched a repeat of it. Glad i wasn't there to stand way way back to watch on the jumbo tron. Jon Bon Jovi did an awesome job as always. Hitting that high note gave me goosebumps.