Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

From Inaugural concert

The concert pretty much went off without a hitch. Aside from one technical glitch early on, where we had no sound. For a second there it felt like things could have gotten ugly as the crowd started chanting, “Turn it up, turn it up!” Of course it would have been the world’s friendliest riot. Everyone was in such a good mood. Once it got rolling though the star power was incredible. It seems everyone who is anyone and even a few people who still aren’t really anyone turned up(I mean, Kal Penn at an inauguration?). As they announced star after star someone behind me commented, “This feels like the Academy Awards®.” At one point I though, if anything were to happen to this place we’d not only lose the President and Vice President elect, we’d also lose the majority of Hollywood. Below is a video of the crowd.

From Inaugural concert

For the most part everyone was pretty good. Jamie Foxx even did an Obama impersonation in front of the man himself. The crowd loved it.

A couple of people made brief political statements. Queen Latifah called out the Daughters of the Revolution for their checkered history which got a few people in the crowd choking. Bono was the only person who briefly mention Israel and the Palestinians, pretty standard fair for a concert, especially for Bono. But then the screen flashed Obama’s face and I realized that unlike any other concert I had been to, the soon to be President was sitting right there listening to everyone. I know in the bigger picture, a concert and a few political words from a musician is meaningless, but it was still a good feeling.

Of all people, Tom Hanks gave one of the worst speeches of the event. He droned on for what seemed like forever with a soaring and, frankly, over the top score accompanying him. But all and all a good show. The acts included Bruce Sringsteen, Usher, Mary J Blige, U2, John Mellencamp, Stevie Wonder, Shakira, Beyonce, Sheryl Crow, Garth Brooks, and Will I.am

From Inaugural concert

At the very end Obama said a few words, but I'm sure he's saving the good stuff for tomorrow. If you look closely, Obama is the little speck on the right.

And after all that talk of freezing cold, the weather really wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t the 80 degree weather LA has been having, but it was not bad at all.

From Inaugural concert

For most of the day the city didn’t feel nearly as crowded as I thought it would. I even read that a lot of people dropped their plans to attend after hearing all the dire reports about crowds and freezing weather. But this calm was not to last. It seems everyone was mostly just staying in doors until the concert. The number of people that crowded in front of the Lincoln memorial was astonishing. I’ve never seen so many people in one place. The crowds easily beat Coachella, not to mention the line-up(take that Coachella). However, just as I expected, the crowds were very orderly and friendly. Everyone was there to celebrate. The only downers were the anti-gay protesters outside the concert. I’ve included a picture of the non-homo guy who I somehow doubt he sees the irony in protesting gay sex while wearing all leather. But the crowds even treated them with respect. There were boos and other comments, but at least while I was there no one was vulgar to them or got in their face. Everyone just let them stand there.

From Inaugural concert

Other than those few folks everyone else seemed to get along wonderfully. It was a surreal experience. Most of the streets were closed to cars and were instead filled with people walking in all directions. It felt like a giant festival had taken over the city of DC. Even this humvee and the “Yes we can live in peace” van got a long fine.

Everywhere you turn there are signs of the big event to come. All of the networks are busy setting up their press booths while row upon row of porta-potties line the mall. I heard the metro broke a world record on Sunday. I expect they’ll break it again on Tuesday. I can’t wait!

From Inaugural concert

From Inaugural concert

If you’d like to see more photos I’ve posted them here:

Inaugural concert