Appendix: Beastie Boys, etal.

This was quite the concert. The first thing I want to mention is how impressed I was at the non-commercial nature of this thing. They really were focusing on turning out the vote.

How could I tell? There was NOT ONE merchandise table in the house! Not one. There were only a couple of tables and they were literature tables (how to register, where to vote, voter guides, posters, etc.)

Remarkable. Even the Steven Curtis Chapman concert last year, supposedly non-promotional, had merchandise tables. This is the first show of any kind I've been to where they weren't selling something!

Amazing.

Now, I should say that the lack of political neutrality was palpable. It wasn't even cleverly disguised. But more on that later, in the editorial comments section. You know there'll be one of those. ;)

Before I get to that, some comments on the venue and the artists.


Nice arena, this. :) It's part of the whole Xcel Energy Center complex.



And it was pretty packed.



Both upstairs and down.



But I was not cowed by the crowds, no sir, not me. I was prepared for my view to be blocked by the "stand and pulse your body" crowd. I brought my trusty book. :) It was particularly helpful in between sets. (but yes, I admit it... I read some during the performances, too. Especially when I couldn't follow the lyrics. Which was... fairly often.) :P



When Tenacious D was on stage, Jack Black was his manic self. Everything you'd expect from him, plus.. talent! I mean, he's really good. Rude, crude and lascivious, but... good. Their act was very tongue in cheek, along the lines of This Is Spinal Tap, but with a lot more crudity. The energy and talent level made it tolerable. Barely.

I do think there is a fascination among youth in general (I know I had it) with off-color humor and shock words. For most people it wears off as they grow up. It's kind of like the fascination with illegal drugs. That was in evidence, too, last night. And each generation thinks that they're the first to discover the power of sex, drugs & music. Um... sorry. Your parents and grandparents did it, too. Get over it.



Ben Harper was the one I really came to see, and he did not disappoint. What a guitarist! I didn't know. I like him for his neo-soul vocals, the ballads like "Forever" and "Walk Away". Wow - he was hot. For part of his set he sat down, laid his guitar flat and played it with a bottle slide. Sounded like an autoharp on steroids.



And then the Beastie Boys came out, and things turned up another notch. I really do not like rap - at all. Unless there's some singing interspersed. But you could hardly help yourself with these guys, their beats were so infectious. :) I found myself moving to the music like everybody else.



The light shows were amazing. Made me wish I would have had a chance to see the pioneers of arena rock in their day, like Zep, or the Stones. Did they have the massive lights? Ah well. So I grew up in rural Remoteville, Wisconsin with no chance to see concerts (unless it was Stan Wolowitz and the Polka Chips. Now, THEY put on a show!) ;)



But the thing that probably struck me more than anything else about the evening was this:

I've been in arenas full of the religious right, and arenas full of the liberal left, all full of energy, enthusiasm, loud voices and even louder music. I won't say that the tone was the same; nor was the cause. But what I will say is that the process was the same.

In all those cases, the people on the stage were "preaching to the converted". Everyone who came was already convinced. No one's mind was changed.

In all those cases, the speakers/performers talked about changing things for the better, and about working together to do so. But at the same time, there was little compassion (on either side) for those who saw things differently. And no one ever offered that "Gee, it's possible that we might be wrong. We could learn from our opponents."

Nope. They were all convinced of the correctness of their position, whether liberal or conservative, religious or irreligious. Every speaker or performer, and I dare say most of the hearers, were solidly on the proper side.

It was a stunning contrast to think back on seeing the same dynamic occur with a totally different sociopolitical segment, and it made me afraid that the divisions in this country are too deep to mend. How far are we, really, from being Palestine and Israel, or Northern Ireland, or Sudan or Kurdistan?

And I thought of the small tear in my bedspread, running right along a seam. If you stitch it before it grows, it will hold better, and last longer. But if you let it go untended, if you don't "manage at the seams", then pretty soon...

:(