Obama Honors Springsteen, Mel Brooks, De Niro and Others Video

Obama on The Boss at the White House reception for the Kennedy Center Honors:

The event will air Dec. 29.

"I'm the president, but he's The Boss."
With those words, President Barack Obama greeted Bruce Springsteen Sunday night at a White House reception before the iconic rocker was lauded with Kennedy Center Honors along with Robert De Niro, comic genius Mel Brooks, jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck and opera singer Grace Bumbry
A surprise list of stars will perform for the artists who are receiving the honors that recognize individuals who have defined American culture through the arts as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy. The night attracts power players from Washington and Hollywood, including the president, first lady Michelle Obama, who was seated next to Springsteen, and Vice President Joe Biden.
About 300 guests, including Jack Black, Edward Norton, Matthew Broderick, Ben Stiller, Martin Scorsese, Sting, Philip Seymour Hoffman were at the reception in the East Room of the White House. Read more at AP

Bruce Springsteen Performs the Rising at We Are One

Pete Seeger Busts Out This Land At We Are One

I love Pete Seeger. I saw photos of the rehearsal of We Are One and thought it was Willie Nelson. It was Pete! He and Bruce Springsteen led the crowd in This Land is Your Land. (see the video here). It was a brilliant production. The best part, amazingly enough (because I'm not a country music fan), was Garth Brooks singing American Pie and Shout. U2 and Bruce were great. Bruce's The Rising, played during the campaign, was fitting. Bono said "I have a Dream" is not just an American dream, it's "an Irish dream, a European dream, and African dream, an Israeli dream, and a Palestinian dream." 
Usher sang Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground, backed up by Stevie on keyboards. Oh, and Bettye LaVette-- wow! Awesome voice. 
Challenger, the bald Eagle, made an appearance. 
Obama's remarks.
CNN's take
Washington Post's take
NYT has some photos.
HBO has some photos.

Obama's remarks at We Are One:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

We Are One Clips:

Garth Brooks' Shout from the crowd:

We Are One Rehearsal Photos

We Are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial, between Constitution Avenue NW and Independence Avenue SW on 23rd Street
Doors open: 8:00 AM EST
Event begins: 2:30 PM EST
This event is free and open to the public.
Public gates open at 8:00 AM. More details.

It will be streamed at HBO, which has the exclusive broadcast rights to the concert. You can also listen to the concert at NPR.









Other preparations:

Bruce Springsteen Plays National Mall Free for Inauguration

Update: Concert starts at 2:30 eastern. See it live streamed here. Or listen here. 
Inauguration goers will now get a free concert. See recently added performers here. Bruce supported Obama big time during the campaign. 

Bruce Springsteen will perform at Washington D.C.'s National Mall on Jan. 18 as part of the Barack Obama inauguration festivities, according to a report in the Washington Post. The performance will be free and open to the public.

Springsteen was a vocal Obama supporter, playing benefit shows in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, as well as appearing at a rally with the President-elect in Cleveland.

Performers, Poet and Other Inauguration Day Happenings

Update 12-18: full inaugural schedule here. 

The platform, where Obama will be inaugurated, as of 11-14

The theme for the day: "A New Birth of Freedom," commemorating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

The day's events:
Morning worship

Bush and Obama will head to the Capitol

Joe Biden will be sworn in as vice president

Obama will be sworn in as president

Obama will give his address

We will all happily wave goodbye to Bush as he departs

Inaugural lunch, parade then ball.

Read about each of these events and the history behind them here.

Questions are being asked as to how lavish should the celebration be.

Update 12-3: Dionne Warwick to chair the American Music Inaugural Ball. There's also a Creative Coalition Be the Change Inaugural ball headlined by Elvis Costello. Just how many balls are there? 
Possible performers include Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen. 

Who will be the inaugural poet?  I hope it's someone original and not the usual suspects (Maya Angelou). George Bush did not have a poet.  Only 3 poets have read or recited poetry at inaugurations: 

Three poets have read or recited poems at U.S. presidential inaugurations:

Robert Frost recited "The Gift Outright" (PBS transcript) at John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural. Frost recited the poem from memory after he was unable to read the text of the poem he'd written for the inauguration, "Dedication" (PBS transcript), because of the sun's glare upon the snow-covered ground. For information on the location of the original handwritten copy of "Dedication," see the article "The Poem Nobody Knew was Lost" and associated video on MSNBC's Web site. A video of Frost reading "The Gift Outright" at Kennedy's inauguration is available through the EarthStation1.com Web site (http://www.earthstation1.com/).
Maya Angelou read "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural. A video of the reading is available through YouTube.
Miller Williams read "Of History and Hope" at Bill Clinton's 1997 inaugural. Click here to listen to a RealAudio recording of Williams reading the inaugural poem from the PBS Online NewsHour website.

Apparently, Obama will have a poet -- 1,000 poets have been called upon to submit their work. Obama's own poetry has been published in the New Yorker.

Kay Ryan has been mentioned as a possible inaugural poet. Ryan's bio. 

Red Room: This morning, I saw a picture of Obama with a copy of Derek Walcott's Collected Poems in his hands. I think Walcott would be a superb choice: an excellent poet and a man who has many nations running through his veins. Here is one of my favorite Walcott poems. See what you think.

Who is Derek Walcott?

The Rising

Bruce Springsteen talks about Obama and sings.

Obama Michelle and Bruce Rally Cleveland Ohio Nov. 2

Another link for you. 

Change We Need Rally
with Barack and Michelle Obama
and Special Guest Bruce Springsteen
Please join us this Sunday, November 2nd, for a rally in Cleveland with Barack and Michelle Obama featuring special guest Bruce Springsteen:

Change We Need Rally
with Barack and Michelle Obama
and Special Guest Bruce Springsteen

Malls A, B, and C
Lakeside Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114

Sunday, November 2nd
Doors Open: 2:00 p.m.
Program Begins: 3:45 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners permitted.

Springsteen Speaks About Obama

Springsteen Puts On a Voter Registration Concert

Holy cows! That's some voter registration. Bruce Springsteen is playing a number of shows to register voters. See more photos and read about the Philly show here. 

Philly: Bruce Springsteen called the Bush presidency "a disaster" and said many Americans have "justifiably lost faith" in the American dream.

The legendary rocker interrupted a seven-song acoustic set at a voter-registration rally in Philadelphia on Saturday to praise Democrat Barack Obama and bemoan the crises facing the next president. Springsteen said that America remains a house of dreams for some, but that too many people have given up on the promise of fairness and equality.

"I've spent 35 years writing about America and its people and the meaning of the American promise , a promise handed down right here in this city," said the New Jersey rocker, whose songs often depict down-on-their-luck, working-class dreamers. "Our everyday citizens ... have justifiably lost faith in its meaning."

The rally, planned by the Obama campaign a week ago, drew tens of thousands of people to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Springsteen approached the campaign and asked to help out, an Obama aide said. The Philadelphia event came just days before Monday's voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania.

"The Boss" also plans to perform at Obama gatherings in Ohio on Sunday and Michigan on Monday. On Oct. 16, he will join Billy Joel at an Obama fundraiser in New York City.

Springsteen cited the Iraq war, the recent economic turmoil and Hurricane Katrina as examples of the Bush administration's failures. He bookended the set with his rock classic "Promised Land" and Woody Guthrie's folk anthem, "This Land is My Land."

Bruce Springsteen To Play Convention?

Update 8-27: Well, it looks like he's not. 

Rumors are flying that he will but how could he not?
Springsteen's "The Rising" is always played at Obama's events and Springsteen is a big Obama supporter.

Wapo: Fueling the speculation: the Boss has a six-day gap in his tour schedule, with no public concerts listed between Aug. 24, when he's due to perform in Kansas City, and Aug. 30, when he's set to perform in Milwaukee.

And local radio and other news outlets are reporting the Boss buzz as fact. One of the Sleuth's colleagues heard a traffic reporter on a Denver country radio station warning drivers about the traffic woes when Springsteen shows up later this week.

The Las Vegas Review Journal also is reporting that Springsteen "will follow Obama with a solo acoustic performance on Thursday after Obama's acceptance speech."

Bruce Springsteen Says it Best

the politics of celebs or musicians tends to grate on me, but bruce put the recent fake controversy in perspective and he did it succinctly:

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams of My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

note: it should be Dreams From My Father, still at the top of the bestseller list.