Music was the message at rocking DNC show
In a night of speeches, capping the biggest political event in Denver’s history, music did a lot of the talking.
Closing night at the Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field at Mile High had the trappings of a summer rock festival: A lot of swinging and swaying to the music, a fair amount of singing along, and generous applications of sunscreen.
Yes, Barack Obama delivered a 45-minute speech Thursday that frequently roused a packed house that spilled out onto the field.
Yes, former Vice President Al Gore and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — who preceded Obama to the stage — were greeted with thunderous responses.
But many of the best moments of Thursday’s six-hour grand finale to the 2008 DNC came between the speeches and the video clips, when an assortment of musical stars took the stage.
Obama and party leaders booked some fine pop and soul performers, helping lend a celebratory spirit to the proceedings that counter-balanced the litany of national woes contained in many of the speeches.
It helped the mood that Denver was having one of those impossibly perfect August days that turn visitors into residents. On a night when many speakers sang the praises of Colorado, the most effective marketing was provided by the weather.
Not everyone was able to get into the stadium early enough to experience all the event. The lineup at the main security gate on the east side of Invesco snaked back a mile or more onto the Auraria campus.
Hours after the program started at 3 p.m., many seats were still empty.
Those few who did make it inside when the convention was called to order were treated to a short set by Colorado’s own Yonder Mountain String Band, which unleashed a whitewater run of progressive bluegrass, Rocky Mountain style.
“We’ve been a band for 10 years and this is probably the coolest thing we’ve ever done,” a bandmember enthused.
Soon, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson was unleashing the fury of her gospel-informed voice on the national anthem, with the assist of a brief volley of fireworks.
Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am and R&B crooner John Legend dueted in a reprise of will.i.am’s “Yes We Can” online video repeating applause lines from Obama speeches.
On the stadium floor, where the delegates were arranged in a fan around the stage, there was an Olympics closing-ceremonies feel to the evening, with dancing and flag waving during many musical interludes.
Then sultry singer Sheryl Crow offered a slight rewrite on one of her hits to play off an Obama slogan: “A Change Will Do Us Good.”
Her wrapup tune, “Every Day Is a Winding Road,” was perhaps inspired by a ride on one of the wayward buses that carried the media from their hotels during DNC week payday loans lenders. In any case, the song had even the sign-language interpreter bobbing and weaving along.
Soul legend Stevie Wonder had the crowd joining in for much of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” (What, no “Higher Ground”?) And snowy-haired former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald offered a take on “America, the Beautiful” that inspired flag waving en masse.
Even tapes of Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen (the latter did not appear, despite earlier rumors) got big reactions from the delegates. And when renewable-energy advocate Gore took the stage, the “let the sunshine in” refrain from “Hair” was playing.
Gov. Bill Ritter quoted a musical icon — Merle Haggard — in his speech: “If God doesn’t live in Colorado, at least that’s where he spends most of his time.”
There was also a tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 45 years after his “I have a dream” speech to remind the crowd of the evening’s place in history, as the conclusion of the first major-party convention to nominate an African-American.
