What I did today

[cleolinda]

Lincoln Memorial Concert Kicks Off Festivities. My grandmother's birthday was Wednesday so we had lunch for her today, and I'm so out of the loop that I was like, "There's a concert? Oh, right, it would be Tuesday... it's not? It's tonight? Oh, wait, it's this afternoon? Oh, it's about to come on now?" So we sat around with cake and ice cream and watched it on HBO (Fox News was in a righteous froth that they would only be allowed to film a couple of minutes. "THEY EVEN KICKED OUT C-SPAN!!"). I had absolutely no idea who would be there, so every time a new presenter came up, it was this guessing game of Which Randomly Chosen Celebrity This Time? Because they had v. srs speakers like Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks, and then Steve Carell and Jamie Foxx were up together, and then... Kal Penn? Jack Black? That was... odd. I mean, there was some weirdly chosen stuff like that--"Marian Anderson wasn't allowed to sing at Constitution Hall, so... here's Josh Groban with the song she performed here!" And Bettye LaVette was singing "We Are One" and... Jon Bon Jovi strolls out? Weird. I mean, I appreciate the thought; I'm just not sure how they arrived at the results half the time. I did like that the whole thing wasn't omg so srs duets (although there were a lot of those), that John Mellencamp got out there and tore up "Pink Houses," but then Garth Brooks was allowed to showboat for three songs? One of which was "Shout"? As in, "You make me wanna"? What? And then U2 CAME OUT HOLY SHIT THEY GOT U2 BEST INAUGURATION EVER. For some reason I'd assumed they'd have only American performers, so that was awesome. U2 played "Pride (In the Name of Love)," of course, and then "City of Blinding Lights," and I wish they'd thrown in "Where the Streets Have No Name" just so no one could say that Garth Brooks rocked longer than they did, but Bono wandered over stage left and sat down on the steps before he was even done with the second song so... you gotta rest up for these things, man. Also, he felt compelled to namedrop Israel and Palestine, which I'm sure will give Fox News hours of outraged entertainment.

ETA: Holy crap, I forgot to even tell you about the two eagles they trotted out. They had soldiers standing at attention and then a handler brought out "Challenger," turned around in a circle while everyone stared, and held on for dear life while the eagle tried to fly away. And the eagle kept glaring into the camera like, I'D RATHER GO EXTINCT. And then they brought out "Challenger's friend, Mr. Lincoln," and I don't know what kind of "friend" Mr. Lincoln was but you know, look, that's cool, I don't judge, and they did the beauty pageant turn with Mr. Lincoln as well, and then Samuel L. Jackson came out all like "THAT EAGLE AIN'T DONE SHIT TO YOU! PUT THAT FUCKING EAGLE DOWN!" or whatever. It was strange, to say the least.

ETA: Here's when it's re-airing and how to watch it online.

Comments

[roseredhoofbeat.livejournal.com]

GARTH BROOKS IS THE MAN.

<3

[cleojones.livejournal.com]

Her seriously was. Best performance out there. Whole crowd was jamming.

[wondersheep.livejournal.com]

I'm watching the football at a bar, so I'm missing it. Alas.

Did they show my Big Gay Bishop?

(a.k.a. the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire (Episcopal Church of the USA))

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I didn't see anyone like that there, just celebrities and/or musicians. And George Lucas in the audience.

[emmaorgana.livejournal.com]

Also, he felt compelled to namedrop Israel and Palestine, which I'm sure will give Fox News hours of outraged entertainment.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

*cough* The SUGAR, it RUSHES THROUGH ME.

[genmaicha.livejournal.com]

Oh god, U2!?

And I missed it!?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

They really, really did not advertise who was playing ahead of time, or at least not that I heard. I suspect it was to keep the crowd calm, because there were like 400,000 people there as it was.

I'm sure it'll turn up on YouTube, or HBO will put it out on DVD.

[mckennl.livejournal.com]

There wasn't a dry eye in my house when Bono was singing. I expect to remain verklempt until maybe Wednesday.

CAN'T WAIT FOR TUESDAY OMG.

DC is totally all unicorns and rainbows, you can tell from all the smiles in the crowd.

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

I note from the photo that one of what I assume is the Obama children is so thrilled by the concert that she's on her mobile, texting.

Didn't Springsteen play?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he opened with a huge choir.

Hey, she could totally be texting her friends about how she just saw Stevie Wonder or something. I don't know.

[threeparts.livejournal.com]

I am so confused.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

There was an inauguration concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial this afternoon. And it was kind of weird in spots.

[demonoflight.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I wish I could've seen that. Sounds like the best inauguration in the universe. Not that I have anything to compare too, but...

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hey, and that was just a "festivity." The actual ceremony's on Tuesday.

[mollywobbles867.livejournal.com]

The eagles were definitely a "WTF" moment? Not because they were there, but it was awkward.

Bono made me tired. He just looked worn down. I missed the first bit, so I'll probably tune in again for a little bit.

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

Kal Penn was stumping for Obama pretty much from the start of his campaign, so I guess that...sort of explains that. Maybe.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, they also had him come out with George Lopez, so it kind of had a "Let's have some brown people come out now! We haven't had anyone Indian or Latino yet!" whiff about it. The whole thing was very carefully choreographed to have white people alternate with black, or have white and black together. Even my family remarked on it--again, it's a great sentiment, it's just that the arrangements were kind of blatant. I think it's one of the reasons I was so shocked to see U2, because the whole show had a very carefully planned every-corner-of-America feel to it, so it was like, ZOMG! YOU'RE NOT EVEN FROM HERE! In fact, I kind of wonder if that's why Garth Brooks got so much time--to reassure the "red state" demographic.

[wenelda.livejournal.com]

And the eagle kept glaring into the camera like, I'D RATHER GO EXTINCT.

I think I laughed a little too hard at that.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

That eagle was REALLY, REALLY MAD, let me tell you.

[sapphires13.livejournal.com]

The entire U2 fandom is facepalming Bono right now. Bless his heart. We love him, but sometimes he does really odd things.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

God bless. I understood what he was saying--when he said, "And it's an Israeli dream," I said, out loud, "OH LORD HE'S DONE IT NOW." And then when he said, "And it's a Palestinian dream," it's like, okay, at least he's not taking sides or making a particular statement either way; it's more of a Peace on Earth kind of thing. But still: "OH HE'S REALLY DONE IT NOW."

[ppyajunebug.livejournal.com]

I swear I'm the only Democrat in Northern Virginia going south before the inauguration. But I have a thing about crowds and since my parents are the only ones with tickets to balls...

Kal Penn was there because he did a ton of campigning for Obama at colleges. Sadly, not mine.

The eagles were totally random. I was convinced they were going to fly away and the snipers were going to freak. And then my mom was yelling that Pete Seeger needed to put on a jacket because he was too old. My favorite part was Sasha Obama's reactions. She is so hilarious.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I loved seeing which songs the Obamas rocked out to.

[emisi.livejournal.com]

I live in Northern Virginia and I totally forgot about this concert. I was going to go, too. >_

[julietvalcouer.livejournal.com]

I would pay money to see the eagle rip a celebrity's face off.

Any celebrity. I'm not picky. Just for the lolz.

Josh Groban? Really?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to think who he dueted with. Heather Headley? He about blew her away, too. Big voice, that guy.

[marcusisabadass.livejournal.com]

I was in the press section. No lie, The Coug brought the house down. I got a great pic of Sasha bored out of her skull while Tom Hanks was speaking.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hee. You and me, Sasha. You and me.

And yeah, I think Mellencamp was my other favorite performance. It was just such a fun song to rock out to (hasn't he said before that it's not actually positive? Well, I guess he was playing it positive today).

[madelrocio7.livejournal.com]

Oh Cleo. I just came back from there. I AM EXHAUSTED.

My friends and I got up at 5 and we were there by 6:45. We waited all day but it was so much fun to be there--even if the crowds were insane. I have friends that couldn't get in and had to see it from the Washington Monument. I was in front of the Lincoln Memorial. :) I have to say I loved Garth Brooks' American Pie and I LOVED U2 BECAUSE I LOVE THEM AND THIS WAS THE BEST DAY EVER CUZ I GOT TO SEE THEM PERFORM LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. There was serious WTF-ery going on with those eagles. JS.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

What was WITH those eagles? I mean, eagles, I get it, but they just brought them out and turned around slowly and... eagles. They're still eagles, turning around slowly, just like they were five minutes ago. Please let the eagles go home, you're pissing them off.

[wearejustducky.livejournal.com]

I think A Lincoln Portrait is one of my favorite pieces, so I was thrilled to see that performed.

I thought the bit with Groban was hilarious, because then HEATHER FREAKING HEADLEY comes out, and I'm sitting there thinking, hmm, they couldn't have her come out first, so as to not lead to such a totally incongrous moment. Also, I think that was the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington as backup, which was awesome.

For me, my favorite running gag was, at least for the first hour, every time they cut to Obama, right behind him was his sister's daughter, totally asleep with her mouth open and slumped over on her father's shoulder. It was hilarious and charming.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Is that who the baby was? We kept trying to figure out.

And yeah, they needed to have Heather Headley come out first. I mean, it might be a little on the nose to be like, "Marian Anderson sang here, so let's have another black woman sing here!" But it would at least make sense, instead of, "And now, Josh Groban!"

[tsl-aggie.livejournal.com]

GARTH FTW

[sweet-pessimism.livejournal.com]

Your first ETA read like one of your crazy dreams. I had to google it to make sure you weren't having some crack with your Inauguration.

[mskat.livejournal.com]

I was there! It wasn't just random on TV, but it was totally RANDOM in person.

We were pretty far back and we spent a lot of time looking at the jumbotron going, "WAIT? Is that Fergie or is that Shakira?" "Who is that old guy with the bango?"

But what was cool was how pindrop quiet it got when Obama spoke. It was amazing. Really!

[raechel]

"And the eagle kept glaring into the camera like, I'D RATHER GO EXTINCT."

Seriously, it is lines like this that make me happy! I love how you think!

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

the eagle kept glaring into the camera like, I'D RATHER GO EXTINCT

LOL. I suppose it was easier to bring out a couple of eagles than a couple of sequoias or timber wolves. They may have looked pissed because it was about -15 degrees up there on the steps.

FWIW, this was supposed to be more about Martin Luther King day than the inauguration per se. Theoretically.

I kind of liked the random mix-it-up. When would those people ever sing together, otherwise? Stevie Wonder and Usher and Shakira... I mean, they sounded pretty good, strangely enough. Will.I.am with Sheryl Crow and Herbie Hancock had to be the oddest set, but I was mostly thinking, w00t, the president grooves on Bob Marley! Because I have about had it with 8 years of nonstop mediocre country.

I was sort of sorry not to get more of Marian Anderson too, because that's an amazing performance, but they only did short clips of all the historical vids, probably because the crowd would have gotten impatient.

OK, I'm a sap. I got all teary when George Lopez asked, "Anyone here from outta town?" and then said, "Well, you're all home now."

[edda.livejournal.com]

If only the eagles were held by Stephen Colbert. Then again, he might have lost valuable body parts.

Possibly for inaugural linkspam: tacobama.com (http://www.tacobama.com/). The good news: print out a coupon for a free taco on Tuesday. The bad news: it only applies to Taco Bells in central and southwestern Virginia owned by a specific franchise. But given all the free crap everybody gave out on election day, surely this isn't the only inaugual freebie to be had, right?

[unicornluvr.livejournal.com]

I see by your icon that you agree: only Jem could have made it better.

Or should I say, truly outrageous?