Electioneering: Democratic National Convention

by Chris Ryan

The Democratic National Convention wound down with all the subtlety of the final homerun scene in The Natural; with all the fireworks, banners and cheer, I was half-expecting Randy Newman's rousing, mythos-invoking score to blast out of the Invesco Field PA system after Barack Obama concluded his historic acceptance speech. It would have been less surprising than what we did hear: the Brooks & Dunn happy-hour-in-the-USA anthem, "Only in America," a song that frequently concluded the rallies of another presidential hopeful eight years ago: George W. Bush.

Ronnie Dunn found the song's useage both "ironic" and "flattering" (how's that for a bi-partisanship?), but in truth, it was somewhat out of place, both given its place as a bookend to the epic sweep and save-the-world message of  U2's "City of Blinding Lights," which served as Obama's intro music, and the decidedly non-Music-City vibe that surrounded the Dem Party gathering. Here's a wrap-up of the convention's musical moments.

Though it had been rumored that Bruce Springsteen would start the Obama rising, Stevie Wonder took on the role of warm-up act, setting the stage for the decidedly un-Motown stylings of Al Gore. Wonder's rendition of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" gave all in attendance a big chill and caused MSNBC's Gene Robinson and Rachel Maddow to engage in some pundit-tailfeather-shaking. Unfortunately, Wonder's mid-song ad-lib, "Barack Obama's gonna set the country on fire," gave Ron Paul-supporters heart palpitations.

Watching Obama's speech from a a luxurious distance was Kanye West, who, along with Mary J. Blige, joined Oprah Winfrey in her I-Am-Possibly-the-Most-Influential-Person-in-This-Joint stadium box. West got to meet the Southside Senator ...

... leading him to blog, simply, "Life changing."

Musicians were making their presence felt around Denver all week. As if the Shepherd Fairey posters weren't enough, Obama's hipster cred got a bump from the likes of Cold War Kids and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who brought the moodiness and quirk during a party-sponsored block party.

While the likes of J.Lo and Moby mingled and networked, lesser-known artists like Jenny Lewis and Matthew Caws of Nada Surf got their Guthrie on at the decidedly un-Guthrie "Unconventional '08" party.

While most musicians were in town to join in on the open-bar celebration of change, some were in town for more sober reasons ...

Rage Against the Machine made sure to excercise their right to protest while in town, joining a march held by the Iraq Veterans Against War. They also excercised their right to rock, playing the Tent State Festival to End the War, where they were joined on the bill by MC5's Wayne Kramer, announcing, in their own way, that we can be a better country.