Artists Get Partisan At DNC
Tuesday was a big night for music events at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The music industry wore its political affiliations on its sleeve at The Recording Academy and Grammy Foundation bash Rock the Conventions at a nightclub converted from an old church, featuring Daughtry, Everclear and The Flobots. The Denver-based Flobots stole the show with their politicall charged lyrics that met with enthusiastic approval by the crowd. Wearing an Obama T-Shirt and sporting a US flag badanna, frontman Jonny 5 pumped up the Democratic crowd with lyrics like "Saying the same thing over again/ tired of the same thing/we want change" and then set them over the top with their anthem "Rise."
Meanwhile hardcore democrat Art Alexakis of Everclear--he was an elected delegate in the 2004 campaign--took his own shots at the republicans during an otherwise uninspired set. Other event that night included local music show/producer Etown, which hosted James Taylor, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Irma Thomas, as well as a surprise appearance by Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello. Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwirght played the "Rock to Win" benefit for the GLBT outfit Human Rights Campaign, where Lauper echoed Hillary Clinton's earlier speech and urged the audience "Don't vote insane."
