I don't have satellite, but just discovered you can see it online at http://www.hbo.com/weareone/webcast/index.html.
Texas Time - CST
3:55 - Joe.My.God. is reporting that gay bishop Gene Robinson's invocation was not televised by HBO. (I didn't catch the first part of the concert, so I wouldn't have known.) Also that the guys in the red ties were indeed the DC Gay Men's Chorus, but were not announced on stage nor were they identified on screen. Right. Well, we have our work still to do here in America, don't we boys?
3:35 - In case you missed it, HBO will replay tonight at 7 Eastern and again at 11:30 EST. Go to http://www.hbo.com/weareone/ for details.
3:30 - End titles rolling on the screen, the Obamas start working through the people on stage, handshakes and hugs. A long shot: a big crowd on stage, all colors bunched together. Like America. Lincoln Memorial looks dark in the gathering dusk, wonder why they don't have it lit up brightly, that would have been my inclination. Well, a very nice concert and the beginning of what will culminate, to our great joy and relief, at noon on Tuesday. God bless America, what a long dark and gloomy time we have waited for this CHANGE to get here.
3:27 - Beyonce singing "America the Beautiful." Crowd singing along. All the performers coming back on stage, all the choirs, a color guard. "America, we are one" she closes it with.
3:23 - Some really old guy I should recognize but don't, singing "This Land Is Your Land" flanked by Springsteen - that other guy was somebody else, this is The Boss - and some really woofy guitarist with dark hair and stache. Red and blue sweatered choir singing behind them, crowd all singing along. The Obamas are singing too. Nobody is minding the cold. OMG just realized - the guy I first thought was Springsteen must have been John Mellenkamp. Jeeezus.
3:20 - "Asking you to come together as one people so we can carry forward the legacy of our founding fathers." Obama returns to his seat, crowd thunders their applause. Chant: O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA.
3:18 - Talking about bringing everbody together, black white native American Latino Asian, straight and GAY. Boys, that's really something for these old ears to hear.
3:11 - An honor guard from the five services marches to center stage. Some park-ranger looking guy brings out a bald eagle named Challenger, perched on his arm. Another ranger, another eagle, named Mr. Lincoln. All these folks leave, and Obama walks to the podium. Crowd goes wild. Your Head Trucker chokes up a little.
3:07 - U2 segues into another song I've never heard. Got a good beat though, you could dance to it. Sort of. Great camera cut to Obama, looking happy, confident, approving - and cold. Hope the secret service thought to fit him out with those little chemical heat packs in his gloves and boots that the hunters wear in cold weather. A few shots of the crowd, all bundled up but happily bouncing to the music, making the peace sign with their fingers.
3:03 - Now U2 is performing "In the Name of Love" which I've never heard. Guess they are doing okay with it, good crowd response. I'm just old enough to still feel a slight, small shock way in the back of my mind at the idea of a rock band performing at an important national event. And I waited all through that long, long campaign season to hear somebody play "Happy Days Are Here Again" - but nobody did. I'm amazed.
2:54 - Another Lincoln quote by a Somebody, and then another Somebody quoting Faulkner's Nobel speech: "the poet's voice helps man endure and prevail." Now two people named Usher and Shakira are singing an old Stevie Wonder song. Nice that they let some young unknown singers have a part in the festivities, probly will help their careers. Wait. OMG there at the organ - it's Stevie Wonder himself! God he's looking old . . . . Great to see him here though. Jeez, lookit them long, long dreadlocks, looks great on him, very cool.
2:48 - Now he's segued again into "We Shall Be Free" which I blogged about last week. Lyrics are very appropriate to the day, in this pro-tolerance anthem. God he's looking old. And he's younger than me!
2:46 - Now, just as inexplicably, Garth has segued into "Shout!" backed by a big chorus in red and blue sweaters. Garth has written and sung some good songs in his career, but I can't stand to watch him on stage; he always seems so gimmicky somehow - the guy from the feed store who somehow found his way on stage and is hamming it up.
2:44 - Garth Brooks just came out, singing "American Pie." I like the song, but seems a strange choice. The only thing particularly "American" about it is the title. Go figure. But the crowd seems to love it, waving and cheering.
2:38 - Tiger Woods talked about growing up in a military family and the sacrifices made by those who dedicate their lives to serving their country; introduced the USNA Glee Club, backing Renee Fleming singing "You'll Never Walk Alone," a lovely, lovely song.
2:33 - Will.i.am and Sheryl Crow are singing "Let's Get Together." Okay, but not a tune I recognize. God it looks cold up there - a gray, overcast day. Brrr. The Inaugural party with the Obamas and Bidens seems to be sitting in a glassed-around area at the foot of the steps of the Memorial; jeez, hope they got some heaters blowing down there.
2:25 - Queen Latifah (she's gay, right?) introduced a clip of Marian Anderson singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee"; now Josh Groban has come on stage to finish the song. Joined by Heather Headley, whoever that is. Nice arrangement and singing with feeling. Backed by a huge all-male chorus in black suits, white shirts, red ties. There's a couple of woofy-looking guys in there. A gay men's chorus?
2:20 - Some old anonymous looking guy is singing "Little Pink Houses." Wait. No. OMG, that can't be Springsteen!?!?!????? Jeezus, are we all really that damn old?
2:16 - James Taylor sang "Shower the people you love with love/Show them the way that you feel/Things are gonna work out fine if you only will . . . " Means a lot to someone of my generation to see James Taylor up there. He's got 4 backup singers, probably all Somebody to the younger generation, but I don't recognize them.
2:12 - Tom Hanks (God he looks old - and he's my age) just delivered a series of Lincoln quotes to Aaron Copeland's "Portrait of Lincoln" by the Marine Band. My favorite:
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.
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