I just finished watching We Are One, the 2-hr. live broadcast of the concert on the Washington Mall in honor of Barack Obama. It was wonderful, and I wanted to let you all know that HBO is rebroadcasting it tonight at 7 pm ET/PT and 11:30 pm ET/PT. If you don't have HBO (which we don't), go to www.hbo.com a few minutes ahead of time, and register in the lower right hand corner. At least for the live broadcast, they showed it online; I can only assume they will at the 2 later rebroadcasts. The artists were top-notch: Springsteen, Mary J. Bligh, Bon Jovi, JT, Josh Groban, Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks, U2, Beyonce, Pete Seeger. Each musician would sing 1 -3 songs, and then an actor or other celebrity would speak some awe-inspiring words about history and our future. Really made me feel warm and fuzzy, and teary, all at the same time!
Best performance for me? Surprisingly, Garth Brooks "brought the house down"--ever think you'd see a half million people all doing "Shout"?? (A song that my hubby and I banned our wedding band from playing at our reception, but it worked on the Washington Mall!) Garth played that amid 2 other songs that just really clicked for this event...American Pie, and Be Free. He plays shortly after the one hour point. But, everyone is worth watching, so I would plan on it!
And, the ending was the real tear-jerker for me. First, Barack's eloquent speech of 5 or 6 minutes with no notes, no teleprompter...that man just has it! Never mind that he can groove better than any previous Prez, judging from the camera pans over to him boppin' to the music. (They didn't show the First Family at all during Shout, so I can't tell you if he went lower on "a little bit softer now..."). And THEN, EVERYONE on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial--singers, actors, athletes--all singing This Land is Your Land with Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen leading them. Them, and a half million people. God Bless America!