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WHowever, whoever was tasked with reserving talent for Joe Biden’s inauguration clearly had an easier task than his counterpart in 2017. Donald Trump’s transition team promised the world an Elton John performance. Instead, performers at various inauguration events included Tony Orlando, of Knock Three Times and Tie a Yellow Ribbon; a fading post-grunge band called 3 Doors Down; country singer Toby Keith; and a woman who came second on America’s Got Talent. Elton John, it appeared, had not confirmed and clearly had no intention of playing. Here’s a lesson for unscrupulous concert promoters around the world on announcing an act before signing up.
In all fairness, they managed to wrest a true musical legend – Sam Moore, half of the 60s soul duo Sam & Dave, who performed at a pre-inauguration event called Make America Great Again! Welcome celebration. But the swearing-in ceremony itself only featured a choir and a military orchestra – a descent from Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, who blackmailed Aretha Franklin during his ceremony in 2009, followed by Beyoncé in 2013. One Atrocious nadir was reached when an act of tribute to Bruce Springsteen called the B Street Band pulled out of a concert the day before the opening. When tribute groups start telling you to make one, you have problems.
Under the circumstances, almost anything would have been an improvement, but Biden’s team proved capable of attracting some major stars: the Celebrating America TV special that was to follow the inauguration was to be hosted by Tom Hanks and featuring starring Justin Timberlake, Foo Fighters, Demi Lovato, Jon Bon Jovi, John Legend and the real Bruce Springsteen.
At the inauguration itself, Lady Gaga sang the national anthem wearing a huge red skirt and something you would have described as a brooch in the shape of a dove if it wasn’t the size of her head; at least according to her criteria, she had dressed for the occasion. She belted The Star-Spangled Banner in a powerful Broadway style, before Jennifer Lopez showed up to perform a medley of America the Beautiful and This Land Is Your Land.
Performed by Pete Seeger and Springsteen – him again – at Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, the latter is a song that took quite a journey: what started life as a crass popular response to God Bless America sounded, on this occasion, remarkably like the finale of a Disney movie with an unexpected blast of widdly-woo guitar solos nailed to the end, but you can’t deny Lopez’s emotional impact in uttering the phrase “a nation with. freedom and justice for all ”in Spanish halfway through the attitude of the previous administration towards people south of the border.
Finally, there was Garth Brooks, resplendent in stetson, denims and cowboy boots. He sang Amazing Grace a cappella, encouraging those at home to join us. More striking than his performance was the fact that he was there at all: a staunch Republican country singer at the inauguration of a Democratic president. You might see it as a symbol or a reconciliation – or a place of your own for the man who left the White House earlier today for the tensions of My Way.
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