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IThat’s the conundrum of the 2021 hype: how do you get people going to party when you are the ones who explicitly told them not to party and no one can party because it? is a pandemic? So the celebration of Biden’s inaugural committee kick-off to Swearing-In Events Week was about as awkward and confusing as you might expect.
A relentless effort to stage something stimulating and fun on Sunday night We the people The concert and the fundraiser (a small donation gave Biden / Harris supporters access to the virtual event) was a little silly, rather sad, incredibly random, terribly energy efficient, rambling, admirable and in the end , maybe actually quite nice?
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The lineup wasn’t just the normal hilarious, eclectic bookings telegraphing: “We know the guest of honor has no idea who most of these people are, but we were determined to hire at least one act. to tick off each demographic to prove we’re inclusive ”for which these political events are known.
Maybe it’s because the Big Guns are booked for Wednesday’s inaugural prime-time concert or maybe they just couldn’t justify the effort of appearing on a broadcast event. virtual live show devoid of the spirit of a live concert, but We the people featured bends causing a performer boost from List A to List Z, but maybe to List P? Q-list?
Keegan-Michael Key and Debra Messing, from the iconic “I’m for Joe” meme, served as co-hosts, and were perfectly happy and happy to be there, so much the better for them. But even when they presented the evening’s programming with too much enthusiasm, it was tempting to sneer at his diminishing returns: “Dear!” “And Fall Out Boy!” “And [pause] Kal Penn… ”
The President-elect and Dr. Jill Biden spoke, as did Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. “Even though our inauguration traditions are a little different this year,” Biden warned, “we’re all still together all across America.”
And so it may be necessary to take advantage of these things for what they are in these extreme circumstances: the best that anyone can do. You must feel it.
Between pandemic restrictions and lingering insurgency threats, this is the worst time to try and spark excitement for a new administration, and they are doing their best to do what they can and what’s appropriate. It’s an impossible situation, like someone gives you a few twenties, a barrel of Busch Light, the keys to the party room at the Ponderosa Steakhouse, and says, “Turn this into a presidential event.”
There is a lot to be had about this. It’s exhausting that there is always an emphasis on doing this sort of thing, days of celebration and ultimately uninteresting concerts under pomp and civic circumstances, and especially now when we are in a pandemic. Still, it’s time to start feeling good about things – or at least believing that someday it’s possible to feel good about things again.
To that end, it is inspiring and enjoyable to have the opportunity to come together with people who are excited to stand up for and support not only the newly elected president, but the promise of what the country could be. under his leadership.
But at the end of the day, how invigorated can you feel, sitting on your couch watching a glitchy livestream on your computer at 8pm on a Sunday as Grace Adler and the guy who kissed her? Meryl Streep in Prom trying to make you believe that Fall Out Boy’s next performance is like watching Beyoncé shut down Coachella?
Was the inaugural committee trying to spark nostalgic memories of the Obama era with this reservation seemingly out of nowhere? Trying to reassociate Biden at a time when Trump was just a reality TV star, the only masks we saw were part of the cast of Grey’s Anatomy Thursday evenings, and we were all going down, in a previous lap, sugar, we were swinging down?
Until the oral history is published on how this event was interpreted – the first celebrity presenter was Michael Bivins, a former member of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe … – we’ll have to settle for staying politely confused about how my high school’s favorite rock band from my 2005 class has become a headliner. (Their performance of their 2014 single “Centuries” was… good?)
There was no saving the awkwardness of everything.
A pop trio by the name of AJR, who was touted by Messing and Key for writing and producing songs from their own living room, performed “Bummerland”, as if the jokes weren’t written already.
Yes, they had booked Barbra Streisand, but for a voiceover only. She teased that she would sing a song she performed for three presidents, and was thrilled to make Biden the fourth, and then archive footage of her “Happy Days” belt at a concert years ago. years. What was “Bummerland?”
“A pop trio by the name of AJR, who was touted by Messing and Key for writing and producing songs from their own living room, performed “Bummerland”, as if the jokes weren’t written already.“
Kal Penn joined in to talk about the famous bagels of… New Jersey (?), And the similarities between the possibility that America offers and being an actor. Will.i.am played, which I can confidently say no one wanted.
Towards the end, we were blessed with the presence of Cher, who gave a delightfully rambling speech before lip-syncing with her ballad “I Hope You Find It” from different parts of her house, much like a self-portrait music video. that I, 13, was doing in my own living room lip-syncing to a song by Cher.
The truth is, I think this review was assigned to me as sneaky, which admittedly is easy to do, especially given the random setlist and the sadness of trying to pump people up on a Zoom video. . Instead of applause, Deb and Keeg coo and scream how good each performer was. There was no cheering or laughing, but there was that caustic noise of video delays that we all know so well now.
But there was legitimately something pleasant, even uplifting, about it.
The first performer, for example, was Ben Harper, who sang the wonderful song “With My Two Hands”. It has a lovely melancholy cadence, with lyrics like, “I can make peace on Earth with my own hands / I can clean the earth with my own two hands / I can reach out to you with both hands.”
It’s a surreal message right now. It is sorely needed, but can only be metaphorical. We can’t do anything with both hands – at least not without a tub of sanitizer and diligent COVID testing – but it’s an appropriate message.
In recent weeks, we have all received clear and clear marching orders that anyone who wants this current national nightmare to end will have to actively participate in it deepening. This will only be possible if there is support: from the government, from the community. And that will only be possible if there is empathy, a new concept these days.
The chorus at the end of the song changes the lyrics to “with our have two hands. Maybe the inches of ice that have formed on my heart over the past four years are really starting to melt, because I have found myself touched.
Carole King sat down at a piano and performed “You’ve Got a Friend”. James Taylor performed singing his own version of “America, the Beautiful”. There is no time when watching either of these things is not the highlight of a day. They were adorable.
But just as we were won over, the grand finale started and pissed us off yet again that we were even doing that. Much like they did following the remarkable and impressive Democratic National Convention – a triumph of ingenuity and democracy – this concert ended, inexplicably, with a DJ.
This time it was DJ Cassidy instead of Diplo, but it was just as weird watching someone on a YouTube sized screen playing dance music like we were all together in an arena ready to party. , and not sitting in the same spot on the couch we’ve been to for the past 11 months, half-attentive scrolling through Twitter.
I don’t know what we expect from these celebrity-political events that take place every four years, and I certainly don’t know what we expect from them in the event of a pandemic.
Maybe we can just say that this was the ultimate opening act for Wednesday’s big show, which will bring together Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake and The Ultimate Star: Saving the United States of America from their current hell. It doesn’t matter if you missed it, but watching definitely made you more excited for the main event.
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