Rock Royalty to Join Voices Against Bush With Fall Concerts
Musicians will perform in swing states to try to affect election. Playing for a cause is a tradition, but injecting political views can be risky.
By Geoff Boucher
Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, R.E.M.,
Pearl Jam and a deep roster of other
rock stars will unite for politically
minded concerts this fall that will
give voice to dissatisfaction with the
Bush administration.
The all-star rock shows, which are
expected to begin in October and target
campaign swing states, are in the
planning stage but were confirmed by
half a dozen music industry sources who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
Insiders disagree on the unifying
rhythm of the celebrity coalition. Some
say it is the promise of the John F.
Kerry candidacy, but at least one
emphasizes the fear of President Bush's
reelection. "There is a range of
feeling about Kerry," the source
said, "but a uniform belief that Bush
must go."
The tour turns up the volume of the
rock scene's role in politics, but it
is not the only example of an apparent
surge of commentary among artists.
Rockers seem virtually unanimous in
their anti-Bush stance, just as country
music has seen a wave of passionate
patriotism and support for the
president, exemplified by the songs of
Toby Keith.
MTV has been showing a video by the
British dance-pop outfit Faithless that
features a teen shipped off to Iraq
only to return home wounded and
disillusioned. Representing a different
generation, Tom Waits and John Fogerty
have recorded songs about Iraq. For
Waits, it's the first political song of
his four-decade career; for Fogerty,
it's a return to his Vietnam-era songs
such as "Who'll Stop the Rain."
Elsewhere, rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs
is steering a new voter registration
drive, and the usually bratty punk-pop
band Green Day has said its next album
will be a political concept piece.
Steve Earle has a new album laced with
songs about Iraq and Bush and even a
mocking valentine to national security
advisor Condoleezza Rice. Blues player
Keb Mo has an upcoming album of peace
songs, including John
Lennon's "Imagine" and Buffalo
Springfield's "For What It's Worth."
Introducing political commentary into
music is sometimes a risky prospect —
even if it's just a passing reference.
Last weekend, Linda Ronstadt was booed
in Las Vegas for praising a Bush
nemesis, filmmaker Michael Moore, while
Ozzy Osbourne relented to critics and
removed concert imagery that showed
Bush and Hitler together on an overhead
screen.
The countercultural mind-set and
recklessness once at the core of rock
music now seem relegated to the distant
past, Elton John told Interview
magazine. He said that protest had
often given way to strict careerism in
this corporate age.
"There's an atmosphere of fear in
America right now, and that is deadly,"
John said. "Everyone is too career-
conscious. They're all too scared….
Things have changed."
Tom Morello, guitarist with Rage
Against the Machine and once a staffer
to the late California Democratic Sen.
Alan Cranston, is a veteran of politics-
meets-rock. "I'm not surprised you're
seeing this music being made, and I'm
not surprised it's connecting with an
audience," he said. "It's not just
people who write songs — carpenters,
teachers, everyone is ready for a
regime change."
Morello was cited by some sources as a
probable participant in the concert
series, but he declined to confirm
plans for the shows.
No album or song is likely to capture
as much media attention as the concerts
involving Springsteen in swing states,
which are expected to take place in
arenas.
Organizers have been tight-lipped since
discussions of the idea caught the ears
of some of the stars in April. At the
end of last week, the formal
announcement was scheduled for Aug. 4
in New York.
Other artists expected to join the
lineup include Earle, the Dave Matthews
Band, the Dixie Chicks, Bright Eyes,
Ani DiFranco, Death Cab for Cutie and
International Noise Conspiracy. There
also are reports that Bob Dylan and
James Taylor may be part of the bill.
The shows reportedly will benefit
several organizations, chief among them
MoveOn.org, the advocacy group that
champions a liberal agenda through Web-
based grass-roots efforts.
All-star concerts to raise money for
philanthropic or political causes have
become a tradition. The template goes
back to 1971 with George Harrison's
Concert for Bangladesh and the no-nukes
shows of 1980 that featured Springsteen
and such artists as Taylor, Jackson
Browne and Carly Simon.
Organizers have tried to keep the fall
shows under wraps to spotlight the
official announcement. Springsteen's
manager, Jon Landau, declined to
discuss the shows, and Young's manager,
Elliot Roberts, did not return calls.
When Bertis Downs, who manages R.E.M.,
was asked about the band's fundraising
plans, he replied, "I can't talk about
that."
R.E.M became one of the first bands to
criticize the war in Iraq when it
posted a song on its website in March
2003, the month of the invasion.
Others now joining the critical chorus
include the Beastie Boys, a Perfect
Circle and Jay Farrar, the alternative-
country rocker who said Saturday that
he resisted political messages in the
past because the topic didn't fit his
sensibilities.
But now, he said, he would feel
derelict if he didn't speak up. "And
there will be a lot more artists doing
the same thing if Bush gets reelected."
