PHILADELPHIA-Bruce Springsteen played the first of several acoustic sets as part of Rock The Vote 2008, Saturday at the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia in an effort to increase voter registration across the country. Over 35,000 Springsteen fans and Barack Obama supporters lined the Parkway between 20th and 24th street of Philadelphia for the free event.
Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Bob Casey spoke about the importance of voting and this election, before Springsteen took the stage.
The rock star stopped in the streets of Philadelphia to play in support of voter registration, which ends today in Pennsylvania, and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Springsteen played seven songs including an acoustic version of “Thunder Road”, “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and Obama’s campaign song, “The Rising” during the 45 minute set.
City Hall, a short drive from the birthplace of Liberty and Freedom provided a fitting backdrop for Springsteen’s folk rock gathering, especially during the hopeful chorus of “The Promised Land”, which opened the set. Many in the crowd repeatedly chanted “Yes we can”, when Springsteen played the final chords of “The Rising” before ripping into Woody Guthrie’s classic protest song “This Land is Your Land” to close the set.
As is typically the case, when Springsteen plays in Philadelphia which he calls his “home away from home” the rocker played a rarity during this stop. Springsteen played “Does this bus stop at 82nd street?” in dedication to fans who saw him perform early in his career at the Main Point Theater.
The event was coordinated by the Obama campaign as part of the 2008 Vote for Change tour, making stops in major cities of swing states between now and election day. While the goal of the event was to register voters before Pennsylvania’s deadline, many were in attendance to see Springsteen for free.
A majority of the crowd was college aged students, a target demographic of the Obama campaign. The location was ideal for students, with Temple University, Drexel, West Chester University, St. Joe’s and Lasalle all within driving distance of the Parkway.
Students can register to vote through today, and out of state students are still legally allowed to register to vote in the state of Pennsylvania if they live on campus.
Matt Lombardo is a third-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in journalism. He can be reached at ML606516@wcupa.edu.
I do agree with all the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They’re very convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are too short for novices. Could you please extend them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.