...and they DROVE from Quebec!

The vibe last night at the Obama/Arcade Fire rally was not exactly electric, more like static electric. Every single person crammed into the Beachland was of like mind, and the audience gelled in a way that doesn't happen as a rule. There was no sniping, no people pissed off because 'that dude stepped on my shoe, then didn't apologize!'.

Indeed some people, for reasons that I will never know, chose not even to wear shoes. No offense to Cindy, the gracious proprietor of the venue, but I would not walk barefoot around the Beachland unless I had a death wish.

Arcade Fire played two abbreviated sets, with a short Obama appeal from a campaign staffer in between. It was very high intensity, and it's been since my Phish days that I've heard such a high percentage of the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs.

We stuck around after the show and went up on stage to have a look around. We wound up meeting Win Butler, Regine Chassagne and Jeremy Gara from the band. They apparently had just concluded a recent tour and were back home in Montreal when they decided to contact an Obama rep to offer their services. 90 hours later they were playing a show in Cleveland on the night before the primary. The kicker is; they didn't want to put out the campaign by flying on such short notice ($$), so they drove from Quebec for the shows!

It just makes me think that people who don't get around to voting when the polling station is around the corner are lazy beyond all reasonable belief.

Anyway, it was a great evening that I hope is only matched by the results from today's election.

*Oh, and one note, I'm laughing in the Win Butler pic, not maniacal...