Despite my having fairly firm beliefs on many subjects, I've never attended a rally of any kind, let alone a politically-themed one, nor have I ever been inclined to do so. But this one seemed like it would be fun, and...calmer than the image I have of a typical political rally. And I was correct.
My friend and I headed off towards the Mall around 10am, and joined in on the sardine-like squishing that took place on the Metro. Not fun.
But people were friendly and excited, which made the lack of personal space a little less oppressive.
The Mall was insanely crowded by the time we arrived, and it took us a long time to find a space where we weren't claustrophobic. We abandoned hope of seeing anything pretty early on, as we were too short to see the Jumbotrons, let alone the stage. Story of my life. I'm sure there were 12-year old children nearby who could see more than we could.
The rally got underway around 1pm, at which point the overall experience shifted from good to awesome. We were listening to The Roots perform, when I suddenly heard the soulful voice of John Legend join in, and I tried not to combust spontaneously in glee. I have wanted to hear/see that man perform live for far too long, and while I'd rather see him in a real concert, I'll take what I can get.
There were all sorts of fun performances and appearances that followed, including Sheryl Crow, Ozzy Osbourne, Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), the O'Jays, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, R2-D2 (well, I suppose that one wasn't real), and of course, the hosts, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
It was a varied bunch of people, much like the crowd that had assembled on the Mall. The attendees were racially diverse, and ranged from small children to the elderly, and many of them had traveled a fair distance to be there, too.
What I loved most about the event, though, was its overall tone. Everyone was affable, calm, and seemingly just genuinely excited to be hanging out on the Mall. Nothing was overly political (in fact, at no point all day did I even hear the word "vote" mentioned), so it really just seemed like a giant concert/comedy show of sorts.
At one (really awesome) point, the O'Jays took the stage, to break the back and forth between Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Yusuf's "Peace Train" and instead advocate for the "Love Train." It seemed like just about everyone joined in, and there was just one giant sing-along on the National Mall.
Of course, it wouldn't be a rally without signs, and most of the ones I liked best were a little lewd (I swear, I'm not as perverse as that makes me sound). But I'd like to share some of my favorite, nonpolitical, G-rated signs:
"Is this the line for Justin Bieber tickets?"
And of course..."There's always money in the banana stand"
The whole afternoon was just one big feel-good event; who doesn't enjoy one of those? I came back to my friend's place feeling happy and relaxed, and I think we could all use moments like that.
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