Rage Against the Republicans
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://tinyurl.com/5zgqe3
Will rockers Earle and Morello rage against the Republicans?
By CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER, Star Tribune
July 16, 2008
A famous half-Kenyan Harvard graduate from Illinois in his 40s will be
in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention -- but it's not
Sen. Barack Obama.
Tom Morello, the activist guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and
Audioslave, and another outspoken rocker, Steve Earle, will perform a
Labor Day concert on St. Paul's Harriet Island during the Republican
National Convention.
The pair -- along with Earle's country-singer wife, Allison Moorer --
committed to appear at the Service Employees International Union's Labor
Day Festival, a three-day event across the river from Xcel Energy
Center, where the GOP convention will be based.
A union representing 2 million workers nationwide, SEIU also expects
former Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards to appear.
SEIU secretary-treasurer Anna Burger would not call the event a protest
concert, but said: "It's no secret that a lot of people have been
hurting under the economic policies of the last eight years. We are of
course honored and excited by the talent that is lining up to honor
working people and to envision a new American dream for the 21st century."
More talent is lining up for other events, too. The Ripple Effect will
play Sept. 2 on the State Capitol Lawn -- with free performers,
including the radical punk band Anti-Flag, activist reggae/hip-hop stars
Michael Franti and Matisyahu, and rap acts Dead Prez and I Self Devine.
Members of the Honeydogs and Semisonic are organizing a Sept. 2 festival
called ProVention at Midway Stadium in St. Paul. A fundraiser for Obama
called Eight Is Enough will take place Aug. 27 at the Turf Club in St.
Paul, with Minnesota rock and hip-hop acts such as Low, P.O.S. and Tapes
'N Tapes.
Other well-known performers are confirmed to play more
Republican-friendly events. Sammy Hagar and LeAnn Rimes, for example,
will perform for private parties at First Avenue and Trocaderos in
Minneapolis, respectively, during the convention.
Earle's and Morello's management hinted that "friends" might join them
Sept. 1. Morello, who endorsed Obama, recently recorded a song with
Bruce Springsteen and helmed the Justice Tour this spring, joined by
members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and System of a Down.
Earle made waves in 2002 with his post-9/11 album "Jerusalem" and has
long stumped for labor-union issues. "I lived in New York in 2004 during
the summer of the Republican convention there, basically so I could
[mess] with the Republicans," he told the Star Tribune in March.
Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://tinyurl.com/2gcoqt
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"
robert bowman
> Earle made waves in 2002 with his post-9/11 album "Jerusalem" and has
> long stumped for labor-union issues. "I lived in New York in 2004 during
> the summer of the Republican convention there, basically so I could
> [mess] with the Republicans," he told the Star Tribune in March.
I saw Steve Earle in concert last Saturday. He said that in light of his
2004 efforts, he felt the best thing he could do would be to stay as far
away from the candidate as possible...
