The Welcome Concert

Ellen was quite upset that we were late to the show, but we got to hear the last half and to see a tiny silver of a JumboTron.

We got out at Farragut North metro and walked ~ 12 blocks south the Mall.  No crowds at all really (everyone was at the show already).  Walked/ran past tons of sellers of merchandise including the usual T-shirt, hats, etc, but also Obama snowglobes and other unique things worth examination later.  We went to the Washington Monument side of 17th St and there was no security when John Mellencamp was singing "Little Pink Houses".  We were bummed to miss Mary J Blige.

Then Queen Latifah, Shakira and Usher with Stevie Wonder, will.I.am, Ashley Judd, Springsteen, Jack Black, Garth Brooks.  The crowd went WILD whenever they showed Obama.  Highlights of the show for Dave was U2 singing Pride which Bono et al wrote about MLK's speech on the Mall, and, for Ellen, it was singing "One Love" with the masses and seeing the awesome Pete Seeger.  We really enjoyed Obama's speech and got it on video.  There was a bit of groaning among the crowd when they announced the more traditional things like the Marine Corps Glee Club, but folks got really excited about Samuel L. Jackson and especially Beyonce.

Here's a nice news story about the show:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-te.concert19jan19,0,2342420.story

The absolute best part of the concert was being part of the crowd.  Everyone was so excited and kept saying to the person next to them "isn't this incredible"?  Just so much happiness, relief, and excitement within a diverse group of people.  Coming from all over the country and even the world.