This article was posted several days ago at SwampPolitics.com and mirrored at HuffingtonPost.com:
Barack Obama's Illinois inaugural ball
Actually, I don't really like the way they boo-hoo the idea that regular working musicians are going to be playing the inaugural ball. Or that they should have celebrities playing the gig instead. The headline at HuffPost was, “Obama's Illinois Inaugural Ball Short On Big Name Talent.” I like the HuffingtonPost with they stick to politics, but anytime they venture off into the world of music they consistently say asinine things.
The point is that if anyone has connections in DC, I recommend you try landing a gig for an inaugural ball. I've heard that the mayor of DC is expecting perhaps 5 million people to descend on DC for the inauguration and all those people are going to be looking for a party afterwards. I expect there would be a lot of gigs in that town on Jan 19-20.
Obamamania continues. I will assist any musican who contacts me through this posting to navigate the DC parties. I just want to attend.
This is the opportunity to showcase live entertainment to opinion makers for the next 50 years! Party on.
I played the 2001 Bush coronation . . . er, Inaugural Ball. We were one of maybe five Austin cover bands hired to play this thing. I had to miss work for three days–one day in, the day of the gig, and another bonus day, for $200 and a hotel room. Security was pretty damned tight. Remember that the Supreme Court had ruled on Bush v. Gore the month before, and feelings were running really high. There was nonetheless a good deal of disorganization at the venue, like they weren’t prepared for any of this. We played the Wyoming Ball, where Jenna had her wardrobe malfunction. As far as I know, the bandleader got no gigs out of playing this ball, despite his constant pandering to the audience between tunes. The room we played in was huge beyond measure, so big that there were bands at every corner and in the center playing all at once, and some of the bands were LOUD. My most pleasant memories of going to D.C. were the demonstration in Dupont Circle where the snowballs were hurled at the motorcade, and taking the Metro to Trader Joe’s. Remember the Clinton second Inaugural had Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams as a quartet!
I remember that Clinton Inaugural lineup. It’s probably fair to say the scene at Obama’s could be very different than Bush’s in ’01. Who knows if it’ll be a good place to network or not, but it’s always worth trying.