We joined hundreds of thousands of people today to watch Obama's inaugural concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Crowds spilled out from the Foggy Bottom metro station and poured down the streets toward the national mall. Military police, mini-tanks, and random volunteers kept people going in the right direction.
Dozens of vendors sold Obama hats, t-shirts, buttons and whatnot. The border patrol ran the concert entrance, glancing beneath our coats before letting us through to the mall.
We waited outside in the bitter cold for hours, entertained by the occasional short film on the jumbotron. Finally, the celebs started coming out. The list seems endless - Denzel Washington, Marissa Tomei, Forrest Whitaker, Ashley Judd, George Lopez, Kal Penn, Rosario Dawson, Jack Black, Jamie Fox, Queen Latifah, Tiger Woods, Steve Carell, Tom Hanks, Laura Linney and Martin Luther King Jr. III made speeches.
Bruce Springstein, Herbie Hancock, John Cougar Melloncamp, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Will i Am, and Mary J. Blige were among the performers. I hate to say it, but I think Garth Brooks got the crowd going more than anyone.
It was cold and they were laying it on a bit thick, but I'm glad I was there. Can't imagine what the crowds will be like for the inauguration.
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