Bands Across America
Free Concert for Regime Change
September 6, 2004
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The University of Michigan Environmental Action Student Organization and our group of Ann Arbor local bands, which we called "Bands Across America" presented a "Free Concert for Regime Change" in 2004 before the election. The "Boss" wasn't the only musician who was concerned about who would win the election.
The concert was held on Labor Day (poster).
It was a six hour free local music festival where people could listen to bands,
register to vote, and get fired up about taking action to defeat George Bush.
The festival is a free concert featuring local bands with no admission and no
soliciting donations. The goal was to entertain and inform people, register
new voters, and get people motivated to volunteer and help take back the White
House. The event was staged at the University of Michigan Union Ballroom. In
addition to the fine music, speakers (including former Congresswoman Lynn Rivers)
spoke between bands to inform and encourage the crowd to register to vote and
get involved in the election. Various groups (like the Green Party, Veterans
for Peace, Music For America, and (of course) the Democratic Party) also had
tables to help register voters
and answer questions. The whole event was broadcast live on Ann
Arbor Alive internet radio.
The bands were particularly helpful. They found someone to do the swell banner and they designed some great posters and handouts. The show was definately an artistic success. All the music was first rate. We even had an encore performance of the Teeth and the Hairy Drain Babies together on stage. We got some local personalities to MC the event. But the real purpose was to motivate and register new voters. We logged over 55 new registered voters and 107 sign-ups to the Music For America mailing list.
The bands were:
the Teeth
A Working Model (www.AWorkingModel.net)
Hairy Drain Babies (http://www.thehdb.com)
Genessee Ramblers
The Six Foot Poles (mywebpages.comcast.net/dbrzez28/index.html)
The Nothing
The Ninjas (theninjas.net)
Thanks to everyone who helped put on the show. At least Michigan went Blue.
