Wednesday, February 20, 2008

OBAMApalooza

This past Saturday, I happened to be fortunate enough to get a ticket to Barack Obama's rally at the Toyota Center. I knew it was going to be a big deal and that I was super excited about it...within 15 minutes I had purchased Radiohead tickets and obtained my free pass to hear 'the man' himself speak. I was completely beside myself and almost started doing laps around my living room. But really...I had no idea how huge this event was actually going to be.

Monday I started getting my Obama-mail about how people were going to get there super early to stand in line (of course it was general admission) which made me start to get slightly paranoid. So my work day was slow and I made a game-time decision to take a couple of vacation hours to hold my spot in line. Luckily, my friend Jordan managed to get a ticket from a very gracious person...so not only did I have someone to go with, but Jordan LOVES Barack and is extremely fun. I knew that good times were ahead...

I pulled up to the Toyota Center about 4 and yelled to the cabbie, "Yo holmes, smell ya later!" Okay, so I'm not the Fresh Prince...but I did decide to cab it for sanity purposes and the place was ridiculous. It was like the Superbowl...every media truck was lined up outside, helicopters were circling, tents were set up for radio stations, food vendors, THOUSANDS of people....madness. The demographic was all over the board...every color and age...there were hippies sitting next to young professionals in suits. I was fortunate to be towards the front of the ticket holder line and had the pleasure of standing by the Praise 92.1 tent for 2 whole hours. When Jordan texted me to find out where I was, I replied "Just follow the soulful sounds of DJ Revelation"...his reply "I'll bring booze!"

So we entered and I'll spare the details, but two hugs from J to random event volunteers and a couple of little white lies later, we were sitting in the VIP section! We decided to forego the crazy food lines and go straight to the bar, where we obtained our libations of choice...doubles of course. I have to say, the pre-rally events were not at all what I expected. There was a band playing with the most fabulous costumes I've ever seen...they were covered in sequins and played the best KC & The Sunshine Band hits. So for over two hours, we danced, made some friends and found out that Obama had won Wisconsin! (Thanks Francis!!) Then...it was show-time!

Once Will.I.Am's "Yes We Can" video started playing and the lights dimmed, we definitely got FIRED UP! Then he took the stage. Barack's speech was as eloquent as ever and I'll spare the details and my opinions, because no one really cares what I think and you can watch for yourself on CNN.com. I will say that he was so passionate that I damn near yelled out an "Amen", but perhaps that was just the Praise 92.1 talking.

I now understand why all of those people are so excited for rallies. When everyone is sitting around basically "tailgating" for hours before the actual speech, you tend to be a little more excited than usual. Hey...it works for sporting events!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your tags are booze, dancing, drunkenness and Obama? Are you sure you didn't go to an concert and get so tore up you thought it was a rally? Great post, wish I could have seen that!