January 18. 10:45 p.m.
The inaugural celebration has officially begun in Washington as hundreds of thousands of people crammed into the national mall this afternoon to witness a historic gathering of musicians, actors and politicians. The concert was free and open to the public and those two factors contributed to a huge turnout. Barack Obama and his family had a front row seat for the show and each time they appeared on screen it elicited a loud ovation from the crowd. Music legends Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and U2 were some highlights of the two hour concert that was aired live on HBO.
The whole process of getting through security and actually entering the national mall grounds did not go as smoothly as the actual concert did. There were five public entry gates set up at different spots surrounding the mall. The gates were not being opened until 8 a.m., with the concert scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. We arrived at 7 a.m. and found ourselves behind a few hundred people who got there before us, some as early as 2:30 a.m. At close to 9 a.m. the line started moving and we successfully got past security. We weren't in the clear yet, as a mad dash by the crowd to stake out their spot closest to the stage began right after people were through the checkpoint. After a brief jog, we arrived at our spot near the reflecting pool. The location wasn't bad, we had a great view of the monument itself and there were five "jumbotron" screens that gave us a great view of the action. The area right in front of the stage was reserved seating.
Now it was a quarter past 9 and reality set in: We still had five hours to go. Our group of 6 laid a blanket out and got comfortable. I was bundled pretty heavily (5 layers) and the weather didn't affect us much. The crowd passed the time by playing with a beach ball, passing around a life size Barack Obama cut out and attempting to hang a large American flag from a tree (they were successful). As the concert drew closer, people started to push their way from the back towards the front and where we were standing got much more crowded.
The concert started on time and the First Family took their seats to loud applause. The concert organizers kept rolling out extremely high profile performers throughout the whole show. Notable presenters included Denzel Washington, Martin Luther King Jr III, and Tiger Woods.
The music aspect of the show was really something to marvel at. The list of superstar performers was vast: Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, U2, Beyonce, James Taylor and list goes on. Even Garth Brooks put on a great show, singing "American Pie" and "Shout."
The highlight of the program was undoubtedly when President-elect Obama himself took the stage to deliver another one of his excellent speeches, urging Americans to bind together in these difficult times. This was my first live glimpse of him and it was really a moment to remember.
The concert closed with Beyonce singing "America, the Beautiful," a fitting close to a spectacular show. It was a long day, but certainly worth the wait. Tomorrow, I will be picking up my inauguration tickets from Congressman Anthony Weiner's office. The city is getting very crowded so I'm not sure what else we'll be able to do. I'll be in touch.
Thanks,
-Jake
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