I posted earlier about an Obama rally with The Breeders and The National in Cincinnati’s Fountain Square. Pitchfork has posted a bunch of awesome pictures from the event so be sure to check them out.

I already regretted not catching Coachella this year even though Breeders were headlining one of the nights. Now I’m regretting not living in Cincinatti because this event seems like it was a lot of fun. I better make sue I catch them when they play at the Wiltern November , 17th.

More Tour Dates:

The Breeders:
11-11 Seattle, WA - Neumos
11-12 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
11-14 San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
11-15 San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
11-17 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern

The National:
10-24 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - TIM Festival
10-25 São Paulo, Brazil - TIM Festival
10-27 Vitória, Brazil - UFES Theatre
11-08 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest

There are many reasons indie-rockers love Obama. He wants to lower taxes, he supports music and art in schools and he is against the war. But he has more substance than just his stance on important issues. He is young, he’s fresh and people believe he can bring change in Washington. That’s why musicians from all over the country have been showing their support for the Illinois senator.

Bands who have stepped up to support the presidential candidate include The Breeders and The National who will play a show in New York City on October 16th. The following night, The Black Keys and Devo team up to bring their hometown an awesome Obama party in Akron, Ohio’s Civic Theatre. The night’s proceeds will benefit the Summit County Democrats.

The Beastie Boys are also planning their own mini-tour called Swing State Voter Awareness Tour which will be visiting cities in Virginia, Minnesota and Wisconsin. They will be bringing with them an assortement of interesting and entertaining characters such as Santogold and Tenacious D.

Dates for the Beastie Boys’ “Swing State Voter Awareness” tour:

10-28 Richmond, VA - Richmond Coliseum
11-01 Saint Paul, MN - Roy Wilkins Auditorium
11-02 Milwaukee, WI - U.S. Cellular Arena

A lot of artists are performing in support of Obama, the list keeps growing but includes Bruce Springsteen, Vampire Weekend, The National, The Breeders and many more.

Now I know that Jay-Z is a hip-hop artist and not really guitar-centric in any way. However, he did come on stage as the headliner of Glastonbury 2008 with a Fender guitar over his shoulder, which he used to make fun of Oasis with. Also, I think its really cool that he’s doing these free shows, because not only does it give people a fun evening, but younger fans of his are more likely to listen to Jay-Z than anyone else when it comes to voting.

The free concerts will be taking place in Detroit, MI and Miami, FL.

Ticket info for the shows:

(October 4th) Detroit MI, Cobo Arena

(October 5th) Miami, FL Bayfront Park Amphitheater

Source.

*(The above picture is from yesterday’s rally).

A couple weeks ago I reported on The Arcade Fire and Superchunk playing a Barack Obama rally. Now…much beloved, former indie-rock, now turned major label band The Decemberists played a rally for presidential hopeful Barack Obama yesterday in Portland, Oregon.

A record crowd of 75,000 came out in support of Obama and The Decemberists opened the proceedings.

It’s amazing to see this many people coming out in support of a candidate. It’s also really great to see pretty big bands backing a presidential hopeful. Like I mentioned here before, I’m not usually that into the idea of bands tying themselves too closely with politics, but it definitely is effective in getting their fans at least aware of the process.

There’s almost no question, apparently Obama is THE indie-rock/rock candidate of choice.

Source.

Well, this happened a couple weeks ago but I thought it was worth mentioning here. It seems several bands of the Indie Rock variety have done rally’s/concerts to support presidential candidate Barack Obama.

One of the most publicized so far is The Arcade Fire and Superchunk playing a few concerts in support of Obama in North Carolina. On one hand, while I’m not the biggest fan of either band and I think musicians opinions on politics don’t really matter, it is a really good way to get younger people to vote or care about voting…if not just to be aware of the current presidential race.

The story was covered by Pitchfork and they have pictures, anecdotes, etc…at their page.

Source.