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September 02, 2008

Ben Gibbard & Chris Walla, Live @ Sherman Event Complex, Concert for a Cooler Planet (DNC) - Denver 8.26.2008

Whether it's a niche business forum, a large pan-business convocation, or quadrennial political party coronations, all conventions bring groups of like-minded, or at least like-interested people together. Somewhat more specifically, people armed with the holy grail of business travel - expense reports while in fun locales. Not that such perks are even necessary when parties get hosted, ahem - sponsored by free spending corporations and organizations looking for ears to whisper into, or a foot to pass through the influence door.

The DNC's sweep through Denver, naturally, brought with it the aforementioned entertainment scene and the spectacle of people making their case to be on the fun side of the velvet ropes. Exquisite bullshit artists pining for entry to Olympic level schmooze competitions. Warning: metaphors may be mixed without regard to peril.

Last week the Democratic party landed in Denver and this week the Republicans start the same protocol-filled assembly in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota. If Denver was any indication - caterers, liquor distributors, high-end restaurants, and rickshaw jockeys are about to bank big. So will the shrinks tending to frazzled clipboard porters nervously tracking headcounts with an eye to both the fire marshall and enough available space for late arriving uber-VIPs. During the DNC this could mean anyone from Jessica Alba to Bono to Democratic governors. A starfuckers paradise or a super economic way to keep entertained, fed and hydrated amidst the complicated glamour of Washington D.C.'s political culture.

The tally of my lifetime's forays to our nation's capital are limited to short pleasurable stopovers and touristy trips full of white marble and museums. After a week (or so) of partaking to just some of the DNC's periphery entertainment options, I feel like I can safely surmise what a semester might be like for Public Administration graduate students at Georgetown. I might also be full of shit. Given the often bloviated subject matter, no matter which view one has, at least the latter is true for the respective opposition party.

Our first DNC event with notable music was last Tuesday's "Concert for a Cooler Planet" at the elegant Sherman Event Complex presented by the League of Conservation Voters. Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie performed acoustic. Introduced by a phalanx of members of congress and even the governor of their home state.

The fired up Rep. Ed Marckey (MA) began what would be a long introduction preceding Ben & Chris's set with a litany of attacks on the environmental records of John McCain and George W. Bush by pairing them with sugarplum fairy promises of crisp, delicious air and fresh, clean drinking water flowing from the rivers of a President Obama. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of RI followed and the very excitable Rep. Jay Inslee (WA) continually referred to the great "Death Cab for Cutie from Seattle", but it was Washington State governor Gov. Chris Gregoire who finally introduced the duo. I'm not going to infer that Rep. Inslee may have had a few drinks in him since I don't know what his demeanor is otherwise, but he was as animated as anyone can be. Madam Governor Gregoire inadvertently dropped an unintentional diss of the host city during an appeal for Seattle tourism by saying, "we have real music there". Oh snap! I'll be nice and let it slide just this once, attributing the misspeak to Colorado's thin air and its effect on escalating grandiloquence.

[Gov. Chris Cregoire]

Ben and Chris both played acoustic guitars with Chris also spending considerable time in front of the black grand piano. The song selection was exclusively from Death Cab's songbook, making the Walla-Gibbard duo a real treat for fans of the group. No word whether any of the sharply dressed attendees count themselves as such. The songs were played as lovely as you might imagine acoustic Death Cab to be - inoffensive and crisp. Walla and Gibbard both kept fairly mum when it came to politics outside of a few lighthearted moments. Early on Walla not-so-eloquently ruminated on how interesting it was for him to meet with people around the country "who are into the same stuff we're into. Anyway this is our first convention and we're having a lot of fun." Ben added his thoughts much later when mentioning something of a WTF moment when hearing Bon Jovi might be playing "Living on a Prayer" alluding to Sen. Obama's campaign, "we got better than living on a fucking prayer [laughter]."

Photos of Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla and a very unofficial setlist continued after the jump.

Posted by Merry Swankster at September 2, 2008 11:18 AM

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