| | | Summer Festival Roundup
Election Fever Takes the Stage | | | By Hilary Brown
I had my political consciousness raised this summer.
Or should I say someone raised it for me.
The hoopla of the presidential campaign has politicized the "summer music festival" into a pseudo-arena of activism and advocacy. Festivals this summer were less a place to toke than to collect your vote, though Electionpalooza still managed to uphold the generic brand of concert smut.
Take an experience at the 2004 Vans Warped Tour for example, where political activism involved being symmetrically branded on the nipples with "VOTE" stickers after being discouraged from sporting a tube top in the midst of NoFX.
Or the Projekt Revolution Tour, when Snoop Dogg relinquished a blunt and one-upped his thick-assed hoes for a shining moment to advocate something other than the puff-puff-pass proposition.
Fo’ sheesh. It makes me quiver in my red-white-and-blue Chuck Taylors just thinking about it.
Asking the typical concertgoer to fill out voter registration papers would prove to be about as successful asking a deaf-mute for directions. The politically apt fail to bear in mind that this is the abundant breed who jumps at the chance for a Truth Anti-Smoking hoodie before packing Newports. As if these baffoons could register anything in their drunken minds aside from two-for-one Old Styles. Or a .12 Blood Alcohol Concentration.
Consequently those who are competent enough to register are almost certainly not of voting age. Unless it’s on Total Request Live.
The irony of the entire situation lies more or less in the backstage region of said venues, where the once-politically conscious set aside their views to rendezvous with a pair of tits. Strangely enough, the only time when these radically liberal rock stars prefer Bush.
Not to mention that when there are questions of politics there are ultimately questions of economics…e.g.! the price of a Curiosa Tour lawn seat. It’s no wonder Cure fans are so depressed; after shelling out 65 dollars for a day of mediocre complaint rock, I wanted to cry too.
Looking back on the stream of semi-serious summer events, it’s a wonder why anyone would ever want to indulge in such a political circus.
Hell, I would.
In a flash. Even an involuntary one.
If there are any tunes that are making YOUR head spin, send an email to Hilary to let her know h-brown2@northwestern.edu
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