Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen will do a benefit concert for Senator Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee next month at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Oct. 16.
Mr. Obama will be appearing on stage as well for the event, which is set for the day after his debate with Senator John McCain at Hofstra University on Long Island.
The concert was being billed by Obama fund-raisers as the first joint concert for Mr. Joel and Mr. Springsteen, although they have appeared together on stage at least once before in 1987 during a benefit concert for homeless children at Madison Square Garden with Paul Simon, among others.
Tickets for the fund-raiser, which is slated to be Mr. Obama’s last in the New York area, are not cheap. Balcony seats are going for $500; a “premiere seat” costs $2,500; and a “lounge ticket” is $10,000.
'Tis the story of New York and Barack Obama. I can't remember the last time he did a "grassroots priced" event here in New York City. And yes, am complaining.
I guess I can only press my nose to the glass and try hard to hear the party from the outside.
Mouse over the text to select it, then press Ctrl-C to copy it.
About author
Liza Sabater is the founding blogger and publisher of culturekitchen and Daily Gotham. She also a new media producer and social technologist with 10 years experience. You can reach her at blogdiva [at] culturekitchen.com or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogdiva
having so many houses you don't know the final number is NOT the mark of an elitist. If "Elitist" is the way white people refer to negroes who are better than them, then count me in as another elitist.
If I may quote from the Stockton Record, a newspaper that has not endorsed a Democrat for 72 years, but has endorsed Obama this year:
For eight years, American politics has been marked by smears, fears and greed. For too long, we've practiced partisanship in Washington, not politics. The result is a cynicism every bit as deep as that which infected the nation when Richard Nixon was shamed from office and when Bill Clinton brought shame to the office.
This must end, but John McCain can't do it. He can't inspire, nor can he really break from a past that is breaking this nation...
Republicans have tried repeatedly to paint Obama as an elitist. Hardly. He grew up in a single-parent home and, by the sheer force of his desire and cerebral horsepower, ended up at Harvard Law School, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.
He could have gone for the money. He didn't. He went to Chicago, where he worked to give a voice to those who didn't have one.
That's hardly the mark of an elitist.
He hasn't lost touch with regular people, whereas McCain doesn't even know how many homes he owns.
Got any dirt, tips, leads or money for us? Then drop us a line or two at editors [at] culturekitchen [dot] com or use our general contact form to reach everybody in the editorial team ASAP.
Nibble daily on our brainy goodness with our daily syndication digest. You'll receive an email with a list and links to the previous day's posts.
2010 will mark the beginning of the end of US dominance of the web. I am not predicting the decline of the US Internet market, but rather its eclipse in size and overall influence by other centers of web economies. In essence, this is not an Internet prediction, but an economic one, as the web is simply a reflection of the world, and the world is clearly moving away from a US-dominated model.
Billy Joel
My wife says sign her up! But my checkbook says different! We paid $200 each for row 18 floor seats for Billy Joel and Elton John here in St. Paul MN.