In January, Pete Wentz, co-hosted a fundraiser for Barack Obama. Wentz's band mates, Patrick Stump and Joe Trohman have also thrown their support to Obama. Friends of FOB, including members of Rise Against, attended the party, to show their support.
Trohman, Tim (Rise Against), Wentz at Obama Fundraiser in January
Emo/Indie darling Conor Oberst, better known as Bright Eyes, has also shown support for Obama, by speaking and playing at rally before the Nebraska primary. Ok Go, have also shown support for Obama by playing a show the night before Super Tuesday in New York. Indie-alt-country darlings, Wilco, have also publicly supported Obama.
While not exactly "punk rock" Will. I. Am. of the Black Eyed Peas made a video supporting Obama which features Ryan Key, the lead singer and guitarist of Yellowcard, technically a pop-punk band.
Cynics are prone to say all this celebrity endorsement won't help, I disagree. The "punk" scene is about youth, Obama's reaching out to the youth of this country and who better to reach out to than the discontent portion of this society? At its heart, punk is about rebellion and frustration and I think in the political arena that exists in this country, Obama is about as punk rock as you get.
Will. I. Am video feat. Ryan Key
2 comments:
you make a valid point. i remember in the 2004 election with p.diddy and all those rappers and even green day and some other bands for rock the vote. the music industry has always supported voting. if not for a particular candidate, just voting in general. i think its really the only way to get younger people to vote. plus it always helps to see an artist you like that has the same political views as you do.
Music has a much larger impression on people than most give it credit for.
thanks. that's all I was trying to do with this post, was to get people to see that not all "kids" are apathetic and ignorant. I realize I only used one candidate, but there weren't really any other "relevant" musicians for the other candidates
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