Politics and the artiste.

Elton John. Linda Ronstadt. Henley. (Bwaha.) Suddenly Springsteen feels it incumbent on him to pen a screed for the NYT and organize a big traveling Woodstock show full of angry lefty musicians (REM, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, John Fogerty; the usual suspects.) You'd think I'd be all over Bruce's shit about it, but you'd be wrong.

Sure, I scorn and fleer; most of the political ideals these people hold dear were fossilized sometime in the Late Cretaceous period (roughly around 1968), haven't been re-examined since, and won't be any time soon. But here's the reason I don't mind them organizing their little pep rallies: the concerts are clearly labelled as political events and are thus easily avoided. Were I to pay upwards of $30 (way upwards, in some cases) to hear any of those artists perform on a regular tour, I'd be livid if they spent stage time blathering about Greenpeace (I'm looking at YOU, Michael Stipe, you pissant) and refusing to play their college radio hits. But here, you know exactly what you're getting.

So let 'em play. I'm curious to see what kind of turnout they get.

Yeah, I know. Big of me to grant permission.