Barack'n'Roll

Brainard said finding musical acts
willing to lend their talents to the cause wasn’t an issue. She even
had to turn down a half-dozen other bands who volunteered to perform,
although local acts like Sophistafunk and the fraternal deejay duo The Smash Brothers made the cut. 

“This is basically the first time that my brother and I have presented a political message during our show,” said Jacob Beier,
half of the Smash Brothers. “We typically stray away from this type of
activity and hope citizens will access more reliable avenues to get
their news and political information. But considering how historic this
election is, how high the stakes are and that we are originally
Illinois boys ourselves, we decided to lend a hand to supporters of
Senator Obama.”

Similar Barack the Block events have
been springing up across the country. Brainard actually thought the
title for the SU concert was really creative—until she researched it
and found other rallies sharing the name. Perhaps the widespread
popularity of this type of event, with its showcase for diverse bands,
is also a telling sign that so much about popular music and culture is
now fragmented.

“What constitutes a bigger national act is an antiquated notion,” declares pop-culture vulture Robert Thompson,
director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at SU’s
Newhouse School of Public Communications. “I asked 150 kids in one of
my classes if we can find three or four artists that are on all of
their iPods and we couldn’t find three or four songs. Someone in their
40s or 50s might see Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel or whoever, but
trying to attract these young voters with one act is too hard. So one
of the ways of doing it is franchising out the idea—do concert rallies
in Syracuse, Rochester, Cleveland—in order to let these people know
that this vote is part of their life and then convince them to vote for
whoever sponsors their concerts.” 

Whether or not this tactic has an
overall effect will be determined in November. Yet if a lineup of local
acts can get 25 percent of a crowd energized and registered to vote,
the importance of these concerts on a national scale could be
invaluable. 

“I’m not sure if local bands will really
have an effect on swaying people’s minds when it comes to the election,
although it’s obvious that many people look up to famous musicians and
they can definitely have an effect on potential voters,” said Tony Cacace, pianist for White After Labor Day,
which also performed Oct. 3. “If a particular event is very successful
and there is a lot of coverage and a lot of press, then people who are
undecided may start wondering why all these people are attending. Then
they may find out for themselves why a particular person is worth
voting for.”

—Nathan Mattise