'Overwhelming emotion' at star-studded inaugural
concert
AFP - Monday, January
19
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - A galaxy of music legends joined
Sunday with hundreds of thousands of people before Washington's
Lincoln Memorial in a vast emotional celebration of Barack Obama's
upcoming inauguration as the country's first black president.
Obama and his family enjoyed the show alongside the massive
crowd who braved bitter cold to witness mega-stars including Bruce
Springsteen, U2 and Stevie Wonder perform on the same steps Martin
Luther King Jr roused the civil rights movement 46 years ago.
By dawn tens of thousands bundled in winter coats and gloves
were already streaming through intense security cordons for the "We
Are One" extravaganza that boasts a line-up with as many big names
as a LiveAid concert.
Music legends Wonder and Springsteen joined soul divas Beyonce
and Mary J. Blige and a host of other stars -- Jon Bon Jovi, John
Legend, Shakira and James Taylor, among many others.
Actors Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx, Denzel Washington and Jack Black
also took the stage to read historic passages, honoring Civil War
president Abraham Lincoln and the American outdoors, interspersed
with rousing gospel choir songs and sweeping orchestral
numbers.
It was Obama's address before the grand statue of Lincoln that
was the highlight for many in the crowd who see his election as a
transformational moment.
"It is overwhelming to see this happen," said Linda Marshall, a
school teacher from Obama's hometown Chicago who marched with King
and other civil rights leaders as a teenager in the early 1960s, as
she waited in line at a security checkpoint.
"Martin Luther King spoke here. And to have Barack come and
stand in those same shoes, from Lincoln, to MLK, to Barack Obama
..." Her voice trailed off.
"This is history. I couldn't have imagined hoping for a day like
this."
Scores of attendees huddled under blankets or jumping around to
fend off temperatures hovering around the freezing mark. In a sign
of the bitter cold, the 2,029 foot (618 meter) Reflecting Pool in
front of the memorial was covered by a sheet of ice.
The wait in security lines and extreme cold did not hinder a
throng of revelers from attending the free concert, which was
broadcast live on an open signal by HBO television and National
Public Radio.
A group who drove up for the inauguration from Florida even said
they would have camped outside overnight if they had been
allowed.
"I didn't march with Dr King, but to see his dream come to life
is overwhelming," said Donella Reddick, 51, of Ft Lauderdale,
Florida, whose family and friends were pressed up against one of
the metal barriers.
"My only disappointment is that Martin Luther King wasn't here
to see this," she said.
Audrey Warren, of Hollywood, Florida said it will be hard to
keep her composure should Obama make reference to King's historic
speech on the steps of the memorial.
"Remember how Martin Luther King said how he had been to the
mountaintop? Well this is the top," Warren said.
