"Refund, Refund"

[MechAg94]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1107/Refund_Refund.html

November 10, 2007
Read More: John Edwards

"Refund, Refund"

A brutal dispatch from the John Mellencamp concert in Des Moines tonight:

    Mellencamp, standing alone on stage with his guitar, then launched into Tough It Out and Be the Best You Can followed by Jesus Can You Give Me a Ride Back Home? and another song about youth and love. The crowd erupted as he started Small Town and sang the lyrics as though Wells Fargo Arena were one of those sing-along piano bars.

    It's at this point Mellencamp gestures and John Edwards walks on stage. After a few cheers boos overtake the hall. "I've been in your small towns," Edwards said as Mellencamp stepped aside to give Edwards a place behind the microphone. "...You didn't come here to listen to me," Edwards continues as he winds down with a "thank you," waves and walks to the darkened edge of the stage.

    The crowd is mostly booing at this point. "I came for a concert," one man behind me yelled. "Refund. Refund," another chanted a few rows back. One person in the crowd made this observation: "Are they booing Edwards specifically or booing because they don't like politics?" Mellencamp tells the crowd he's "had a lot of fun with that guy," and begins playing his guitar and singing Small Town again. The crowd slowly begins to sing along again. Edwards stood on the darkened edge of the stage until the song was over, then exited. Mellencamp didn't say anything at the song's end, and there was a swell of chatter among the audience members.

To be fair, this is the reason pols tend to avoid interrupting rock concerts and baseball games, and if you think this is bad, imagine Hillary's reception. Still.

UPDATE: But was the "refund" guy a Clinton plant?

ALSO: A milder take from the Register.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/NEWS/711100339/-1/caucus
They linked to this which didn't even mention boos. 

[Manedwolf]

Small town + concert + fake-grin used-car salesman with $400 haircut = fail

[charby]

Des Moines isn't a small town, I live about 30 miles away. What an ass (Mellencamp) for doing that. I'm glad I spent Saturday night with some friends at a local winery than going to the show.

I'm glad he got booed.

-C

[Bogie]

Boy done went Hollywood...
 

[Fly320s]

If I was at that concert, I would have been mad, too, regardless of what politician walked on stage.

I go to concerts to hear live music.  Not lip-synching to recorded music, and certainly not to listen to a politician tell lies.

[MechAg94]

That is sort of what I was thinking.  I think it is telling that politicians misread the voters so much that they would interrupt an event like that.  If it was billed as a political rally with the guy singing, that would be fine, but it wasn't.  Of course, interrupting a hit song with that is even worse. 

[RocketMan]

Who the heck would even want to go to a Mellencamp concert?  And those that do, wouldn't they love Edwards, politically speaking?

[Perd Hapley]

Who the heck would even want to go to a Mellencamp concert? 

The kind of people that would tie one on and sing "Small Town" together.  Eeeewwww.  That's why I talk to you guys, instead of going to concerts.   

[Mabs2]

Who the heck would even want to go to a Mellencamp concert? 

The kind of people that would tie one on and sing "Small Town" together.  Eeeewwww.  That's why I talk to you guys, instead of going to concerts.   

Yea, people out there suck.  That's why you come here.  And that's exactly why I only check the forum twice a day.