Free We Can Believe In

As if he weren’t already the candidate-of-choice for the youth vote, Senator Barack Obama further established his credibility with Millennials in June, when he told reporters that Jay-Z was in heavy rotation on his iPod. (By contrast, Senator John McCain said his favorite band was ABBA.)

Evidently Jay-Z took note. The rap mogul announced this week that he would be playing two free shows for the Obama campaign, in Detroit on Saturday, and in Miami on Sunday. Tickets are no charge, but concertgoers have to register to vote if they aren’t already, or pledge to vote early if they’re already registered.

Local Obama offices began distributing tickets at 10am yesterday morning, and the response was overwhelming. By 8:15, crowds were lined up around the block at several offices. At the Hollywood office on Taft St., a crowd of more than 100 spilled into the street. A police cruiser was dispatched to monitor the scene and keep traffic moving.

Bobby Gravitz, Obama’s South Florida communications director said giving away tickets at campaign offices was a strategic move. “You cannot walk into one of our campaign offices without us figuring out whether you’re registered to vote,” he said. “And if you’re not registered, we get you registered.” Gravitz said the Obama campaigns registered hundreds, maybe thousands of South Florida voters yesterday.

By early afternoon, all the tickets to Sunday’s show were gone.

The Obama campaign has drawn on celebrity appeal before. Oprah Winfrey did events for Obama in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Dave Matthews did a free concert in Indiana in an effort to sign up new voters. “The campaign is always looking for opportunities to draw in unregistered voters and folks that haven’t been engaged,” Gravitz said.

Of course, a free Jay-Z concert is play towards a particular demographic. “Jay-Z is obviously a huge draw with younger voters and African American voters,” said Gravitz. “But we’re not expecting a single soul to vote for Barack Obama because Jay-Z tells them to. We expect them to vote for Barack Obama because they understand how he’s going to change this country.”

Sunday’s concert, at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater, is expected to draw between 8,000 and 10,000 fans.

Because of the huge demand, the Obama campaign this morning announced that Jay-Z will do a repeat concert on Monday afternoon. Tickets for Monday’s show will be distributed at Obama offices starting Saturday morning.

Gravitz also said that Wyclef Jean will perform at both shows Sunday's show.

Obama – Biden.

Jay-Z – Wyclef.

To many, those sounds like winning tickets.

Comments

[Angel]

Hey, which No Spend Zone blogger is listed as Entertainment? Are you sure this piece is in the right blog?

[David Gelles]

Right blog indeed. I posted it here because it was about a free concert, and how the allure of a giveaway might attract some new voters.