If you wanted a day of great music, you could have tuned into the opening of the presidential center for Barack Obama. The good part is that you can likely still stream the event on Obama.org. Skip past the speeches, if you must, and just hear the music. The performances were epic.
Stevie Wonder closed the opening with several songs, but he invited fellow icons like Bruce Springsteen and Common on stage, too. It was a collective feeling for a former president whose mission it was to try to bring people together, and not divide.
Below are just a few of the more notable songs that were performed. The last is maybe the only iffy one turned in. The others? Fantastic.
The musical performances at the Barack Obama presidential center opening were elite
John Legend and Common - "Glory"
Chill bumps. There is really no other way around that for this number, which was delivered with precision and emotion by two great artists. The song originally was featured in the film Selma, and won an Oscar for Best Song, and rightfully so.
The song being translated to the library opening for the first African-American president in United States history is exceedingly fitting, too. Even if Legend and Common had simply been doing the song in someone's backyard, though, the way they issued their excellence would have translated into brilliance.
Bruce Springsteen - "Land of Hope and Dreams"
Just the Boss and his acoustic guitar, simple and sure. Maybe such a performance might be seen by many observers as an intentional act to draw attention to political events and easily be dismissed due to a forced viewpoint. Not Springsteen. He simply cannot be a caricature of himself, and has aged wonderfully.
Moreover, the song has no better place than in the setting to honor Barack Obama, who brought positivity and hope to a profession that often operates on the opposite approach. Springsteen never strains to overdeliver, and that is a trick younger musicians should learn from the icon.
U2 - "City of Burning Lights"
This delivery didn't meet the standards of the other artists at the event. The song is fine, but Bono too often suggested that Michelle Obama was an object of beauty. She might be, but that wasn't the point of the track at this event. Ultimately, Bono's constant mentions took away from the song's message.
Plus, Bobo and the Edge missed the opportunity to choose a better tune for the opening. Instead, the duo should have gone with the more obvious, but wiser choice, "Pride (In the Name of Love)."
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